Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg The beginning of the campaign of Gettysburg began after Lee won in Chancellorsville. He knew that if the South were to win a decisive battle in the North then European powers might shift in favor of the South and they might begin helping them. Lee also needed supplies and food for his army which the North had plenty of. Before Lee invaded though, he had to go to Richmond, Virginia and consult the President of the South, Jefferson Davis. It did not take much convincing to get Jefferson Davis to believe that invading the North would be a smart and logical idea. Before Lee left he reorganized his army by putting four cavalry divisions under the command of James Ewell Brown Stuart (Jeb Stuart). On June 3rd Lee began marching his army toward Culpepper, Va. The Confederate (CS) Army was composed of 60,000 soldiers which were in three divisions. The Corps I was under the command of James Longstreet. The Corps II was commanded by General Richard S. Ewell. And the Corps III was commanded by Lieutenant General Ambrose Powell Hill (A.P. Hill). The Union Army was under the command of General Hooker who resigned before the battle of Gettysburg and then under the command of General Meade. The Union army had 100,000 sold
iers and 1 cavalry division. There were six battles in the campaign of Gettysburg before the actual battle in Gettysburg, PA. These Battles were the battle of Brandy Station, the battle of Winchester and Stephenson's Depot, the battle of Middleburg and Upperville, the battle of Aldie, and the battle of Falling waters. The battle of Brandy Station began on June 9th, when Federal cavalry divisions broke through Confederate lines and rode toward Brandy Station. Major Cabell E. Flouroy of the 6th VA woke up and heard the cavalry charging toward them. He rousted 100 soldiers and foolishly charged the cavalry. He then retreated because he was losing. Jeb Stuart heard a gunshot and sent his cavalry to safety in Culpepper. When the battle was over at 4 P.M., 866 Federal troops were killed and only 523 Confederates were killed. The Confederate causalities included Lee's son who was shot in the thigh in the fighting but didn't die. The Battle of Winchester took place on June 13. Lee sent Ewell's Corps II ahead of the rest of the Confederate Army to Winchester. The Union Commander at Winchester was named Milroy. He was ordered to go to Harper's Ferry to get a better defensive position but Milroy insisted that he could stop any Confederate attack. He moved all of his men into three forts surrounding the city. The Confederate troops attacked all three forts and Milroy thought that he was being surrounded but Ewell knew that Milroy would think this so before Milroy retreated Ewell sent a force of 3,500 soldiers to ambush Milroy. The battle between the retreating Union soldiers and the 3,500 men that Ewell sent ahead took place at Stephenson's Depot. This battle was fought from 3 A.M. until dawn on the morning of June 14th. The Confederate Corps II came out of both battles victorious. The Confederate forces inflicted 433 casualties, 3388 captured, 23 guns captured, and 300 wagons full of supplies. The Confederate forces only lost 269 men. The Union officers General Kilpatrick and Colonel Duffie were going to rendezvous at Middleburg but once Kilpatrick arrived at Middleburg he found himself surrounded by three brigades of Confederate forces. Kilpatrick did manage to get away from the Confederate troops but it took him three days and cost him 200 of his men. The battle of Upperville began when Jeb Stuart's cavalry withdrew to a ridge west of Middleburg, to pursue Union General Greggs division of men. Union General Pleasanton pushed Jeb Stuart's cavalry eight miles west of Upperville on June 21st. Stuart then tried to retreat through Ashby's Gap. General Greggs fought a small melee against Confederate General Wade Hampton. Then one mile North of Upperville US General Buford was stopped by CS general Jones. In this skirmish, The US received 613 dead, wounded, or captured, while the CS only received 510 dead, wounded, or captured. General Hooker was the supreme commander of the Army of the Potomac during the battle at Chancellorsville which the Confederates lost. Lincoln thought that Hooker made a mistake at Chancellorsville because he thought the war could have been won then. Hooker resigned six days before the battle of Gettysburg. Meade was then ordered to take Hookers place. Meade refused at first but then accepted. Lincoln and his cabinet wanted to fire Hooker but it would look bad politically, so they waited for him to mess up and then they hoped he would resign. This indeed did happen as they planned. When Hooker resigned he thought he would have to argue for it nut Lincoln and his Cabinet gave it to him without and resistance. Meade wasn't sure what he was going to do when he was given the command of the Army of the Potomac
Some common words found in the essay are:
Emmittsburg Rd, Round Top, Iverson Iverson, Herr Ridge, Marcellus Jones, Corps II, Jefferson Davis', Jeb Stuart, Pickett Longstreet, Oak Ridge, round top, cs troops, little round top, battle gettysburg, little round, cemetary hill, willoughby run, herr ridge, xi corps, union line, brandy station, ewell attack lee, jeb stuart's cavalry, arrived herr ridge, lee arrived herr,
Approximate Word count = 2454
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
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