Gettysburg

Lee’s Plan
Pickett’s Division
Opening Moves
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
What of George Pickett?
Photographs
Addenda

Lee’s Plan of Campaign

After his brilliant defeat of the Union army at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863, General Robert E. Lee decided upon a fresh invasion of the North, where it was believed that a decisive victory would not only encourage the peace movement in the North in their favour, but also cause England to intercede on behalf of the Confederacy. As well as these factors, a campaign outside of the wasted countryside of Virginia would mean that Lee’s army could sustain itself at the enemy’s expense, always a favourable proposition for an invading army. It was also hoped that the invasion would take the pressure off the Western Theatre of war by causing the Federals to move troops from around Vicksburg and Chattanooga to meet the threat

The Army of Northern Virginia that fought at Gettysburg numbered some 75,000 men, including cavalry and artillery and was, arguably, the finest fighting force ever raised on American soil up to that time. The death of General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson had been a great loss to both the army and to General Lee, its commander, who now reorganized it into a three corps system

The reason for this was that Lee considered that the existing two corps, of some 30,000 plus men each, was too large for one general to handle, stating that the wooded country where the troops had recently seen action was, “always beyond the range of his vision, and frequently beyond his reach.”[1]  Also a shortage of good officers had caused Lee much concern in previous campaigns, but now he was forced by circumstances to appoint two new lieutenant generals, each commanding an army corps. The First Corps remained firmly in the hands of Lieutenant General James (“Pete”) Longstreet, its original commander. The Second Corps went to Lieutenant General Richard S. (“Baldy”) Ewell, this had been Jackson’s old corps, while the Third Corps, which had been raised by taking a division each from the other two, and raising a new one, was commanded by Lieutenant General Ambrose Powell Hill.[2]

[1] Edwin B.Coddington. The Battle of Gettysburg, A Study in Command. Page 11.

[2]  Ibid, page. 12.