Pickett’s Charge

By: Brycen Boettcher

Before the Battle

• Following his win at Chancellorsville,VA in

May, Robert Lee decided to attack the

North.• His plan was to create

panic and force the Union to surrender, ending the two year war that had already

taken many lives.

• Lincoln put General George Meade in charge of stopping Lee before he

caused panic in the North.

• On July 1, 1863, Confederate troops

arrived in the town of Gettysburg, looking for a large stash of shoes that

was rumored to be there.

Lee and Meade

Importance of Gettysburg• Gettysburg was a small quiet

Pennsylvania town that thought the Civil War would never get

near them.• The immediate importance of

Gettysburg to the Confederates was the rumored stash of shoes,

but they soon realized that Gettysburg was worth a whole

lot more.• Gettysburg had ten major roads

running into it, allowing whoever controlled it to take

control of southern Pennsylvania and one of the roads leading to

Philadelphia.

First Day of Battle

• On July 1, forward units of both armies reached Gettysburg and began to skirmish.

• As more and more Confederate troops arrived, the Union forces slowly retreated to the high ground outside

Gettysburg.• Robert E. Lee decided not to risk another attack, allowing

both armies to arrive and dig in.• The Union army took position on a three mile stretch of

high ground shaped like a fishhook.• The Confederate army spread out on the fields below,

stretching nearly six miles long.

Map of First Day of Battle

Second Day of Battle• Lee decided to attack the

sides of the Union army at Culp’s Hill and Little Round

Top.• Richard Ewell’s corps attacked

the heavily wooded and steep Culp’s Hill in the morning, but gained very little with massive

casualties.• After a massive delay which

took away half the day, General Longstreet’s corps

attacked the Union troops on Little Round Top.

• The Union managed to fight off the attack, forcing

Longstreet to retreat and regroup.

• After regrouping, Longstreet noticed Union troops moving into the open ground called

the Peach Orchard.• These troops were under the

command of General Sickles, who was ignoring a direct

order from General Meade to stay in his position.

Disaster is Averted• Sickles moved his troops

forward into the Peach Orchard, completely

separating him from the rest of the army.

• Longstreet took the opportunity and attacked,

forcing Sickles to retreat back to the high ground, with the

help of reinforcements.• Both sides took major

casualties that day, with both sides losing about 8,000

troops.

Positions after Second Day of Battle

Lee’s Plan for Third Day of Battle

• Jeb Stuart, Lee’s cavalry commander, was to take his cavalry around to the Union rear.

• Ewell’s troops were to attack Culp’s Hill in a diversionary attack, tying up troops.

• Then a massive artillery barrage of over 170 cannon was set to destroy the Union troops in the middle of

the Union Line, along Cemetery Ridge.• Finally, 12,000 men under General Pickett were to

attack Cemetery Ridge and meet Jeb Stuart’s cavalry in the rear, effectively splitting up the Union army.

Map of Lee’s Planned Attack

Plan Goes Wrong• As Stuart approaches the

rear, he is met with strong resistance from Union cavalry, rendering him ineffective in the plan.

• Ewell’s attack fails on Culp’s Hill, freeing Union troops for

the coming attack, if a breakthrough happened.

• This left the massive artillery barrage as the only

remaining attempt to weaken the Union Line

before the attack.

• For over two hours, 170 guns fired thousands of shells towards the Union line.

• However, due to the smoke over the battlefield, most of the shells landed behind the

line.• Instead of killing soldiers that

could fight, the shells killed doctors and Union wounded

that served no purpose in the coming attack.

Pickett’s Charge

• 12,000 men emerged from the woods and formed a one

mile line.• They began their steady

march forward across the one mile field while the

Union guns tore holes in the long line.

• After crossing the Emmetsburg Road, the line

condensed down to ½ a mile, erasing the gaps in the line.

• As the line got closer, artillery from Little Round Top was able to turn and

shoot on the soldiers at an angle, taking out men in

groups.• Infantry from a forward outpost fired on the passing troops from the other side.• This forced the lines to condense even more, making

them easy targets for the waiting Union cannon.

Pickett’s Charge

• Only 200 hundred men crossed the stone wall where the Union troops were located, the rest

retreated.• Those 200 men however, managed to create a

small breakthrough in the Union Line.• Union reinforcements arrived and the remaining

men were either captured or killed after being surrounded.

• This was the last action in the Battle of Gettysburg, as both sides waited for nightfall.

Retreat of Lee’s Army

• On a wet and dreary July 4, 1863, Lee’s army began the long retreat back to Virginia from

Gettysburg.• Meade followed behind, forcing Lee’s tired

men to continuously march south with no time for rest.

• Once Lee crossed the Potomac back into Virginia, both armies took a much needed

break from war.

Effects of Pickett’s Charge

• After the failed charge, the Confederates were never able to regain momentum in the war, constantly being pushed back towards

Richmond.• 28,000 irreplaceable Confederate men were

killed, leaving Lee with only about 40,000 men.

• TURNING POINT IN AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

Works Cited• "Robert E. Lee." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Nov. 2014. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Lee>.• "Approaches to Gettysburg." Approachesto Gettysburg. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.

<http://polyticks.com/Hole/roadsn.htm>.• "Military History Online - Battle of Gettysburg." Military History Online - Battle of Gettysburg.

N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2014. <http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/gettysburg/getty1.aspx>.

• "Gettysburg Battlefield." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Nov. 2014. Web. 16 Nov. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Battlefield>.

• "The Battle of Gettysburg - Gettysburg Welcome Center." The Battle of Gettysburg - Gettysburg Welcome Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2014. <http://www.gettysbg.com/battle.shtml>.