In the summer of 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee launched his second invasion of Northern territory. Like his last foray that ended at bloody Antietam, Lee sought to score politically meaningful victories, take the war out of the ravaged Virginia farmland, and gather supplies for his army. He was pursued first by Union Gen. Joseph Hooker, and then by Gen. George Meade, who replaced Hooker in late June. The opposing forces collided at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on July 1. In severe fighting, the Confederates swept the Federals from the fields west and north of town, but were unable to secure the heights to the south. The following day, Lee attacked the Federals on the heights, but failed to dislodge the defenders. On July 3rd, Lee attacked
On April 7th, the confederate army launched a surprise attack on union forces under the control of General Ulysses S. Grant in Tennessee. Although the confederate forces had the Union surprised, the Union pushed them back and won the battle. Although the Union won the battle, both sides faced heavy losses. Grant feared defeat because he was surrounded by confederate artillery, so he retreated. The union formed a battle line at a sunken road named the Hornets Nest. There, the Union held off the confederate attacks and pushed them back until the confederate gave up. This was one of the many battles that crushed the moral of the confederate soldiers. Soon maybe the confederate will decide that this war is not worth fighting.
The South outnumbered the North and the North retreated thought Gettysburg. Lee told his men to still attack to finish off the Union troops aka the North. But his men did not so that gave the Union time to dig and get their defence ready.
Next, Gettysburg Day 2 came. After, the first day of battle at Gettysburg General Robert E. Lee ordered an attack on Union troops just South of town. The Union was positioned all along a fishhook. Starting at Culp’s Hill, going around Cemetery Hill and going down Cemetery Ridge South of Gettysburg with 90,000 troops. The Confederates surrounded the fishhook with 70,000 troops. Robert E. Lee planned to attack the Union Army from the left and right flanks of the fishhook (“Robert” History.com).
Robert E Lee was a general. The times back then were with no electronics, slavery, old house and really old guns. In the south there was slavery, cotton and they had to do everything hand made. In the North there was good houses, they had good cloths and had crops. Same in the South they had crops. The South was dry and had farms and in the North had greens, water and green fields. They did not have good medicines or good doctors because they never washed there hands or cleaned the medicine tools. There was a infections going around and tons of Union and Confederate died or got wounded. You are going to learn about Robert E Lee and the battles he served in.
On July 4, 1863 when most of the country was ready to celebrate the birth of their nation General Lee and his army were ready for a counter attack that never came. However, General Meade did send a small detachment of troops to pursue Lee’s army but it was not a large detail and it would not make great efforts to chase after the rebel army. After the fighting was all over the battle would be proclaimed a Union victory that struck deep into the heart of the Confederacy. The Confederate Army was already challenged due to its lack of supplies and personnel. "It's my fault," Lee was heard to say after the battle of Gettysburg. He blamed himself for the loss, and he was not entirely mistaken; his decision on the third day of battle to pitch a massive frontal assault on the center of the Union line, known as Pickett's
Lee failed to invade the North which lead to the South losing the fight is due to he had underestimated the Union forces and thought he would be able to beat the Union in very little time. Also he had the brunt of his forces attacking Gettysburg and he had a note which was stating for Abraham Lincoln to surrender. But that wasn’t the case during the night when the Confederates troops were sleeping or standing guard, Union troops from Maryland had gone up to Gettysburg.
On June 3rd of 1863 Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. This would be his second campaign into the north. If he could get Maryland he would have the upper hand on Baltimore, the District of Columbia, and Philadelphia. Lee headed into the campaign with 72000 men. Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Potomac had over 100000 men. Lee eventually pushed his way up through Virginia to meet the Union army at Gettysburg. The commanding officers of the Union army were Major General George G. Meade, Major General John F. Reynolds, Major General Winfield Scott Hancock, Major General Daniel E. Sickles, Major General George Sykes, Major General John Sedgwick, Major General Oliver O. Howard, Major General Henry W. Slocum,
Prior to the Battle at Gettysburg, Lee deemed his troops could defeat the Army of the Potomac. The Army of Northern Virginia, up to that point, had rarely been defeated in a strategically or tactically. In fact, we could dispute that the Confederate Army under Lee had yet to be beaten in a major battle up to July 3, 1864. Lee's army, nevertheless, firmly believed that if they confronted the allies on equal terms they would triumph. This battle, resulted in many casualties on both sides, confirmed to Lee and his army that the allied army was willing to acquire any number of losses to stop the Confederates, and this realization provided an emotional collapse to the Confederates making this a significant turning point in their belief and
Battles have been fought since the dawn of time. Weapons have gradually become more technological and sophisticated each and every time. People learn from their mistakes, as did the Indians in the late 1700s, as well as the Confederate troops from the Civil War. The Union was victorious in this war for freedom, and to this day, the north is more the heart of the country’s economy.
In 1859 Lee, accepted a position at a cavalry outpost in Texas. In October of that year, Lee was summoned to put a revolt led by John Brown at Harper's Ferry. Lee's attack took just a single hour to end the uproar. His quick and easy victory at Harper's Ferry brought him much attention from displaying the leadership and the strategic mind he possessed. This made him a good candidate to lead the Union. Lee's character showed when he turned down an offer from Abraham Lincoln to command the Union forces. He said no because he was committed to his home, Virginia. Lee resigned from the military and returned home. Lee also was not a big fan of focusing the war on the slavery issue. When Virginia seceded from the nation, Lee did along with it. Lee took control of the Army of Northern Virginia where he drove back the Union Army in the Seven Days Battle. Later that year, he gave the Confederacy yet another victory at Second Manassas. Lee and his men did face defeat and loses referring back to the battle of Antietam. There they tried to cross the Potomac, barley escaping from one of the bloodiest battles in the war. Nearly 14,000 of his men were captured, wounded or killed. Lee's forces had another crushing defeat at the Battle of Gettysburg. This battle almost completely destroyed his army. Ulysses S. Grant had gained the upper hand when he won over the majority of Richmond. A reluctant Lee surrendered to Grant at in
General Robert E. Lee is greatly outnumbered, causing the confederates to be significantly weakened and forced out of their captured enrichments (pg.302). Longstreet was given 15,000 men to attack the Union's center (pg.309), then the confederates attacked. General Meade was the first to ever outguess Lee, having already anticipated Lee's move the night before, enabling him to be ready for attack. The battle was a strenuous seven hours, coming to a halt at 10:00pm.
The Battle of Gettysburg is considered a turning point. For the rest of the war Lee was on the strategic defensive, forced into the war of attrition he feared and eventually cornered in an unwinnable siege around Richmond. The Battle of Gettysburg was a decisive victory for the Union. Tactically it may have seemed about even. Both armies lost about the same number of men, and Lee kept his army on the field until the evening of the day after the battle, waiting for a counterattack by Meade which never came. But Meade's larger army could better afford the losses. All eight of Lee's Infantry Divisions lost about a third of their strength, while Meade's largest Army Corps was virtually untouched. Lee was almost out of Artillery ammunition, while Meade had enough for another battle. Also Meade had no need to throw himself into a dangerous counterattack; time was on his side as Union reinforcements moved to surround Lee, deep in enemy territory with no hope of
President Lincoln was on the other end. He had lost all confidence in his army. He thought that after the defeat at Chancellorsville that they were going to lose the war. President Lincoln then named Major George Gordon Meade to succeed Hooker. Meade knew where General Lee’s army of 75,000 troops was heading and Meade ordered his troops to pursue
Going into the battle, Lee and his confederates had plenty of confidence. They were just coming off of a crucial battle win in Chancellorsville, Virginia in May, 1863. Lee’s objective going into the Battle of Gettysburg was simple and right to the chase. He wanted to engage the Union army and just flat out destroy it. Unlucky
The battle took place in the tangled woods of what is now Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Park about 10 miles west of Fredericksburg, Virginia along Orange Plank Road and Orange Turnpike. The Federals held the land to the east and the confederates to the west. The land was nearly impassable, proving a nightmare for both moving men and logistics. The importance of the location, however, was significant. Railways and roads led to Washington and were logistically important. For two years, fighting for the land surrounding the Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers led to stalemate. Twice previously, Lee had been able to withstand attack from the Federals; attacks led by Joseph Hooker and George Meade. Lee’s plan was, likely, to take Washington, which he believed would decidedly win