The Battle of Gettysburg was a three-day battle in the American Civil War fought between Union and Confederate forces between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, which was won by the Union, is widely considered the Civil War's turning point, ending the Confederacy's aspirations to establish an independent nation. It was the Civil War's bloodiest battle, claiming over 50,000 combined casualties over three days. Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Potomac defeated attacks by Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, halting Lee's invasion of the North and forcing his retreat.
Pickett's Charge was an infantry assault on 3 July 1863, during the Battle of Gettysburg. It was ordered by Confederate General Robert E. Lee as part of his plan to break through Union lines and achieve a decisive victory in the North. The charge was named after Major General George Pickett, one of the Confederate Army's division commanders. The assault was aimed at the center of the Union Army's position on Cemetery Ridge, which was believed to be a vulnerable point in the Union defenses. As the Confederate troops marched across nearly a mile of open ground, they came under heavy artillery and rifle fire from entrenched Union forces. The open terrain offered little cover, making the Confederate soldiers easy targets, and their ranks were quickly decimated. Although a small number of the Confederate soldiers managed to reach the Union lines and engage in hand-to-hand combat, they were ultimately overwhelmed. The charge ended in a disastrous defeat for the Confederates, with more than half of the men involved either killed, wounded, or captured. Pickett's Charge marked the climax of the Battle of Gettysburg. The failure of the charge crushed the Confederate Army's hopes of winning a decisive victory in the North and forced General Lee to retreat back to Virginia.
Cemetery Hill is a landform on the Gettysburg Battlefield that was the scene of fighting each day of the Battle of Gettysburg. The northernmost part of the Army of the Potomac defensive "fish-hook" line, the hill is gently sloped and provided a site for American Civil War artillery.
Culp's Hill, which is about 3⁄4 mi (1,200 m) south of the center of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, played a prominent role in the Battle of Gettysburg. It consists of two rounded peaks, separated by a narrow saddle. Its heavily wooded higher peak is 630 ft (190 m) above sea level. The lower peak is about 100 feet shorter than its companion. The eastern slope descends to Rock Creek, about 160 feet lower in elevation, and the western slope is to a saddle with Stevens Knoll with a summit 100 ft (30 m) lower than the main Culp's Hill summit. The hill was owned in 1863 by farmer Henry Culp and was publicized as "Culp's Hill" by October 31, 1865.
Alfred Iverson Jr. was a lawyer, an officer in the Mexican–American War, a U.S. Army cavalry officer, and a Confederate general in the American Civil War. He served in the 1862–63 campaigns of the Army of Northern Virginia as a regimental and later brigade commander. His career was fatally damaged by a disastrous infantry assault at the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg. General Robert E. Lee removed Iverson from his army and sent him to cavalry duty in Georgia. During the Atlanta Campaign, he achieved a notable success in a cavalry action near Macon, Georgia, capturing Union Army Maj. Gen. George Stoneman and hundreds of his men.
Cemetery Ridge is a geographic feature in Gettysburg National Military Park, south of the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, that figured prominently in the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1 to July 3, 1863. It formed a primary defensive position for the Union Army during the battle, roughly the center of what is popularly known as the "fish-hook" line. The Confederate States Army launched attacks on the Union positions on the second and third days of the battle, but were driven back both times.
The first day of the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War took place on July 1, 1863, and began as an engagement between isolated units of the Army of Northern Virginia under Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the Army of the Potomac under Union Maj. Gen. George G. Meade. It soon escalated into a major battle which culminated in the outnumbered and defeated Union forces retreating to the high ground south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
During the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee attempted to capitalize on his first day's accomplishments. His Army of Northern Virginia launched multiple attacks on the flanks of the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade. The assaults were unsuccessful, and resulted in heavy casualties for both sides.
On the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg during the disastrous infantry assault nicknamed Pickett's Charge, there were two cavalry battles: one approximately three miles (5 km) to the east, in the area known today as East Cavalry Field, the other southwest of the [Big] Round Top mountain.
Isaac Erwin Avery was a planter and an officer in the Confederate States Army. He died at the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. Avery is most remembered for a poignant blood-stained note that he wrote as he lay dying on the slopes of Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg.
The Philadelphia Brigade was a Union Army brigade that served in the American Civil War. It was raised primarily in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with the exception of the 106th regiment which contained men from Lycoming and Bradford counties.
William Hays was a career officer in the United States Army, serving as a Union Army general during the American Civil War.
The 75th Ohio Infantry Regiment, sometimes 75th Ohio Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment from southwestern Ohio in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the Eastern Theater, most notably in the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg and then in the siege operations against Charleston, South Carolina.
Archibald Livingston McDougall was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War who commanded the 123rd New York Volunteer Infantry early in the war and subsequently led a brigade at the Battle of Gettysburg.
George Lamb Willard was an officer in the United States Army who served in the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War. He lost his life leading a brigade in the II Corps at the Battle of Gettysburg. Colonel Willard was the namesake of Fort Willard.
Sylvanus Tunning Rugg was an officer in the Union Army who commanded an artillery battery at the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War, as well as in other leading battles of the Army of the Potomac. He also served in the Western Theater late in his career.
The 20th Connecticut Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War. Formed in July 1862, the regiment served in both the eastern and western theaters until it was disbanded after the war ended.
Greenlief Thurlow Stevens (1831–1918) commanded the 5th Maine Battery in the American Civil War. His battery is commemorated by a monument on Stevens' Knoll, named for him, on the Gettysburg Battlefield. It was among the first parts of the battlefield purchased for preservation.
The 58th New York Infantry Regiment, also called the Polish Legion, was an infantry regiment of United States Volunteers in Union Army service during the American Civil War. The regiment was composed almost entirely of immigrant volunteers: Poles, Germans, Danes, Italians, Russians, and Frenchmen, most of whom were recruited in New York City in 1861.
The 8th Louisiana Infantry Regiment was a unit of volunteers recruited in Louisiana that fought in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Formed in June 1861, the regiment was sent to fight in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. Joining a brigade of Louisiana regiments, it fought in Jackson's Valley campaign and at Gaines' Mill, Malvern Hill, Second Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg in 1862. The regiment served at Chancellorsville, Second Winchester, Gettysburg in 1863. At Rappahannock Station in November 1863, most of the regiment was captured. The unit fought at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and the Valley campaigns of 1864. It served at Petersburg starting in December 1864 and surrendered at Appomattox in April 1865.
