How many people signed the Declaration of Independence in July4?

What happened in the civil war when it was in Pennsylvania?

The Battle of Gettysburg- By the spring of 1863 the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia was on the move. Due to the army's brilliant commander, General Robert E. Lee, the ANV (Army of Northern Virginia) had been enjoying several victories over the Union Army of the Potomac (AOP). In May of 1863 the ANV won what many historians consider to be their most brilliant victory at the Battle of Chancellorsville Virginia. Faced by a force outnumbering him by almost twice the number of men, Lee split his forces twice and took the Federals by complete surprise. Lee's first corps, led by the famous General Thomas "Stonwall" Jackson, outflanked the Union army and won a complete victory. Sadly, the night following the Battle of Chancellorsville, while out scouting the Federal position, General Jackson was accidentally confused for Union Cavalry by his own troops and was shot and wounded badly. Jackson lost his left arm due to the incident. Lee was later to have said that Jackson lost his left arm, but I lost my right arm. Stonewall Jackson was Lee's best field commander, and the loss of him affected Lee and the entire ANV. General Thomas Jackson died a week later from pneumonia as a complication following his wounding. - At the same time that Lee was fighting the Battle of Chancellorsville in the east. the city of Vicksburg Mississippi in the west was under seige by the western Union army commanded by General Ulysses S. Grant. Some of Confederate President Jefferson Davis' staff felt that Lee's second corps, led by General James Longstreet, should be detached from the ANV and head west to end the seige of Vicksburg. Lee had a different plan. He suggested that the ANV march north into Pennsylvania to force a major battle with the Federals, a victory in which would help end the war. President Davis agreed with Lee's plan and gave the "ok" for the invasion of the north. It should be mentioned that Lee had another motive for his plan to invade the north. Since the beginning of the war most of the battles had been fought around the Virginia countryside. This had caused the land to be completely decimated. Lee recognized that by invading Pennsylvania, which was full of lush farmland, the ANV could live off of the land there while giving relief to the Virginia farmers so that they could start to reclaim their farmland and replant their crops. So, in late May of 1863 the ANV began its long march towards Pennsylvania. They used the cover of the Shenandoah Mountains to screen their movements from the Union Army.- Meanwhile, the AOP was dealing with its own issues. Following their devastating loss at Chancellorsville, the Union force's morale was at an all time low. President Abraham Lincoln decided once again that it was time for a change in leadership. Since the beginning of the war, the AOP was plagued by poor leadership. General George McClellan, the first commanding general of the AOP, was hired and fired several times before being permanently relieved of duty. To his credit, General McClellan was responsible for training the army and turning it into the formidable fighting force that it was by 1863. By the Battle of Chancellorsville, the AOP was commanded by General Joseph "Fightin Joe" Hooker. Regretfully, General Hooker did not live up to his nickname. McClellan, Pope, Burnside, Hooker, Lee had defeated them all, and President Lincoln was still trying to find the General that could see the whole picture. The north had unlimited supplies of both arms and men. It was simply a numbers game as Lincoln saw it. Once he could fing the General who could recognizethat he would win the war. There was no possible way the south could compete with the north's unlimited supply line. And so, in May of 1863 President Lincoln chose his fifth commanding General of the AOP with the hopes that this would be the one to see the picture. The man chosen for the job was General George Gordon Meade. Meade, like Hooker, had a nickname. Many of his fellow officers called him an old "snapping turtle" because of his quick temper. However, temper aside, Meade was a calm, methodical and highly intelligent man and moreover carried with him respect from all of his fellow officers and enlisted men alike. Unlike McClellean he would not hesitate to engage the enemy. And unlike Hooker he was able to manoeuver his troops smartly in the face of the enemy. So now the stage was set for the most important battle of the Civil War...the Battle of Gettysburg.- July 1, 1863: the Confederate ANV had been in Pennsylvania for several days now. Lee had his camp near Cashtown PA, a few miles outside of Gettysburg. Gettysburg, although a small town as far as population is concerned, was an important strategic town. It was a crossroads for rail lines that ran to Baltimore and Washington, and north to Harrisburg PA where the Federals had an arsenal. By July 1 the AOP was just south of Gettysburg, near Pipe Creek Maryland. Federal cavalry, led by General John Buford, advanced north into Gettysburg in order to scout the Confederate positions. You see, due to the fact that Lee's army entered Pennsylvania before the Union army, the Southern troops came into town from the north, while the Northern troops came in from the south. While Buford's cavalry was scouting in Gettysburg, General Harry Heth of General Richard Ewell's Second Corps of the ANV...Ewell took command of the Second Corps following Stonewall Jackson's death... was asking permission to enter the town of Gettysburg to requisition a supply of shoes that were rumored to be stored there. Knowing that the Federal troops were miles away in Maryland, Early approved Heth's request under the order of General Lee that no troops that might be encountered were to be engaged. Heth set out for Gettysburg. Back in town General Buford was surveying the lay of the land. Buford was a great judge of topography... (lay of land)... and he recognized that Gettysburg was the perfect place for a great battle to take place. Along with the rail lines, Gettysburg was a crossroads for several roads leading to Washington. Buford knew that if Lee was able to get by the Federals he could march right through to the Federal capital. He also knew that if the Confederates were able to take the town before the Federals arrived he could take the high grounds outside of town and hold a great advantage in the battle to come. Buford was not about to let this happen. He vowed to hold the town until the army could arrive. As Heth was moving his troops down the Chambersburg Pike towards Gettysburg they saw Buford's cavalry, but at the time they assumed they were seeing local militia since the Federals were further south... *Note: As the Confederates were advancing towards Pennsylvania Lee gave his cavalry commander, General J.E.B. Stuart permission to take his cavalry and ride around the Union army in order to scout their movements. Lee approved this action with the stipulation that Stuart always be within range to provide reports and re-join the ANV at a moments notice. However, while on his ride around the Union army, Stuart and his troops got cut off from the ANV. They also decided to engage in several skirmished in which they acquisitioned many wagons andsupplies from the Union troops in order to deliver them to the ANV. The addition of this extra gear slowed Stuart's troops down even further, and as a result they were not able to join up with the ANV until the end of the second day of battle at Gettysburg. Hence, General Lee and his troops were moving blind throughout the land, as the cavalry's main job is to be the army's eyes ans ears while on the move.Buford also saw Heth's troops moving down the Chambersburg Pike. The decision he was about to make would change American history forever. He sent a message to General John Reynolds, the commander of the Union First Corps, who was the closest infantry corps to Gettysburg. His message stated that Confederate troops were moving on the town and he was going to hold them off as long as he could in order to give Reynolds and his troops time to reinforce them. Then the Union could bring the rest of its AOP up. Bufrod ordered his cavalry to form a semicircle around the town in order to protect it from the north, west, and northeast. He also ordered the cavalry to dismount for the fight to come. Buford used a textbook tactic in his deployment of the cavalry. They would form into groups of four. Three men would fight and the fourth man would hold the horses. Buford was confident in his ability to hold off the Confederates for a time even though he was vastly outnumbered. His cavalry did have some cannons, but they also had a technological advantage over the Confederates. Buford's cavalry troops carried the new Spencer repeating rifle. While the Confederates carried standard muzzle loaded muskets which could fire three bullets a minute in the hands of a good soldier, the Spencer repeating rifle held eight bullets and could fire all eight in succession before being reloaded. Also because the Confederates' rifles were muzzle loaded, the men had to stand in order to reload which made them vulnerable to enemy fire. The Spencer rifles were a breach loaded rifle which meant that the men carrying them could take cover low to the ground while they reloaded. This was a huge factor in Buford's ability to hold them off. Back to the battle: When Heth saw the men in front of him get into a battle line... now remember he thought they were just local militia at this point... he disobeyed General Lee's explicit order to avoid a confrontation and formed hisown battle line in order to engage the men in front of him. As the men drew closer together it happened. The first shot of the Battle of Gettysburg was fired. After a few moments Heth realized that he was not facing local militia... he was facing Union cavalry. Despite this revelation Heth continued to engage the troops. Meanwhile back in Cashtown General Lee could hear the cannon fire. Needless to say he wasn'thappy. He ordered a courier to ride ahead and report back what was happening in Gettysburg. Lee, like Buford, was a great judge of topography, and he knew before this day that Gettysburg was the place for a major battle to take place. With no other choice at this point, Lee sent orders out to all of his commanding officers to converge on the town of Gettysburg. The stage was now set. Two huge armies were rapidly converging on this small Pennsylvania town.- Buford's cavalry was barely able to hold off the Confederates long enough for General Reynolds' First Corps to arrive. Sadly, a few minutes after arriving on the battlefield, while positioning his troops and issuing orders, General John Reynolds was struck in the head by a bullet and killed. As both armies arrived on the field the battle grew more intense. The ANV was able to get troops to the field quicker than the AOP due to the fact that they were closer to the town at the beginning of the battle. This advantage allowed the Confederates to push the Union troops through the town and beyond to a cemetery outside of Gettysburg. This was a military victory for Lee, but strategically it was a good thing for the AOP. The cemetery was on a hill overlooking the town, so by pushing the Union forces back so far, the ANV actually gave the Union the high ground. Towards the end of the first day of fighting Lee ordered one of his generals to take the hill "if practicable", but the general did not attempt to take the hill citing that his troops were exhausted from the day's fighting. Lee was used to having Stonewall Jackson around who he could issue vague orders like that to and Jackson would know what was expected of him. Unfortunately Jackson was no longer around, and Lee would need to adapt and issue more precise orders. Throughout the night following the first day of fighting the AOP dug in atop the hill now known as Cemetery Ridge... Cemetery Hill where the actual cemetery was located was the center of a ridge that ran north to south for about a mile... By noe just about all of both armies were on the field. The Union settled along Cemetery Ridge, and the Confederates settled along Seminary Ridge... Seminary Ridge was a stretch of high ground about a mile across from Cemetery Ridge, and mirroring the ridge almost precisely...Seminary Ridge was so-called because at the center of it there stood a Lutheran Seminary. Due to the topography the Union line formed the shape of a fish hook with the barb being at a place called Culp's Hill. The fish hooh then curved at Cemetery Hill and followed Cemetery Ridge for about a mile south ending at two commanding hills known as Little and Big Round Top ( the latter being closer to Cemetery Hill. While Big Round Top was higher, it was completely covered in brush and wooded area. It was impossible to place troops or cannons atop this place. On the other hand, Little Round Top was all but bare on the side facing the Confederate lines, and at the bottom of the hill there was a peculiar formation of huge rocks known to the locals as Devil's Den. At this point in the battle the AOP had no troops either atop Little Round Top or at the bottom in the Devil's Den area. The ANV line mirrored the Union line from Culp's Hill, through the town of Gettysburg, and all along Seminary Ridge for about a mile south across from the Round Tops. The two lines were only amile apart from one another, and each used the backside of their respective "Ridges" for cover and concealment.- Lee's Battle Plan for day two of the battle was to attack Meade's Army at both ofit's flanks. This would mean simultaneous attacks at Culp's Hill and at Cemetery Ridge near the Round Tops. Lee had one crucial order in his battle plan. His right flank, which was commanded by General James Longstreet's First Corps, was to attack the Union line at an angle, following a road called Emmitsburg Road which led into Gettysburg from the south. Lee felt that while the Union was distracted by the attack on it's right flank at Culp's Hill, Logstreet could "roll-up" the Union line along Cemetery Ridge to the point where they could breakthrough at Cemetery Hill and effectively split the Union Army in two. Longstreet did not think this was a wise plan. He felt that he could take his troops around the Round Tops, effectively getting behind the AOP, and then the ANV would have no troops between them and Washington. Then they could force the AOP to give chase where the ANV could pick a ground of their choosing and fight a defensive battle somewhere to the south of Gettysburg. Lee refused ts plan. He said that the enemy was there across from him, and he would fight them there. Lee felt that Meade would be like all of his predecessors and prefer to retreat rather than fight a tough battle. For the first time in this war Lee had judged his advisary wrongly... Meade was a fighter, and that's just what he planned to do...FIGHT!There were many obstacles in Lee's plan that worked against him. First, not all of Longstreet's troops had moved over from Cashtown yet, and he wanted to wait for them to arrive before he attacked. Then, due to the lay of the land, Longstreet's troops had trouble getting into position without being seen by the enemy. It was 4:00 PM before his troops were in position. Second, Richard Ewell, commanding the Confederate Second Corps below Culp's Hill began his attack before Longstreet was in position. This allowed time for the AOP to move troops into position to face Longstreet's attack. Finally, once the battle began, some of Longstreet' s troops got separated from the army and advanced directly towards the Round Tops, instead of marching up the Emmitsburg Road. When the AOP saw this, they placed troops on Little Round Top which was previously unoccupied. The second day of battle was vicious and bloody. By the end of the day no ground was gained by the ANV, and the AOP still held the high ground along Cemetery Ridge. Both armies were battered and tired. Meade held a Coucil of War with his commanding Generals to discuss the option of retreating to a different position or staying and fighting it out here. After several hours they decided to stand and fight. If Lee decided to attack the nect day the AOP would be there to fight.- Lee's plan for day three of the battle was to attack the Union center at Cemetery Hill. His thinking was that the Union had sent roops from the center to defend the flanks on day two, so the center must now be weakened. What Lee did not take into consideration was the Union line's shape of a fish hook. This layout provided the AOP with good interior lines which could allow them to send troops from one part of the line to another in a short time. Lee's plan was as follows: Prioir to the attack his artillery would bombard the Union center in order to weaken it and knock out the Union artillery there. Then, General Ewell would fein an attack on Culp's Hill in order to distract the Union. Ewell's orders were to push the attack if he felt he could push through. While Ewell was attacking Lee was sending J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry, which had just arrived on the field, around the Union right and form an attack from the Union rear. Finally, Lee would send Longstreet's entire First Corps along with some elements from the First Corps directly at the Union center... this would amount to around 12,000 - 15,000 men...If the plan went as Lee envisioned it, the ANV would catch the AOP in a pincer like attack in the hopes of breaking the army in half, then destroying both halves. Once again, Longstreet did notagree with Lee's plan. He felt that no 15,000 men could take that hill. Lee's infantry attack on the Union center would require them to march a mile across an open field which gently sloped upward, all the while under fire from Union artillery on Little Round Top and Cemetery Ridge. If they made it that far they would face the entire AOP's infantry force, who were safely covered behind a two foot high stone wall. Longstreet once again proposed moving around the Union army and fighting on ground of the Confederate's choosing. Lee once again denied the request. Hence, day three began and Pickett's Charge, as Longstreet's infantry attack would come to be known, was about to occur... it became known as Pickett's Charge because the commanding General of the largest infantry division involved in the attack was General George Pickett. After the charge General Lee ordered Pickett to organize his division in order to repel any possible Union counter-attack. Pickett is said to have told Lee - "General Lee, I have no division now". Pickett never forgave Lee for sending his troops into that battle. Later in life Pickett stated - "That man had my entire division killed".- And so the third day of the Battle of Gettyburg began. Needless to say, Lee's plan did not go as he had envisioned it. First, Stuart's cavalry was met by Union cavalry and was defeated. Among the Union cavalry that day was a young General just out of West Point named George Custer. Secondly, Ewell never got his chance to fein an attack on the Union right at Culp's Hill. In the early morning ours of July 3, the Union troops on Culp's Hill launched an attack on the Confedrates, effectively putting an end to Ewell's attack. Finally, there was Pickett's Charge. The Confederate artillery barrage meant to knock out the Union artillery on Cemetery Hill was ineffective. Most of the shells sailed over the Union lines and exploded harmlessly behind them. At some point, the commander of Union artillery pulled some of his batteries off of Cemetery Hill in order to save them for the coming attack. This was falsely interpreted by the Confederates that the Union batteries were knocked out of action. The infantry attack was bombarded by artillery from the moment they stepped out into line. Those who made it as far as the Emmitsburg Road were met by a wooden fence which delayed their progress and gave the Union artillery time to zero in on them. If they made it across the road they were then met by Union artillery who were firing canister shot(canister shot is a specialized artillery shell meant specifically for infantry troops. It is best described as a coffee can filled with golf ball sized metal balls. Once fired the metal balls fire out of the canister like a shotgun shell and cut down anything in front of them.) and also they were now in range for Union infantry guns. The luckiest ones were those who surrendered to the Union troops. There are incidents of Union troops holding out their hands and begging the Confederates to surrender to them. One can imagine that it wouldn't be easy for a man to watch this carnage and not want to try to save the enemies who were being decimated.- Following the debacle of Pickett's Charge Lee rode out to the survivors returning to the lines and stated that it was all his fault. He later would offer his resignation to President Jefferson Davis which he refused to accept. On July4, 1863 the ANV began its long retreat back across the Potomac into Virginia. The hospital carriages formed a traffic jam some eight miles long. Meade did not pursue Lee due to the fact that his troops were very badly beat up themselves. He was critcized for this decision, but was also praised for the victory.- The Battle of Gettysburg was the turning point of the Civil War. Lee's second invasion of the north had failed. It was now all but certain that the European powers of Britain and France would not intervene on the side of the Confederacy. The Army of Northern Virginia had lost thousands of men that they would never be able to replace. The next year, 1864, President Lincoln promoted General Ulysses S. Grant to Lieutenant General of the Unoin Armies, a rank only previously held by George Washington. Once Grant came east he Pursued Lee's army relentlessly, and in April 1865, Lee finally surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House Virginia effectively ending the Civil War.

How many people signed the Declaration of Independence in July4?

Add your answer:

When was the delication of independence signed?

What happened in the civil war when it was in Pennsylvania?

When was the delication of independence signed?

Which group oversaw the writing and adoption of the declaration of independence on july4 1776?

What was the original name of the declaration of independence?

What presidents birthday is on july4?

The second continental congress met in philidalphia in order to?

On what day did Thomas Jefferson die?

When did America born?

What is United state of American independence day?

Where to purchasE fireworks in moreno valley California?

When do koi carp spawn?

What are vanessa Hudgens most recent tour dates and cities?

When was the first Fourth of July first celebrated?

Resources

Top Categories

Product

Company