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, and the war's bloodiest battle, claiming some 50,000 combined casualties.
The Gettysburg Battlefield is the area of the July 1–3, 1863 military engagements of the Battle of Gettysburg within and around the borough of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Locations of military engagements extend from the 4-acre (1.6 ha) site of the first shot at Knoxlyn Ridge on the west of the borough, to East Cavalry Field on the east. A military engagement prior to the battle was conducted at the Gettysburg Railroad trestle over Rock Creek, which was burned on June 27.
Pickett's Charge, also known as the Pickett–Pettigrew–Trimble Charge, was an infantry assault ordered by Confederate General Robert E. Lee against Major General George G. Meade's Union positions on the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania during the Civil War. Confederate troops made a frontal assault toward the center of Union lines, ultimately being repulsed with heavy casualties. Suffering from a lack of preparation and problems from the onset, the attack was a costly mistake that decisively ended Lee's invasion of the north and forced a 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.
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.
Field artillery in the American Civil War refers to the artillery weapons, equipment, and practices used by the Artillery branch to support the infantry and cavalry forces in the field. It does not include siege artillery, use of artillery in fixed fortifications, or coastal or naval artillery. Nor does it include smaller, specialized artillery classified as small arms.
Seminary Ridge is a dendritic ridge that served as an area of military engagements during the Battle of Gettysburg, the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War, which was fought between July 1 and July 3, 1863 in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Seminary Ridge also served as a military installation during World War II.
Cadmus Marcellus Wilcox was a career United States Army officer who served in the Mexican–American War and also was a Confederate general during the American Civil War.
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.
Joseph White Latimer, "The Boy Major", was a promising young officer in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's artillery branch during the American Civil War. He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg and died four weeks later.
Big Round Top is a boulder-strewn hill notable as the topographic high point of the Gettysburg Battlefield and for 1863 American Civil War engagements for which Medals of Honor were awarded. In addition to battle monuments, a historic postbellum structure on the uninhabited hill is the Big Round Top Observation Tower Foundation Ruin.
John Lawrence Burns was an American soldier and constable. A veteran of the War of 1812, at age 69 he fought as a civilian combatant with the Union Army at the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. He was wounded, but survived to become a national celebrity.
Henry Baxter was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. At the Battle of Gettysburg, his brigade resisted a Confederate assault from parts of Maj. Gen. Robert E. Rodes's division, slaughtering hundreds in a surprise attack on BG Alfred Iverson's brigade, and held the north flank of the Union position for much of the day before retiring due to lack of ammunition. He was wounded four times during the war. He later served as President Grant's Minister to Honduras.
Gabriel René Paul was a career officer in the United States Army most noted for his service during the Seminole Wars and the Mexican–American War and as a Union Army general in the American Civil War.
Horatio Stockton Howell was a Union Army chaplain killed in downtown Gettysburg on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War.
The railway cut of the Gettysburg Battlefield was the place of an 1863 military engagement during the first Day of the Battle of Gettysburg, near the Edward McPherson farmhouse. It was an excavation in which railroad tracks had not yet been placed, but which provided a deep entrenchment. During the day, units from the Union Army of the Potomac deployed near the railway cut to contest the attacks of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The Confederates were held off during the morning and early afternoon but were able to drive off the Union army due to superior numbers.
The Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center is a Gettysburg National Military Park facility, with a museum about the American Civil War, the 1884 Gettysburg Cyclorama, and the tour center for licensed Battlefield Guides and for buses to see the Gettysburg Battlefield and Eisenhower National Historic Site.
The 1938 Gettysburg reunion was an encampment of American Civil War veterans on the Gettysburg Battlefield for the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. The gathering included approximately 25 veterans of the battle with a further 1,359 Federal and 486 Confederate attendees out of the 8,000 living veterans of the war. The veterans averaged 94 years of age. Transportation, quarters, and subsistence was federally funded for each veteran and their accompanying attendant. If an attendant was needed it was provided. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's July 3 reunion address preceded the unveiling of the Eternal Light Peace Memorial; a newsreel with part of the address was included in the Westinghouse Time Capsule for the 1939 New York World's Fair.
The 3rd Alabama Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. The 3rd Alabama consisted mainly of men from the Alabama counties of Autauga, Coosa, Lowndes, Macon, Mobile and Montgomery.
