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GETTYSBURG
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GETTYSBURG , a See also:borough and the See also:county-seat of See also: Gettysburg was settled about 1740, was laid out in 1787, was made the county-seat in 1800, and was incorporated as a borough in 1806.
Battle of Gettysburg.—The battle of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of See also:July 1863 is often regarded as the turning-point of the See also:American Civil War (q.v.) although it arose from a See also:chance encounter. See also: See also:Abner See also:Doubleday, was taken over by Gen. 0.0. See also:Howard, the commander of the XI. corps, which took See also:post to See also:bar the way to Ewell on the See also:north See also:side. But Ewell's attack, led by the fiery Jubal See also:Early, swiftly drove back the XI. corps to Gettysburg; the I. corps, with its flank thus laid open, See also:fell back also, and the remnants of both Federal corps retreated through Gettysburg to the Cemetery Hill position. They had lost severely in the struggle against See also:superior See also:numbers, and there had been some disorder in the See also:retreat. Still a formidable See also:line of See also:defence was taken up on Cemetery Hill and both Ewell and Lee refrained from further attacks, for the Confederates had also lost heavily during the See also:day and their concentration was not See also:complete. In the meanwhile Meade had sent forward General W. S. See also:Hancock, the commander of the Federal II. corps, to examine the See also:state of affairs, and on Hancock's See also:report he decided to fight on the Cemetery Hill position. Two corps of his army were still distant, but the XII. arrived before See also:night, the III. was near, and Han-See also:cock moved the II. corps on his own initiative. Headquarters and the See also:artillery reserve started for Gettysburg on the night of the 1st. On the other side, the last divisions of Hill's and Ewell's corps formed up opposite the new Federal position, and Longstreet's corps prepared to attack its See also:left. Owing, however, to misunderstandings between Lee and Longstreet (q.v.), the Confederates did not attack early on the See also:morning of the and, so that Meade's army had plenty of time to make its dispositions. The Federal line at this time occupied the See also:horse-See also:shoe ridge, the right of which was formed by Culp's Hill, and the centre by the Cemetery hill, whence the left wing stretched southward, the III. corps on the left, however, being thrown forward considerably. The XII. held Culp's, the remnant of the I. and XI. the Cemetery hills. On the left was the II., and in its advanced position—the famous " Salient "—the III., soon to be supported by the V.; the VI., with the reserve artillery, formed the general reserve. It was See also:late in the day when the Confederate attack was made, and valuable time had been lost, but Longstreet's troops advanced with See also:great spirit. The III. corps Salient was the scene of desperate fighting; and the " See also:Peach See also:Orchard " and the " See also:Devil's Den " became as famous as the " Bloody See also:Angle " of See also:Spottsylvania or the " Hornets' See also:Nest " of See also:Shiloh. While the Confederate attack was developing, the important positions of See also:Round See also:Top and Little Round Top were unoccupied by the defenders—an omission which was repaired only in the nick of time by the commanding engineer of the army, General G. K. See also:Warren, who hastily called up troops of the V. corps. The attack of a Confederate division was, after a hard struggle, repulsed, and the Federals retained See also:possession of the Round Tops. The III. corps in the meantime, furiously attacked by troops of Hill's and Longstreet's corps, was steadily pressed back, and the Confederates actually penetrated the See also:main line of the defenders, though for want of support the brigades which achieved this were quickly driven out. Ewell, on the Confederate left, waited for the See also:sound of Longstreet's guns, and thus no attack was made by him until late in the day. Here Culp's Hill was carried with ease by one of Ewell's divisions, most of the Federal XII. corps having been withdrawn to aid in the fight on the other wing; but Early's division was re-pulsed in its efforts to See also:storm Cemetery Hill, and the two divisions of the centre (one of Hill's, one of Ewell's corps) remained inactive.. That no decisive success had been obtained by Lee was clear to all, but Ewell's men on Culp's Hill, and Longstreet's corps below Round Top, threatened to turn both flanks of the Federal position, which was no longer a compact horsehoe but had been considerably prolonged to the left; and many of the See also:units in the Federal army had been severely handled in the two days' fighting. Meade, however, after discussing the eventuality of a retreat with his corps commanders, made up his mind to hold his ground. Lee now decided to alter his See also:tactics. The broken ground near Round Top offered so many obstacles that he decided not to See also:press Longstreet's attack further. Ewell was to resume his attack on Meade's extreme right, while the decisive See also:blow was to be given in the centre (between Cemetery Hill and Trostle's) by an See also:assault delivered in the See also:Napoleonic manner by the fresh troops of Pickett's division (Longstreet's corps). Meade, however, was not disposed to resign Culp's Hill, and with it the command of the Federal line of retreat, to Ewell, and at early See also:dawn on the 3rd a division of the XII. corps, well supported by artillery, opened the Federal See also:counter-attack; the Confederates made a strenuous resistance, but after four See also:hours' hard fighting the other division of the XII. corps, and a See also:brigade of the VI., intervened with decisive effect, and the Confederates were driven off the hill. The defeat of Ewell did not, however, cause Lee to alter his plans. Pickett's division was to See also:lead in the great assault, supported by See also:part of Hill's corps (the latter, however, had already been engaged). See also:Colonel E. P. See also: Hancock made a fierce counterstroke, and the remnant of the Confederates retreated. Of Pickett's own division over three-quarters, 3393 See also:officers and men out of 4500, were left on the field, two of his three brigadiers were killed and the third wounded, and of fifteen regimental commanders ten were killed and five wounded. One See also:regiment lost go% of its numbers. The failure of this assault practically ended the battle; but Lee's line was so formidable that Meade did not in his turn send forward the Army of the Potomac. By the morning of the 5th of July Lee's army was in full retreat for Virginia. He had lost about 30,000 men in killed, wounded and missing out of a See also:total force of perhaps 75,000. Meade's losses were over 23,000 out of about 82,000 on the field. The main See also:body of the cavalry on both sides was absent from the field, but a determined cavalry action was fought on the 3rd of July between the Confederate cavalry under J. E. B. See also:Stuart and that of the Federals under D. McM. Gregg some See also:miles E. of the battlefield, and other Federal cavalry made a dashing charge in the broken ground south-west of Round Top on the third day, inflicting thereby, though at great loss to them-selves, a temporary check on the right wing of Longstreet's infantry. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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