Okla-homey
7/1/2006, 07:25 AM
July 1, 1863 The Battle of Gettysburg begins
143 years ago, the largest military conflict in North American history begins this day when Federal and Confederate forces collide at a little transportation hub in southern Pennsylvania called Gettysburg. The epic battle lasted three days and resulted in a retreat to Virginia by Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and the beginning of the end of Southern hopes for independence.
Two months prior to Gettysburg, Lee had dealt a stunning defeat to the Army of the Potomac at Chancellorsville whwn he defied military logic and split his outnumbered army and thrashed the Unionist force. He then made plans for a Northern invasion in order to relieve pressure on war-weary Virginia and to seize the initiative from the Yankees.
Lee's army, numbering about 80,000, began moving on June 3. The Army of the Potomac, commanded by Joseph Hooker and numbering just under 100,000, began moving shortly thereafter, staying between Lee and Washington, D.C. But on June 28, frustrated by the Lincoln administration's restrictions on his autonomy as commander, Hooker resigned and was replaced by George G. Meade.
Meade took command of the Army of the Potomac as Lee's army moved into Pennsylvania. On the morning of July 1, advance units of the forces came into contact with one another just outside of Gettysburg. The sound of battle attracted other units, and by noon the conflict was raging.
http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/9965/gus13rz.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
On the first morning, Maj General John Buford commanded the First Division of of Meade's cavalry corps. The hard-riding Kentuckian put his troopers in position to block Lee's lead division commanded by Harry Heth and held on for two hours until the infantry under Reynolds arrived. At the base of Buford's monument on MacPherson's ridge at the spot he chose to hold are the rifled cannon used by his attached artillery which fired the first shots of the battle.
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/9006/gcannon28zt.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
During the first hours of battle, Union General John Reynolds was killed, and the Yankees found that they were outnumbered. The battle lines ran around the northwestern rim of Gettysburg. The Confederates applied pressure all along the Union front, and they slowly drove the Yankees through the town.
http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/5933/greynoldbuford5xs.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Reynolds and Buford
By evening, the Federal troops rallied on high ground on the southeastern edge of Gettysburg. As more troops arrived, Meade's army formed a three-mile long, fishhook-shaped line running from Culp's Hill on the right flank, along Cemetery Hill and Cemetery Ridge, to the base of Little Round Top.
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/813/gmap40nq.gif (http://imageshack.us)
The Battle of Gettysburg begins: On the morning of July 1, 1863, Confederate cavalry ran into Union horsemen on the Cashtown Road, northwest of town. Each side sent for help. The rebels got there first, and by afternoon had driven the Federals south of town, where they rallied into defensive positions on Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill.
The Confederates held Gettysburg, and stretched along a six-mile arc around the Union position. For the next two days, Lee would batter each end of the Union position, and on July 3, he would launch one of the most famous assaults in military history against the Union center.
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/5087/gpfanzgettysburgafloat9xn.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Wanna read more about Day One at Gettysburg? Best book in print out there IMHO.
http://img60.imageshack.us/img60/1593/insane7zo4ls.jpg
143 years ago, the largest military conflict in North American history begins this day when Federal and Confederate forces collide at a little transportation hub in southern Pennsylvania called Gettysburg. The epic battle lasted three days and resulted in a retreat to Virginia by Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and the beginning of the end of Southern hopes for independence.
Two months prior to Gettysburg, Lee had dealt a stunning defeat to the Army of the Potomac at Chancellorsville whwn he defied military logic and split his outnumbered army and thrashed the Unionist force. He then made plans for a Northern invasion in order to relieve pressure on war-weary Virginia and to seize the initiative from the Yankees.
Lee's army, numbering about 80,000, began moving on June 3. The Army of the Potomac, commanded by Joseph Hooker and numbering just under 100,000, began moving shortly thereafter, staying between Lee and Washington, D.C. But on June 28, frustrated by the Lincoln administration's restrictions on his autonomy as commander, Hooker resigned and was replaced by George G. Meade.
Meade took command of the Army of the Potomac as Lee's army moved into Pennsylvania. On the morning of July 1, advance units of the forces came into contact with one another just outside of Gettysburg. The sound of battle attracted other units, and by noon the conflict was raging.
http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/9965/gus13rz.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
On the first morning, Maj General John Buford commanded the First Division of of Meade's cavalry corps. The hard-riding Kentuckian put his troopers in position to block Lee's lead division commanded by Harry Heth and held on for two hours until the infantry under Reynolds arrived. At the base of Buford's monument on MacPherson's ridge at the spot he chose to hold are the rifled cannon used by his attached artillery which fired the first shots of the battle.
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/9006/gcannon28zt.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
During the first hours of battle, Union General John Reynolds was killed, and the Yankees found that they were outnumbered. The battle lines ran around the northwestern rim of Gettysburg. The Confederates applied pressure all along the Union front, and they slowly drove the Yankees through the town.
http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/5933/greynoldbuford5xs.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Reynolds and Buford
By evening, the Federal troops rallied on high ground on the southeastern edge of Gettysburg. As more troops arrived, Meade's army formed a three-mile long, fishhook-shaped line running from Culp's Hill on the right flank, along Cemetery Hill and Cemetery Ridge, to the base of Little Round Top.
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/813/gmap40nq.gif (http://imageshack.us)
The Battle of Gettysburg begins: On the morning of July 1, 1863, Confederate cavalry ran into Union horsemen on the Cashtown Road, northwest of town. Each side sent for help. The rebels got there first, and by afternoon had driven the Federals south of town, where they rallied into defensive positions on Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill.
The Confederates held Gettysburg, and stretched along a six-mile arc around the Union position. For the next two days, Lee would batter each end of the Union position, and on July 3, he would launch one of the most famous assaults in military history against the Union center.
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/5087/gpfanzgettysburgafloat9xn.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Wanna read more about Day One at Gettysburg? Best book in print out there IMHO.
http://img60.imageshack.us/img60/1593/insane7zo4ls.jpg