The Battle of Gettysburg

The Battle of Gettysburg ocurred on July 1-3, 1863 and was fought near a town in Pennsylvania called Gettysburg. The Union and the Confederacy just happened to meet at several fields and woods near the town of Gettysburg. The reason they met near Gettysburg is because a couple of days before the battle, Union brigadier general John Buford spotted a group of Confederate divisions near a mountain called South Mountain in northern Maryland. Buford informed the head of all Union commanders at Gettysburg, major general George Meade about the Confederate advancements to Gettysburg. Meade then commanded his Army of Potomac and some other Union brigades to set out for Gettysburg. The Union arrived at the battlefield first, expecting the Confederates to pass by them. The Union's calculations where correct. Not much later, Confederate brigades and divisions showed up on the battlefield. General Buford claimed, "We musn't lose this battle to those damn rebels! We must get as many Union divisions and brigades over to those fields near Gettysburg immediatly so we can hold our own and deprive the enemy"! Buford and his federal cavalry where assigned to keep lookout for more Confederate troops. Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Union cannons open fired on the advancing Confederate brigades. Many Confederate soldiers where wounded or killed by the Union cannon shells. Then, Union and Confederate soldiers met on the battlefield and open fired on each other. The problem for the Confederates was that they where trying to advance to another section of the battlefield while shooting at Union troops. The Confederacy was already intact because they failed to advance to Herr's Ridge and they where outnumbered because the Union forces had shot a lot of Confederate soldiers down. The Confederacy ran to the Chambersburg pike to hide until reinforcments arrived. When reinforcements arrived, the Confederate army was ready to fight the Union army again. Union and Confederate soldiers fought in many places including Herr's Ridge, the Chambersburg pike, Oak Ridge, Barlow's Knoll, Steven's Knoll, Culp's Hill, Seminary Ridge, Cemetery Ridge, Trostle Farm, the Weatfield, the Peach Orchard, Big Round Top, Little Round Top, McPherson's Ridge, Carlisle Road, Devil's Den, Pardee Field, and last but not least, the famous Emmitsburg Road, where Confederate major general George Pickett and his Confederate brigades charged at the Union forces in a final attempt to defeat them. At Little Round Top, Union Colonel Joshua Chamberlain commanded many Union divisions including his own brigade, the 20th Maine. The Union forces at Little Round Top had to fight several Confederate brigades. The Confederate soldiers at Little Round Top where commanded to "use the bayonet" and charge at the Union soldiers trying to defend Little Round Top. Well, the Union Soldiers had already loaded their guns and where waiting for further orders from Colonel Chamberlain. Seeing that there where Confederate soldiers charging at them, what do you think they where gonna do? The answer is obvious of course, open fire. Colonel Chamberlain commanded the Union soldiers to open fire on the Confederate soldiers. That's just what the Union soldiers did. In a couple of hours the Confederacy had lost a lot of its charging forces at Little Round Top. They where down to their last charging force. The last Confederate brigade at Little Round Top charged at the Union soldiers. The Confederate soldiers reached the area that the Union soldiers were firing from. When the Confederate soldiers were about to stab the Union soldiers with their bayonets, the Union soldiers open fired once more and the Confederat soldiers at Little Round Top were forced to retreat. But, the Union forces captured many of them and only a few of the Confederate soldiers escaped. The Union had won an important part of the fight at Gettysburg at Little Round Top. But, the battle wasn't over yet. Chief Confederate General Robert E. Lee told Lieutenant General James Longstreet to have major general George Pickett command some Confederate forces in a charge on Emmitsburg Road that would be the Confederate army's final attempt to defeat the Union Forces. General Lee knew that the charge on Emmitsburg Road would have to be successful in order to defeat the Union. If it failed, well then the Confederacy would lose the battle. General Pickett did as commanded and commanded some Confederate brigades on Emmitsburg Road to charge at some Union brigades. The charge failed because the Union brigades shot down all of the Confederate brigades. The Confederate army was forced to retreat. They had lost a lot of soldiers and were intact due to all of their defeats on the battlefield. The Union army had just won a very important battle in the Civil War at Gettysburg. Among the dead commanders was Confederate major general Louis Armistead who was on his horse when a Union cannon shell blew him up. Other commanders who were killed at the battle where Union major general John Reynolds who was killed when a Confederate sniper shot him in the back of his head and Union brigadier general Stephen Weed who was also killed when a Confederate sniper shot him in the side of his head.