The Battle of Gettysburg, fought over of the first three days of July in 1863, was one of the climactic events in American history. Confederate General Robert E. Lee's bold offensive into northern territory resulted in the epic clash of two great armies.
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1861 |
Civil War begins when Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina. |
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1861 |
Civil War begins when Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina. |
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1861 |
Confederates defeat the Union army at First Manassas (Bull Run), Virginia. |
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1861 |
Confederates defeat the Union army at First Manassas (Bull Run), Virginia. |
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1862 - 1862 |
General George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac retreats from its positions near Richmond, VA in the Seven Days' Battles. |
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1862 - 1862 |
General George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac retreats from its positions near Richmond, VA in the Seven Days' Battles. |
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1862 - 1862 |
General Lee's troops defeat General John Pope at Second Manassas (Bull Run), VA. |
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1862 - 1862 |
General Lee's troops defeat General John Pope at Second Manassas (Bull Run), VA. |
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1862 |
In the bloodiest day of the war, Lee's troops manage to repel McClellan's attacks at the Battle of Antietam, Maryland and fight to a stalemate. Lee's Army leaves the field first, thus giving the Army of the Potomac a tactical victory. |
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1862 |
In the bloodiest day of the war, Lee's troops manage to repel McClellan's attacks at the Battle of Antietam, Maryland and fight to a stalemate. Lee's Army leaves the field first, thus giving the Army of the Potomac a tactical victory. |
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1862 - 1862 |
Jeb Stuart's Confederate cavalry crosses the Potomac River and raids into Pennsylvania, occupying Chambersburg on the 10th and 11th. |
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1862 |
Lee's troops repel General Ambrose E. Burnside's attacks at Fredericksburg, VA. |
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1863 |
Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation, which stipulates that all slaves in areas in rebellion are now free. |
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1863 - 1863 |
Lee's troops defeat Union General Joseph Hooker at the Battle of Chancellorsville, VA. |
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1863 |
The Gettysburg Campaign begins when troops of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia move north from Fredericksburg, VA. |
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1863 |
Union and Confederate horsemen fight at Brandy Station, Virginia. |
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1863 - 1863 |
Confederate troops defeat the Union garrison at Winchester, VA, opening the way to cross the Potomac River into Maryland. |
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1863 |
Confederate troops begin crossing the Potomac River; General Albert G. Jenkins' cavalry rides through Greencastle, Pennsylvania, and enters Chambersburg. |
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1863 |
Owing to a false report of advancing Union troops, Jenkins' men evacuate Chambersburg and fall back into Maryland. |
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1863 |
Confederate infantry marches into Pennsylvania at Greencastle and Waynesboro; during a skirmish south of Greencastle, Corporal William Rihl of the 1st NY Cavalry becomes the first Union soldier killed in Pennsylvania. |
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1863 |
Confederate infantry of Richard Ewell's corps occupy Chambersburg. |
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1863 |
General Lee arrives in Chambersburg and makes his headquarters just east of town. |
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1863 |
Two of Ewell's divisions occupy Carlisle in preparation for assault on the state capital at Harrisburg. |
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1863 |
Jenkins' cavalry occupy Mechanicsburg and skirmish with Union militia near Oyster Point; President Lincoln appoints General George G. Meade as commander of the Army of the Potomac; Lee learns through a spy that the Union army is in Maryland and moving north; Confederates occupy York and just miss seizing the bridge at Wrightsville. |
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1863 |
In order to counter the advancing Army of the Potomac, Lee issues orders for his army to concentrate at Cashtown; more skirmishing at Oyster Point. |
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1863 |
Union cavalry enter Gettysburg and a Confederate reconnaissance force heading to Gettysburg retreats; Jenkins' cavalry clashes with Union militia at Sporting Hill; Stuart's Confederate cavalry fight Judson Kilpatrick's Yankee horsemen in a cavalry battle at Hanover. |
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1863 - 1863 |
Battle of Gettysburg results in 51,000 combined casualties from both sides. |
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1863 |
Stuart's cavalry arrive at Carlisle and find it occupied by Union militia; before heading south to Gettysburg, Stuart's men burn the U. S. barracks. |
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1863 |
Lee retreats from Gettysburg. |
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1863 |
Lee crosses the Potomac River into Virginia |
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1863 |
Meade's army defeats Lee at Bristoe Station, VA |
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1863 - 1863 |
Meade is unsuccessful at outflanking Lee's positions behind the Rapidan River in Virginia, in a brief campaign known as the Mine Run Campaign. |
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1864 |
Ulysses S. Grant officially placed in command of all Union military forces. |
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1864 - 1864 |
Battle of the Wilderness, VA. |
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1864 - 1864 |
Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, VA |
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1864 - 1864 |
Battle of the North Anna River, VA. |
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1864 - 1864 |
Battle of Cold Harbor, VA. |
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1864 - 1864 |
Union attacks on Petersburg, VA, fail, prompting Grant to begin siege operations that last until April 2, 1865. |
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1864 |
Southern troops under the command of Jubal Early cross the Potomac into Maryland. |
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1864 |
Early's troops fight retreating Union forces led by General Lewis A. Wallace at Monocacy, MD. |
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1864 - 1864 |
Early's troops threaten the defenses of Washington, DC, but do not launch any major attacks. |
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1864 |
Confederate cavalry led by John McCausland occupy Chambersburg, PA; after the townspeople fail to raise ransom money, McCausland burns much of the town. |
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1864 |
Pursuing Union cavalry catches up with McCausland at Moorefield, WV, and administers a stinging defeat to the Rebels |
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1865 |
Confederates evacuate Richmond and Petersburg, VA, in the face of overwhelming Union attacks; Lee's army retreats westward |
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1865 |
Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia |
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