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The Gettysburg Campaign
Summary
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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Overview: The Gettysburg Campaign
Chapter 1: The Confederates Invade Pennsylvania
Chapter 2: The Army of the Potomac Pursues Lee into Pennsylvania
Chapter 3: Confederate High Tide: Operations on the West Shore of the Susquehanna
Chapter 4: Convergence on Gettysburg

Historical Markers In the Story
marker icon Gettysburg Campaign [Eleventh Corps] (Adams) marker icon Battle of Hanover (York)
marker icon Burning of Chambersburg (Franklin) marker icon George Gordon Meade (Philadelphia)
marker icon Gettysburg Campaign [Early's Division] (Adams) marker icon Gettysburg Campaign [Ewell's New Orders] (Cumberland)
marker icon Gettysburg Campaign [First Corps] (Adams) marker icon Gettysburg Campaign [First Shots] (Adams)
marker icon Gettysburg Campaign [Hill's Corps] (Adams) marker icon Gettysburg Campaign [Meade's arrival] (Adams)
marker icon Gettysburg Campaign [Rodes Moves South] (Adams) marker icon Gettysburg Campaign [Stuart in Carlisle] (Cumberland)
marker icon Gettysburg Campaign [Twelfth Corps] (Adams) marker icon Gettysburg Campaign [Wrightsville] (York)
marker icon John F. Reynolds (Lancaster) marker icon Messersmith's Woods (Franklin)
marker icon Sachs Covered Bridge (Adams) marker icon Winfield S. Hancock (Montgomery)

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Timeline
1861 Civil War begins when Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina.
1861 Civil War begins when Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina.
1861 Confederates defeat the Union army at First Manassas (Bull Run), Virginia.
1861 Confederates defeat the Union army at First Manassas (Bull Run), Virginia.
1862 - 1862 General George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac retreats from its positions near Richmond, VA in the Seven Days' Battles.
1862 - 1862 General George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac retreats from its positions near Richmond, VA in the Seven Days' Battles.
1862 - 1862 General Lee's troops defeat General John Pope at Second Manassas (Bull Run), VA.
1862 - 1862 General Lee's troops defeat General John Pope at Second Manassas (Bull Run), VA.
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.
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.
1862 - 1862 Jeb Stuart's Confederate cavalry crosses the Potomac River and raids into Pennsylvania, occupying Chambersburg on the 10th and 11th.
1862 Lee's troops repel General Ambrose E. Burnside's attacks at Fredericksburg, VA.
1863 Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation, which stipulates that all slaves in areas in rebellion are now free.
1863 - 1863 Lee's troops defeat Union General Joseph Hooker at the Battle of Chancellorsville, VA.
1863 The Gettysburg Campaign begins when troops of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia move north from Fredericksburg, VA.
1863 Union and Confederate horsemen fight at Brandy Station, Virginia.
1863 - 1863 Confederate troops defeat the Union garrison at Winchester, VA, opening the way to cross the Potomac River into Maryland.
1863 Confederate troops begin crossing the Potomac River; General Albert G. Jenkins' cavalry rides through Greencastle, Pennsylvania, and enters Chambersburg.
1863 Owing to a false report of advancing Union troops, Jenkins' men evacuate Chambersburg and fall back into Maryland.
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.
1863 Confederate infantry of Richard Ewell's corps occupy Chambersburg.
1863 General Lee arrives in Chambersburg and makes his headquarters just east of town.
1863 Two of Ewell's divisions occupy Carlisle in preparation for assault on the state capital at Harrisburg.
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.
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.
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.
1863 - 1863 Battle of Gettysburg results in 51,000 combined casualties from both sides.
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.
1863 Lee retreats from Gettysburg.
1863 Lee crosses the Potomac River into Virginia
1863 Meade's army defeats Lee at Bristoe Station, VA
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.
1864 Ulysses S. Grant officially placed in command of all Union military forces.
1864 - 1864 Battle of the Wilderness, VA.
1864 - 1864 Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, VA
1864 - 1864 Battle of the North Anna River, VA.
1864 - 1864 Battle of Cold Harbor, VA.
1864 - 1864 Union attacks on Petersburg, VA, fail, prompting Grant to begin siege operations that last until April 2, 1865.
1864 Southern troops under the command of Jubal Early cross the Potomac into Maryland.
1864 Early's troops fight retreating Union forces led by General Lewis A. Wallace at Monocacy, MD.
1864 - 1864 Early's troops threaten the defenses of Washington, DC, but do not launch any major attacks.
1864 Confederate cavalry led by John McCausland occupy Chambersburg, PA; after the townspeople fail to raise ransom money, McCausland burns much of the town.
1864 Pursuing Union cavalry catches up with McCausland at Moorefield, WV, and administers a stinging defeat to the Rebels
1865 Confederates evacuate Richmond and Petersburg, VA, in the face of overwhelming Union attacks; Lee's army retreats westward
1865 Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia
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