| On July 1st, 1863, one of the largest and most crucial battles of the war was waged for 2 days in the hills around Gettysburg. General Robert E. Lee, with almost 75,000 men, invaded Pennsylvania, and encountered the Union Army of the Potomac, about 90,000 strong, under General George G. Meade on the outskirts of Gettysburg on July 1. In a battle of considerable movement, Lee tested first the Union right on July 1st and then, in an assault led by General James Longstreet, the left on July 2nd. On July 3rd, General George Pickett led the infamous, and disastrous Pickett's charge. Of his 15,000 men, only 5,000 survived to tell about it. |
