Page 3 - Gettysburg weekend book

Introduction

The Battle of Gettysburg, July1-3, 1863, is the most famous bat-
tle of the American Civil War. It was the largest battle ever
fought in North America. The three-day struggle resulted in the
most casualties of any Civil War battle and is often described as
the war’s turning point. The clash at Gettysburg was enormous
by any standards,. A total of 170,000 Confederate and Union
soldiers came together around a town that normally held 2,400
residents. The total of Union troops was about 95,000, the Con-
federates about 75,000. The Battle actually consisted of a num-
ber of distinct engagements, several of which could have stood
alone as major battles. During the three days countless human
dramas unfolded along with legendary acts of heroism on both
sides. Critical decisions were made, often on the spot, some
which provided advantages, others that were shortsighted and
ended in disaster.

Even after more than 150 years, the battle of Gettysburg is still
one of the most researched, most written about and most dis-
cussed battles in history. Much of the discussion involves ques-
tions that start with “Why?”, “How?” and “What If?” The an-
swers to these questions often differ, depending on the source.
The struggle here was extremely complex and analyses of the
same information often varies widely and while one explanation
can be accurate, so can one that results in an opposite conclu-
sion.

This booklet is not intended to be a comprehensive explanation
of the events of June & July 1863. Its goal is to lay out the
events of the battle in as close of a timeline as possible with an
understandable explanation of what happened. It is important to
remember that during this fight many skirmishes, full blown
attacks and troop movements overlapped each other in time and
were connected to other events on the battlefield.