Battle of Gettysburg
What was supposed to last 90 days, now dragged on for more than two years. It was apparent, now more than ever, that little was being accomplished but the taking of hundreds of thousands of lives. The war between the Union and Confederacy had been in a sort of deadlock where each side could claim victories as easy as defeats. By this time the south had the upper hand "militarily wise," just coming off a magnificent tactical victory at Chancellorsville in May. General Lee headed the Confederacy's, Army of Northern Virginia, General Meade headed the Union's Army of the Potomac. Both sides saw the need to win that one, crucial victory to turn the tide completely in their favor. They would get their chances at a small town in Pennsylvania. The battle was dubbed the Battle of Gettysburg for the town of Gettysburg, PA. By June of 1863 General Lee asked President Davis to march his army north out of VA. Davis granted Lee permission. Lee, with 75,000 troops, made his way north, just west of the Blue Ridge Mountains into Maryland. Lee made haste in doing so. He wanted the advantage to set up a defensive position forcing the Union to attack him there. His troops went from town to town for food and supplies. On June 28th they crossed into Pennsylvania and toward Gettysburg. Upon arrival about a mile northwest of town, Colonel Buford's cavalry unit met Lee's III Corps headed by General Hood. Much to his disappointment his troops had began to fight without his acknowledgement. Meanwhile, the Army of the Potomac was hot on Lee's heels but marched east of the Blue Ridge so as not to be detected. Meade with 100,000 men would arrive piece by piece in the next two days from the south of town. The battle was inevitable and it began here in a little known farm town. Both sides knew that Antietam was just a prelude, a year earlier, to the carnage which was to come. General and soldier alike could see what was unraveling. These armies saw a similar scenario the first time Lee