A brief article on the military career of Civil War General George Gordon Meade (1815 - 1872) with particular attention paid to his leadership during the Battle of Gettysburg.
"Meade will not be ranked by the historians with the great commanders, but his career is that of a well-trained, capable, and patriotic soldier, and he must always be remembered in the history of the war and of the country as the General who, for the longest period in its history, held the command of the Army of the Potomac, and to whom came the well-deserved good fortune of winning with this army the decisive battle of the war."
Jesse W. Weik (1857 - 1930) was one of the earliest Lincoln scholars, and in the attached three page article he delved deeply into Lincoln's life in order to understand Lincoln and the thoughts behind his famous speech at Gettysburg:
"In preparation for Herndon and Weik's Life of Lincoln (1889), he visited every place in Illinois, Indianan and Kentucky where Abraham Lincoln lived; examined the records of all the lawsuits in which Lincoln was engaged, and talked to everyone he could find who knew Lincoln. For thirty years and more he has made a special study of the sources, written and unwritten, of the personal history of President Lincoln".
Click here to print American Civil War chronologies.
During the Battle of Gettysburg's fiftieth anniversary celebration that took place during the summer 1913, a surviving member of Virginia's Fifty-Sixth Regiment of Infantry encountered the Federal soldier who had saved his life at the Bloody Angle; this is the moving story of their encounter.
Johnny Reb and Billy Yank encountered each other once again - fifty years after the Union victory at Gettysburg:
"The conductor raised his baton and the strains of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' floated out upon the air. All of those gathered upon the dusky lawn - the Picketts, the Longstreets, the daughter of General A.P. Hill, the Meades, the long row of men in gray and gold - became silent, rose to their feet, and uncovered. That was Gettysburg fifty years afterward."
Click here to see the Confederate Uniform worn at the Reunions.
The weapons and tactics used at the Battle of Gettysburg were in no way different from those brought into use during other parts in the war. Just as war has always been practiced, weapons influence tactics and this article lists a variety of Civil War rifles and artillery pieces that were put to use during that three day battle. The author also goes to some length describing the manner in which Civil War regiments and brigades marched into battle and the deployment of their supporting artillery batteries.
In just two paragraphs this author nicely summed up the immediate aftermath of that remarkable battle at Gettysburg:
"Late on the afternoon of July 4, Lee began an orderly retreat. The wagon train of wounded, 17 miles in length, guarded by Imboden's cavalry, started homeward through Greenwood and Greencastle. At night, the able-bodied men marched over the Hagerstown Road by way of Monterey Pass to the Potomac..."
From Amazon: Retreat from Gettysburg: Lee, Logistics, and the Pennsylvania Campaign
Click here to read about the 1913 Gettysburg Reunion.
A clearly written piece which sums up the climactic third day of the Gettysburg battle:
"Night brought an end to the bloody combat at East Cemetery Hill, but this was not the time for rest. What would Meade do? Would the Union Army remain in its established position and hold its lines at all costs?"
"By the afternoon of July 2, the powerful forces of Meade and Lee were at hand, and battle on a tremendous scale was imminent. That part of the Union line extending diagonally across the valley between Seminary and Cemetery Ridges held. Late in the forenoon, General Dan Sickles, commanding the Third Corps which lay north of Little Round Top, sent Berdan's sharpshooters and some of the men of the 3rd Maine Regiment forward from Emmitsburg Road to Pitzer's Woods... as they reached the woods, a strong Confederate force fired upon them..."
An account of the inconclusive first day at Gettysburg:
"The two armies converge on Gettysburg - The men of Heth's division, leading the Confederate advance across the mountain, reached Cashtown on June 29. Pettigrew's brigade was sent on to Gettysburg the following day to obtain supplies, but upon reaching the ridge a mile west of the town, they observed a column of Union cavalry approaching..."
Click here to read a Confederate perspective of the first day at Gettysburg.
It was on the first day at Gettysburg that the Confederates made a terrible mistake. Read about it here.
"Our own losses were very severe, two thousand eight hundred and thirty-four killed, thirteen thousand seven hundred and nine wounded, and six thousand six hundred and forty-three missing - in all twenty-three thousand, one hundred and eighty-six."
"It is impossible, in a report of this nature, to enumerate all the the instances of gallantry and good conduct which distinguished our success on the hard-fought field of Gettysburg. The reports of corps commanders and their subordinates, herewith submitted, will furnish all information upon this subject."
Click here to read about the military record of U.S. General George Gordon Meade.
Click here to read about the finest generals of the American Civil War.
This article, from
Confederate Veteran Magazine, presented the drama of events as they unfolded on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg with an eye to specifically telling the tale of the North Carolina regiments and the part they played as the battle was taking shape. The author, Captain S.A. Ashe (author of the 1902 book, "The charge at Gettysburg") explained thoroughly which Confederate and Federal units arrived first at Gettysburg and at what hour, while indulging in just a little Monday morning quarterbacking:
"If General Longstreet, with his very fine corps, had struck the Federals early the next morning, there probably never would have been a third day at Gettysburg."
Attached is a Gettysburg reminiscence by one W.T. White, veteran of the
First Texas Regiment
who had documented his experience on Little Round Top in his earlier writings, but preferred to dwell on some other "glorious moments" on this page.
As a result of their charge up Little Round Top, the boys of the Twentieth Maine sent the First Texas Infantry to the bottom of the hill leaving 25 dead, 20 missing and 48 wounded.
This essay clearly states why the Battle of Gettysburg is a significant event in Civil War history, what the Rebels intended and why the battle was such a decisive victory for the Federal Army:
"In the first rush the Confederates were successful, the scattered Union regiments under General Hancock were pressed back. But on the second day, the main body of the Northern army under General Meade arrived, and the contest held even, with awful slaughter on both sides. The third day the Confederates made one last desperate charge..."
Abraham Lincoln: Short Story Writer...
A brief explanation as to what General Lee had in mind when he invaded the North in the Summer of 1863, why he chose a route through the Shenandoah and Cumberland valleys, where his army was actually headed and what the South had intended to gain if the campaign had been successful.
From Amazon:
Lee's Real Plan at Gettysburg
An article that looks back at some of the lost opportunities squandered by both armies, wondering if the outcome might have been different had their importance been recognized and properly exploited.
"At Gettysburg, the heat broke at last, and rain fell on July 4. As doctors and ambulances moved onto the scene, neither retreating Confederates nor jubilant Northerners recognized the great issue that had been decided on that field. Only a few sensed that the twilight of the Confederacy had come."
Read an article about how Victorian fashion saved a life during the Civil War.
For Jefferson Davis and his confederates, the double disasters of Gettysburg and Vicksburg that came with the summer of 1863 spelled doom for the Rebel cause. Writing in his diary during those canicular days was Confederate General Josiah Gorgas (1818 – 1883) who succinctly summarized the meaning of these two major defeats:
"Events have succeeded one another with disastrous rapidity. One brief month ago we were apparently at the point of success. Lee was in Pennsylvania, threatening Harrisburg, and even Philadelphia... Today absolute ruin seems to be our portion. The Confederacy totters to its destruction."
Alabama native John Purifoy was a regular contributor to Confederate Veteran Magazine and he wrote most often about the Battle of Gettysburg; one of his most often sited articles concerned the roll artillery played throughout the course of that decisive contest. In the attached article Purifoy summarized some of the key events from a rebel perspective. In the last paragraph he pointed out the one crucial error Lee soon came to regret - take a look.
In his
Civil War memoir
Confederate General John B. Gordon (1832 – 1904) recalled leading the spearhead of Lee's army through Gettysburg and on to the towns of York and Wrightsville on June 28th, 1863. While his procession was entering York a young girl ran up to him and handed him a large bouquet of flowers, which served to camouflage a letter from a Southern spy.
Click here to read more about Civil War espionage.
"The enemy was driven through Gettysburg with heavy loss, including about 5,000 prisoners and several pieces of artillery. He retired to a high range of his hills south and east of the town. The attack was not pressed that afternoon, the enemy's force being unknown, and it being considered advisable to await the arrival of of the rest of our troops."
[General] Picket's "column of assault consisted of 42 regiments: 19 Virginia, 15 North Carolina, 2 Alabama, 3 Tennessee and 3 Mississippi - a total of 15,000 men"
"Lt. Colonel Frementle (1835 – 1901), a member of the Coldstream Guards, was a guest of the Army of Northern Virginia during the Gettysburg campaign. After the Battle of Gettysburg, he returned to England and published
Three months in the Southern States
. The following is a vivid extract, describing a part of the battle from the Southern lines:
"The position into which the enemy had been driven was evidently a strong one. His right appeared to rest on a cemetery, on the top of a high ridge to the right of Gettysburg, as we looked at it."
"General Hill now came up and told me he had been very unwell all day, and in fact he looks very delicate. He said he had had two of his divisions engaged, and had driven the enemy four miles into his present position, capturing a great many prisoners, some cannon, and some colors; he said, however, that the Yankees had fought with a determination unusual to them."
Aside from baring an uncanny resemblance to an actor who wouldn't be born until 1958 (Kevin Bacon), Confederate General E.M. Law (1836 - 1920) would be remembered for taking charge of Hood's division after that commander was wounded at Gettysburg.
Here is a tongue-and-cheek piece of creative writing in which a New York-based scribe writes as if he is reporting on the Southern press and the joyous glee that was widely generated as a result of General Lee and his magnificent victory at Gettysburg...
