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Prelude to Gettysburg
By James Emery Vigh of profbruno.com
In the middle of June, 1863, The Army of Northern Virginia commanded by General Robert E. Lee crossed the Potomac River to invade the North. The plan for this 70,000 man army was to use the cover of the Blue Ridge Mountains to screen their movements, and make their way into Pennsylvania in hopes of luring the Union's Army of the Potomac into the open where it could be destroyed. General J.E.B. Stuart, in charge of the Confederate cavalry was charged with additionally screening the Confederate force and to provide Lee with information regarding the movements of the Union forces. General Joseph Hooker, commanding the Army of the Potomac (about 80,000 men) learns of Lee's movements and orders his army north. But he does not know the locations of Lee's forces, nor his intentions. On June 28th, Hooker is replaced by General George Meade, previously only a brigade commander. Meade, who is from Pennsylvania, is a cautious man possessing a violent temper. By June 30th, Lee's army is spread out all over the southeast corner of Pennsylvania. General Richard Ewell, commanding the corps formerly commanded by Stonewall Jackson (who was killed at Chancellorsville) is at the gates of Harrisburg. General James Longstreet and his corps is southwest of Ewell. General A. P. Hill's corps is centered around Cashtown. Lee learns late that the Union army is on the move (General Stuart, who was "joy-riding", fails to provide Lee with information on the enemy's movements.) and gives orders to his corps commanders to hurry up and concentrate their forces in the Cashtown area and to the east. One of A.P. Hills brigades, in the meantime learns that there may a supply of shoes 30 miles East of Cashtown in a neat, sleepy little town by the name of Gettysburg. They decide to go after them, as shoes are rather in short supply in the Confederate Army As they enter the town on June 30th, General Johnston Pettigrew, commanding the Confederate brigade notices a line of Union cavalry coming up from the south. As he has orders not to engage the enemy, Pettigrew withdraws his brigade, but sets up camp about 3 miles to the west of Gettysburg to await further orders from his commander A.P. Hill. In the meantime, two brigades of Union cavalry enter the town. Their commander, General John Buford notes the Confederate infantry and thinks it strange that they are operating alone in enemy country without the support of cavalry. He sends out scouting parties. By midnight, June 30th the scouts return telling Buford that his instincts were correct. A.P. Hill's entire corps of around 20,000 men is on it's way towards Gettysburg from the west. In addition, Ewell's corps of another 20,000 men is traveling fast towards Gettysburg from the north. Buford knows that Longstreet is not far behind A.P. Hill. Buford has two brigades of cavalry totaling around 2,500 men. He has no hope of stopping the enemy by himself, but he notices that the ground east and south of the town is some of the best ground he has seen for many miles around. So he sends off a note to General John Reynolds who is the commander of the closest (about 10 miles away) Union infantry corps asking for instructions. Reynolds instructs Buford to hold the enemy for as long as possible until he can get there with his infantry. Buford decides to hold the ridges to the west of the town, keeping the enemy as far away as possible from that great high ground to the east and south. He also deploys a screen to the north to watch for Ewell. The roads that the Confederates will be using are narrow. Buford feels that the deployment of his forces west and north of the town will "stack" up the enemy forcing them to deploy -- which takes time. Buford wants to use up as much tome as possible. He figures that by morning, his two little brigades of dismounted cavalry will be tangling with the entire Confederate army. But Buford is anxious. He has been asked to hold before, and help never came. He trusts John Reynolds though, believing him to be the finest general in the entire Union army. The morning of July 1st dawns. Some of Buford's pickets spot the Confederate picket line advancing out of the mist towards them. They fire a few shots and hightail it back to the Union lines. The battle of Gettysburg has begun. |
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Excellent intel. Very interesting and well written.
Interesting
It is amazing how much of the War Between the States was a result of misinformation, lack of information and misinterpreting what information there was about the activity of the enemy army. Something as simple as shoes at Gettysburg made it the scene for the turning point of the war.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
You're right as rain. But a lot of it also centered on not acting on information. Before Grant took over, the Union generals were famous for that -- which is why Lee's army was consistently able to stomp them up to this point.
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