It began in the early morning hours of July 1st, 1863 as men moved into a quiet hamlet in Pennsylvania looking for shoes. It ended three days later with over 50,000 men lying dead, dying, or wounded in the fields surrounding the town.

It would be known as the High Water Mark for the Confederacy, and would serve as realization that they were not invincible. For the tired Union army, it would be the first major victory against a seemingly undefeatable enemy. For a nation, it would be a turning point in a war that had torn them apart.

This
is
the
battle
of
Gettysburg.

In the opening hours of the battle, a commander would fall, never to return to his secret love.

On a rocky hill at the southern-most part of the battlefield, a schoolteacher from Maine would capture the imagination of an army.

A young boy, driven by passion for a cause, would return to the playground of his youth to meet his fate.

At a turning point in history, a flamboyant officer would watch the destruction of his command.

And, as the battle drew to its bloody close, a leader who had managed to stave off defeat so many times before would suffer his greatest loss.

These
are
the
stories
of
Gettysburg.