What did the Union hope to accomplish in the Battle of Gettysburg?

Answer 1

The primary role of the Union Army of Potomac was to protect the Nation's capitol. When General Lee made his move towards Pennsylavnia, he used Gen. Jeb Stuart's cavalry division to conceal his movements. When the Union discovered Lee had slipped away, they began their pursuit to locate him by moving north and east. This movement would keep them between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the cities of Baltimore and Washington, DC. Some say that the armies converged on Gettysburg by accident. The facts does not support this. The Confederates had picked Gettysburg or Harrisburg as the location of their expedition. General Meade had chosen to move in this area and sent his 1st and 11th Corps in that direction.

Answer 2

The objectives of the invasion of Pennsylvania by the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia were as follows. 1. To threaten the Union capital and cause the Union to shift forces away from the Western theater of operations and relieve the Seige at Vicksburg. 2. To draw the Union Army of the Potomac out of it's fortifications in Northern Virginia and force it out in the open in the hope of destroying that force. 3. To relieve Virginia for a time from the depravations of having 2 large armies on its' soil. 4. To win a victory on Northern soil and cause the recognition of the Confederate States of America by Great Britain and other European powers. There were Robert E Lee's main objectives for the Gettysburg campaign.

Answer 3

Union's High Command gave Gen. Meade following instructions regarding the campaign in progress:

1 - to cover as far as possible Washington and Philadelphia.

2 - Should Lee had moved against one of them a battle had to be given to check the menace.

Meade confirmed he intended move toward the Susquehanna, keeping both Washington and Baltimore well covered, trying to rapidly give battle.

Since Meade was constantly kept informed about the enemy army's dislocation and movements by his cavalry, he was aware that a battle was about to be fight on the ground surrounding Gettysburg.

He therefore decided:

1 - to approve his subordinates' initiative of immediately engaging the enemy units in order to hinder or delay their deployment on the battle ground, enabling the bulk of his army to concentrate and deploy on the high ground.

2 - to held at all costs the high ground, fighting a defensive battle, thus enabling the exploitation of the position, the superior power of his artillery and the manoeuvre through internal lines.

The major objectives were:

A - Force Lee to attack through the open ground in order to inflict to the Confederate Army so heavy casualties, to convince him to give up the prosecution of his campaign of invasion and retreat.

B - After achieving this goal, to pursue the retreating Lee's Army, seeking to destroy or scatter them.

Answer 4

The immediate goal was to end Lee's threat to the Northern population centers. The ultimate objective was to destroy the Army of Northern Virginia, to end the war. Meade accomplished the first, forcing Lee to withdraw back into Virginia, nerver to emerge again for the rest of the war. He failed in the latter. By allowing Lee to escape, it prolonged the war for another twenty-one months.

Answer 5

They were not planning for a battle there, per se. They were looking for shoes when they made contact with enemy forces and a battle of encounter began to unfold.

Answer 6

Kill