American Civil WarStuff Happened · War
Battle · Eastern Theatre
Battle of Gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg · Thure de Thulstrup, 1887 · public domain
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Lay of the land
How they got there
Lee marches north. The armies converge blindly toward a Pennsylvania crossroads town with ten roads.
2Day 1 · July 1
McPherson’s Ridge
Heth (South) blunders into Buford (North). Reynolds (North) is killed. By evening the Union has been pushed back to Cemetery Hill.
3Day 2 · July 2
The Hooks
Longstreet (South) swings around to hit the Union left. The 20th Maine holds at the end of the line.
4Day 3 · July 3
Pickett’s Charge
Twelve thousand five hundred men across three-quarters of a mile of open ground. About half do not come back.
5Aftermath
The retreat & the Address
Lee withdraws south through ten days of rain. Five months later Lincoln dedicates the cemetery in two minutes.