What was the Battle of Gettysburg over?

Answer 1

Meade's Army of the Potomac blocked the line of retreat and communication of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, forcing Lee to give battle in order to continue his invasion of the North. After three days of hard fighting, unable to break the Union line on the well-defended high ground, Lee was forced to retreat, but Meade was not able to mount a vigorous pursuit that may have cut Lee's forces off from gaining the safety of Virginia, and, possibly, bring about an early end to the war.

Answer 2

Gettysburg was a strategic crossroads. From there, Lee could strike at any number of targets in Pennsylvania or Maryland, even at Washington, D.C. Mead had to block Lee's advance and, he hoped, destroy the Army of Northern Virginia. Lee's army entered the town looking for shoes in a warehouse there, since Lee's army was chronically undersupplied. Scouts from the Army of the Potomac encountered them and held them off until reinforcements could take up tactical positions in the hills overlooking the town and the roads leading to the East, forcing Lee to maneuver around them or to fight. Lee chose a pitched battle to attempt to dislodge them.