LEE DEFEATED AT GETTYSBURG:

July 3, 1863

On the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate General Robert E.
Lee's last attempt at breaking the Union line ends in disastrous failure,
bringing the most decisive battle of the American Civil War to an end.In June
1863, following his masterful victory at the Battle of Chancellorsville, General
Lee launched his second invasion of the Union in less than a year. He led his
75,000-man Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac River, through Maryland,
and into Pennsylvania, seeking to win a major battle on Northern soil that would
further dispirit the Union war effort and induce Britain or France to intervene
on the Confederacy's behalf. The 90,000-strong Army of the Potomac pursued the
Confederates into Maryland, but its commander, General Joseph Hooker, was still
stinging from his defeat at Chancellorsville and seemed reluctant to chase Lee
further. Meanwhile, the Confederates divided their forces and investigated
various targets, such as Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania capital.On June 28,
President Abraham Lincoln replaced Hooker with General George Meade, and Lee
learned of the presence of the Army of the Potomac in Maryland. Lee ordered his
army to concentrate in the vicinity of the crossroads town of Gettysburg and
prepare to meet the Federal army. At the same time, Meade sent ahead part of his
force into Pennsylvania but intended to make a stand at Pipe Creek in
Maryland.On July 1, a Confederate division under General Henry Heth marched into
Gettysburg hoping to seize supplies but finding instead three brigades of Union
cavalry. Thus began the Battle of Gettysburg, and Lee and Meade ordered their
massive armies to converge on the impromptu battle site. The Union cavalrymen
defiantly held the field against overwhelming numbers until the arrival of
Federal reinforcements. Later, the Confederates were reinforced, and by
mid-afternoon some 19,000 Federals faced 24,000 Confederates. Lee arrived to the
battlefield soon afterward and ordered a general advance that forced the Union
line back to Cemetery Hill, just south of the town.During the night, the rest of
Meade's force arrived, and by the morning Union General Winfield Hancock had
formed a strong Union line. On July 2, against the Union left, General James
Longstreet led the main Confederate attack, but it was not carried out until
about 4 p.m., and the Federals had time to consolidate their positions. Thus
began some of the heaviest fighting of the battle, and Union forces retained
control of their strategic positions at heavy cost. After three hours, the
battle ended, and the total number of dead at Gettysburg stood at 35,000.On July
3, Lee, having failed on the right and the left, planned an assault on Meade's
center. A 15,000-man strong column under General George Pickett was organized,
and Lee ordered a massive bombardment of the Union positions. The 10,000
Federals answered the Confederate artillery onslaught, and for more than an hour
the guns raged in the heaviest cannonade of the Civil War. At 3 p.m., Pickett
led his force into no-man's-land and found that Lee's bombardment had failed. As
Pickett's force attempted to cross the mile distance to Cemetery Ridge, Union
artillery blew great holes in their lines. Meanwhile, Yankee infantry flanked
the main body of "Pickett's charge" and began cutting down the Confederates.
Only a few hundred Virginians reached the Union line, and within minutes they
all were dead, dying, or captured. In less than an hour, more than 7,000
Confederate troops had been killed or wounded.Both armies, exhausted, held their
positions until the night of July 4, when Lee withdrew. The Army of the Potomac
was too weak to pursue the Confederates, and Lee led his army out of the North,
never to invade it again. The Battle of Gettysburg was the turning point in the
Civil War, costing the Union 23,000 killed, wounded, or missing in action. The
Confederates suffered some 25,000 casualties. On November 19, 1863, President
Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address during the dedication of a new
national cemetery at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg. The Civil War
effectively ended with the surrender of General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia
in April 1865.