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The Battle Of The Confederate Army

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Months prior to the battle, the Confederate Army dealt a blow to the Union Army at the battle of Chancellorsville was in May 1863. At the battle of Chancellorsville Major General Joseph Hooker, who commanded the Army of the Potomac, lay in defeat by a smaller force under the command of General Robert E. Lee. The Army of the Northern Virginia had sent the Union forces retreating inflicting over 15,000 casualties. In mid June 1863, General Lee moved his army across the Potomac River for the second invasion of the North. On June 28th, General George Meade took command of the Union forces. On June 29th, the newly appointed Commander ordered his army to pursue General Lee. They would later meet at Gettysburg. Gettysburg was a point of strategic importance, many roads concentrated there. An army could easily converge or diverge from this point. The day before the battle began, Confederate troops managed to reach Gettysburg before Union troops. They had taken up positions to the north west of town. Union troops arriving from the south of town sent scouts out and when the scouts returned, they informed leaders the enemy was to their north. On the morning of July 1, 1863, Union cavalry troops commanded by General Bufurd had sent scouts to the northwest of town and encountered Confederate troops. He gave the orders for his cavalry division to move out. Battery A, 2nd U.S. Artillery and its 3-inch Ordnance rifles followed the cavalry division. These rifles mounted on

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