The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Potomac defeated attacks by Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, halting Lee's invasion of the North. The battle involved the largest number of casualties of the entire war and is often described as the war's turning point due to the Union's decisive victory and concurrence with the Siege of Vicksburg.
Part of the America Civil War
Date
July 1–3, 1863
Location
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Coordinates
39.811°N 77.225°W
Result
Union victory
Belligerents
United States
Confederate States
Combatants
United States
George G. Meade
John F. Reynolds †
Winfield S. Hancock
Daniel Sickles
Oliver Otis Howard
Confederate states
Robert E. Lee
James Longstreet
Richard S. Ewell
A. P. Hill
J.E.B. Stuart
Units involved
Army of the Potomac
Army of Northern Virginia
Strength
United States
104,256 ("present for duty")
Confederate states
71,000–75,000
Casualties and losses
United States
23,049
Confederate states
23,000–28,000
Background
The Civil War started in the United States two years earlier, in 1861. The war was mostly over the issue of slavery. At the time, many white citizens owned Black enslaved people. Then-President Abraham Lincoln was against slavery and wanted to end it. Many people in the northern states agreed with him; most people in the southern states, however, relied on enslaved people to farm their crops and did not want slavery to end
That year, 11 southern states broke away from the United States, which was also known as the Union. These southern states formed what was called the Confederate States of America. The country had officially entered the Civil War.
For the next two years, battles were fought. Both sides experienced multiple wins and losses. But by 1863, the Confederate Army was in high spirits. In May, despite being outnumbered, they scored a victory over the Union soldiers, also known as the Yankees, in Chancellorsville, Virginia.
Confederate General Robert E. Lee thought if his men got another win, northerners might withdraw their support for the war. His troops began marching north in June.
THE BATTLE
When news reached southern Pennsylvania that Lee’s army was on its way, residents fled. The area was mostly deserted by the time the Confederate soldiers appeared—except for the Union Army awaiting their arrival. Tipped off by intelligence reports, the Yankees were able to predict when the southerners would arrive—and had camped out in Cashtown to wait for them.
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| First day |
At first, the Confederates outnumbered the Yankees. Overwhelmed by the sheer size of the southern army, the Union was forced to retreat from Cashtown to Gettysburg and wait for more troops. There, led by General George Meade, the Union regrouped and set up renewed defenses.
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| Day 2 |
By the second day, the Yankees numbered around 94,000 soldiers; the Confederates around 72,000. General Lee attacked first. Both sides took heavy losses, but Meade’s Union defense lines held strong.
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| Day 3 |
On the final day of the battle, General Lee decided to stage an aggressive attack. He sent General George Pickett—with approximately 12,500 men—on a direct charge against the Union Army. Pickett’s attack ultimately failed, resulting in over half of his men being injured or killed. General Lee and the Confederate Army retreated.
The Battle of Gettysburg remains the deadliest battle of the Civil War. As many as 23,000 Yankees and 28,000 Confederates were killed, wounded, or captured over the course of just three days.
AFTERMATH
Although the war went on for almost two more years, Gettysburg was a turning point toward the final Union victory in 1865. And that victory meant more than holding together the United States as a country. It also meant the end of slavery—the institution that had divided the nation since its founding in 1776.
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