Page 4 - Gettysburg weekend book

General Info

Neither army wanted to fight at Gettysburg. Lee’s intention
when he invaded Maryland & Pennsylvania was to move east
toward Harrisburg, Philadelphia or Washington. The goal was to
engage in a major battle at a location where his army could estab-
lish a very strong defensive position and then destroy the Feder-
als. Mead, on the other hand, wanted to lure the Confederates
into a battle along the Pipe Creek line in northern Maryland
about 15 miles from Gettysburg.
The encounter of the two forces at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863
was not an accidental meeting. Buford’s cavalry had spotted Pet-
tigrew’s division on the previous evening and vice versa. Buford
realized that the rebels were the advance guard of the entire Ar-
my of Northern Virginia while the Confederates believed that the
Union troops were only militia.

As it turned out on July 1, most of the Southern troops came to
Gettysburg from the north while most of the Union troops came
in from the south.

Gettysburg was not a sleepy town. With a population of over
2400 (in that time almost a metropolis) and two colleges, it was
the county seat of Adams County and a commercial hub. The
town was intersected by 10 major roads making it very accessible
during the war. It was also close to the Mason-Dixon line and a
stop on the Underground Railroad.

Myth has it that the Confederates marched to Gettysburg to cap-
ture a supply of shoes. In fact, there were no shoes or shoe facto-
ry in Gettysburg. When Jubal Early marched his men through the
town on June 26, 1863, he demanded the town give him 1000
pairs of shoes, 500 hats or $10,000. Town authorities said they
couldn’t fulfill his demands but opened their stores to his troops.
He left with little except a supply of horseshoes and nails. On
July 1, the Confederates were sent to Gettysburg to obtain any

supplies they could get and to chase what they