NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
Lee at Gettysburg Since the battle of the First Bull Run two years elapsed before the decisive battle of Gettysburg. Many battles were fought during this period. They were Shiloh, Seven Pines, The Seven Days, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Stones River, and Chancellorsville. In theses battles the outcome was either indecisive or a victory for the South.
After these major battles, Lee decided to move his army north into Pennsylvania with the thought of encircling Washington. This danger was clear to the Union and they moved their army out to stop Lees northward movements. This set the stage for the Battle of Gettysburg. Patrols of the two armies first sighted each other west of the small town of Gettysburg on the afternoon of June 30, 1863. Ten roads in southern Pennsylvania connected in Gettysburg including a road from Washington D. C.
Gettysburg had no military significance, but it was a transportation center and therefore it was a natural place for the armies to come together and fight. If the South were victorious in Gettysburg then they would have a direct route to Washington D. C. Both Lee and Meade were many miles away when the battle began and could exert no early influence on its course. Neither commander wanted to fight at Gettysburg, but since it stood at the junction of ten roads, it was the only option so they quickly poured troops into the area.
In order to fully assess the battle of Gettysburg, it is necessary to discuss the commanders in charge of both armies. The victor of Gettysburg, George G. Meade does not rank with the great generals of the Civil War in part because of his eclipse in the last year of the conflict by the presence of General Ulysses S. Grant. Born of American parents in Cadiz, Spain, December 31, 1815 -where his father had run into financial and legal difficulties as a result of the Napoleonic Wars-he was appointed to West Point from Pennsylvania. Graduating in 1835, he served a year in the artillery before resigning to become a civil engineer.
After some difficulty in finding employment he reentered the army in 1842 and earned a brevet in Mexico. Meade's success in Gettysburg was tempered however with criticism over his decision not to pursue the retreating rebels immediately after the battle. Lincoln kept him in command of the army of the Potomac until the end of the war. Meade became this army's longest-serving and most successful leader. One of the most highly esteemed of Union corps commanders, General John F. Reynolds was destined to fall in the defense of his native state.
The Pennsylvanian West Pointer (1841) had been posted to the artillery with which he won two Mexican War brevets. In the interwar period he was an instructor and commandant of cadets at West Point and upon the outbreak of the Civil War was made second in command of one of the newly authorized regular army infantry regiments. His corps played only a minor role at Chancellorsville, and he became disgusted with Hooker's leadership. By now a major general and senior corps commander, he heard rumors of his pending appointment to command the Army of the Potomac. He rushed to Washington and in a meeting with Lincoln declared that he would not accept the post unless the usual strings from the capital were severed.
Thus Meade ended up in command of the army and Reynolds was in charge of three corps on the first day at Gettysburg. With his command heavily out numbered in the field, he realized that he had to reinforce the position being held by John Buford's troopers. While placing the first of his infantry in line he was instantly killed by a Confederate shot. Accounts vary as to whether it was a stray bullet or one from a sharpshooter.
As the ambulance carrying his body passed by the troops advancing to the victory, which he had done so much to make possible it cast a pall of sadness over the regiments. At the beginning of the Civil War, Buford had been promoted to Captain and was serving as an assistant inspector general. By late 1862 he had risen quickly to the rank of Brigadier General, replacing General John P. Hatch. He was now in charge of a cavalry brigade in the Army of the Potomac. Over the next year he would see several skirmishes and battles, mostly in Virginia.
He would also carry on a rivalry with Confederate General J. E. B. Stuart.
This rivalry would come to a head when both men's forces would clash in the largest cavalry battle ever fought in the Western Hemisphere, the Battle of Brandy Station. During the year from late 1862 - late 1863 Buford would turn the Union Cavalry into a force to be reckoned with. He used tactics he had learned in the 1855 Harney Expedition, such as dismounted and concentrated attacks and rapid movement. All of this came into play in the most important battle of his career, Gettysburg.
General Chamberlain was thirty four years old during the battle of Gettysburg. He preferred to be called Lawrence. He was a tall, handsome man and was married to a woman named Harriet Breeches. He was also a very educated man being a professor at Bowdoin University and speaking seven different languages.
Chamberlain wanted to be a soldier his whole life. He planned to take a sabbatical to France but instead signed up for the Twentieth Regiment of Infantry in Maine. At the battle of Gettysburg he was ordered to defend Little Round Top as the flank, or end of the Union line. He stopped the Confederates from going around the Union line by ending the battle with a bayonet charge when his troops ran low on ammunition.
His bayonet charge was successful and he defended Little Round Top. General Robert E. Lee was the commander of the Southern army. He was a graduate of West Point and later fought in the Mexican War. He began his invasion of the North on June 15, 1861. He gathered 70, 000 men made up of rebels and volunteers.
Lee was 57 years old during the battle of Gettysburg and was five foot ten inches tall. He had a white beard and always wore a gray uniform with a felt hat. He thought novels and plays weakened the mind. He didnt own slaves nor believed in slavery but didnt believe that the Negro could be considered equal to whites. He was a man who never lost his temper and never complained which was why he was such a good leader. At the start of the war Abraham Lincoln wanted Lee to be the commander of the North but Lee refused to accept the offer because he was from Virginia and he decided to lead the Southern army.
After the war as part of Lees punishment the Arlington National Cemetery was made on his estate across from the Potomac River. General Longstreet was forty-two years old during the battle of Gettysburg. He was second in command and was a very large man. He wasnt from Virginia but he was still Lees right hand man. He was a crude man and had a full, long beard.
Longstreet invented a theory of defensive warfare, which helped the South win many battles. That winter three of his children died from a fever. He was also known as the Dutchman and Old Pete. On the third day of Gettysburg he told Lee not to attack right up the middle but Lee disapproved his request and the South lost the battle. Pickett was forty-two when fighting in Gettysburg. He graduated last in his class from West Point.
He was in love with a schoolgirl half his age named La Salle Corbelle and was good friends with Abe Lincoln. He made one of the final attacks at Gettysburg by charging up the middle but the plan failed and most of his brigade died. The charge was later named, Pickett's Charge. Jeb Stuart was thirty years old during Gettysburg. He was not only a banjo player, but also the leader of the cavalry. He was the type of man who loved to read about himself in the Richmond newspapers.
He was a dashing soldier who wore a plumed hat and a red lined cape. He was one of the best known cavalry leaders of the Civil War. Stuart rose to Major General in July 1861 and was given command of all cavalry in the Army of Northern Virginia. Raiding and scouting over wide areas, his troops became Lees eyes and ears. His mission during the battle was to keep Lee informed of the movement of the Union Army, but he failed. He was unsure of himself at Gettysburg.
His failure to drive the Federals from the ridges south of town proved to be a critical factor in the outcome of the battle. Another Confederate failing was the absence of Jeb Stuarts Southern cavalry. Stuart was spending too much time raiding through Pennsylvania and not enough time supplying badly needed information on federal troop movements. On May 11, 1864, Stuart was mortally wounded in a cavalry fight outside Richmond. He died the following day. Lees cavalry was never as effective there after.
On the warm morning of July 1 st, 1863, a small Union cavalry brigade encountered two brigades of advancing confederate troops. With breech loading carbines, the Union troops were capable of getting off eight shots per minute to the Confederate's three. Despite smaller numbers, the Union's technology held the Confederates at bay. Quickly both sides called for reinforcements, and the Battle picked up. The first day was fought fiercely at high cost to those present, but was nothing compared to what was to come. That first day, several thousand federals managed to make it up Cemetery Ridge, a strategic lookout over the field.
General Buford's quick thinking made this decision important for the rest of the battle. By nightfall, the federals had a defensive line three and...
Free research essays on topics related to: civil war, army of the potomac, second in command, battle of gettysburg, washington d c
Research essay sample on Washington D C Battle Of Gettysburg
