The Battle of Gettysburg
Becausemuch of the Civil War had been fought in
Southern states, Confederate General Robert E. Lee
decided to take his army to a northern state. That
northern state was Pennsylvania. Recall in Lesson 1
that theMason-Dixon Line was the dividing boundary
between northern and southern states. When the
Southern army invaded Pennsylvania in June 1863,
one of themost monstrous battles of the Civil War was
fought at
Gettysburg
, Pennsylvania. This fight is
classified as one of the bloodiest battles on the North
American continent.
On July 1, 1863, General Lee’s army was scattered
among several Pennsylvania communities looking for
supplies. The Northern army was looking for the
Southern army. While searching Gettysburg for
supplies, small segments of the Southern army spied a
Northern army cavalry patrol. The scene was set for a
three day battle. After the two armies clashed,
messengers for each side were sent in all directions.
With ten roads leading into Gettysburg, it was a natural
place for the two armies to
converge
.
And converge they did, upon a small town of 2,400
people. A total of 172,000men fromboth sides
rushed to the Gettysburg battle site with their 634
cannons. When the battle ended on July 3rd, the
armies had sufferedmore than 51,000
casualties
with
over 5,000 dead horses. Lee’s Southern army
retreated to Virginia. The Northern army was left to
clean up the dreadful results. This battle became
known as the HighWater Mark of the Confederacy.
However, the war continued for almost twomore years.
Most of the dead soldiers were not buried properly
and some were not even buried. Because of this, land
was purchased to provide a proper burial ground. This
site became known as the Gettysburg National
Cemetery. Since the Civil War, other American soldiers
have been buried in this cemetery.
W
ORDS
U
SED FOR
N
ORTHERN
S
OLDIERS
Northern Troops
Union
Federals
Yankees
Billy Yank
blue bellies
78
Understanding Pennsylvania
Photography was in its
infancy during the Civil
War. Photographers
captured the brutal,
grisly aspects of war by
photographing soldiers
killed during the
Battle of Gettysburg.
