Related Links:    My Civil War Timeline compilation    My pictures of the 2001 Gettysburg Re-enactment    My 2010 pictures of the Gettysburg Military Park

After the victory by the Confederate forces at Chancellorsville in May, 1863, Robert E Lee decided that he needed a major victory in a northern state that would force the North to accept an offer of ceasefire and peace from Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy. They would need to either capture an important site in the north or a victory against the Army of the Potomac. He led his forces north into Pennsylvania. He sent part of his forces toward Harrisburg intending for them to take the Pennsylvania capital, and he sent his cavalry under Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart on a separate mission.      President Abraham Lincoln had fired Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker and replaced him with Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade three or four days before the Battle of Gettysburg began. He led the Army of the Potomac north toward Gettysburg. Lee heard of the change and received information that the northern forces were heading north form Washington toward Gettysburg. He recalled the forces that had been heading toward Harrisburg. The significance of Gettysburg is that is was a town which had ten roads entering it. Armies roaming around the Pennsylvania countryside nearby could tend to eventually move toward Gettysburg and encounter each other. So because of all of the maneuvering and because of the nature of the road system, the Northern forces entered Gettysburg from the south, and the Southern forces entered Gettysburg from the north and west.      The first skirmishes occurred on July 1, 1863 west of the town. Southern forces were coming toward Gettysburg on a narrow road from Cashtown called the Chambersburg Road, scouting for food and other supplies such as shoes. They ran into two brigades of cavalry under Maj. Gen. John Buford who had seen the movement of the southern forces, dismounted his cavalry, and set them up on McPherson's Ridge west of Gettysburg. Even though the Union forces were out-numbered, they put up great resistance and impeded other forces from approaching Gettysburg on the narrow road. We were told by our guide that the cavalry were using carbines which could be loaded 5-6 times faster. Buford's forces were soon joined by the leading units of Meade's army -- infantry units under Maj. Gen. John Reynolds. Reynolds, who was riding a horse commanding the troops, was killed by a sharpshooter. He was succeeded by Maj. Gen. Abner Doubleday. Doubleday was superceded by Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard when he arrived with the 11th Corps. Howard placed his forces to the right of Doubleday's forces, covering the northern approaches to the town.      Lt. Gen. Richard Ewell's southern forces smashed into Howard's forces and drove them through the streets of Gettysburg. Doubleday's forces also fell back. They made their way toward Cemetery Ridge, and Lt. Gen. A. P. Hill's southern forces which had been engaging the Union forces under Doubleday took up positions on Seminary Ridge. Lt. Gen. James Longstreet and his forces were still approaching Gettysburg on the narrow road from the west as night fell.      Thus ended the first day's fighting. The Union forces had fallen back to Cemetery Ridge south of the town and extending east along the ridge to Culp's Hill. This was the first point at which the Union forces began to form along Cemetery Ridge into what is called "the fishhook." The Confederate forces were settled in on Seminary Ridge to the west and in the town of Gettysburg to the north. Much of the Union forces were still on the way. The first day's fighting can be described as a strategic retreat by the Union forces from ridge to ridge to ridge.

Above is the Eternal Light Peace Memorial. The top of the monument is an eternal flame burning for peace. The monument was dedicated by President Franklin D Roosevelt on July 3, 1938, the seventy-fifth anniversary of the final day of battle. Quite a few survivors of the battle were still alive and attended, the average of the survivors being in the 90s.

This photo is of the fields in front of the Eternal Light Peace Memorial. You can see that the fields rise and fall with the ridge -- which I believe is McPherson's Ridge. The difference between the low point and the high point of the ridge do not seem like very much. Also notice that the fields are relatively open. From what our guide told us, that is how the fields were in 1863. Whatever crops there were would not have been enough cover for fleeing troops or men who were trying to seek cover. It is one of the reasons for the high casualties on the first day.

The above photo is of our group (minus me) plus our guide. He told us how he became a guide. He had to buy boatloads of books, study on his own, and take a series of tests -- the last of which was verbal. He drove us around and talked as he drove. He seemed to be a very safe driver in spite of all of the talking and all of the traffic. I can't say for sure, but I think that the artillery piece we are standing next to may be described in the tour book as a breech-loading English-made Whitworth gun. The Confederates had four of these in the battle. The book says that they can fire a projectile five miles. Our guide said they could shoot two miles. Either way, the Union forces on McPherson's Ridge were well within range.      Our guide drove past his house in the center of Gettysburg. He said that his house is one of nine which has a cannonball or artillery projectile embedded in the brick wall of the house. He said that during the battle, the Confederates and the Union artillery would hit a house in the town. Sometimes the projectile would go through the wall and bounce around in the house, and other times it would go through the wall and end up in the street. When the owners started to repair the wall, they would pick up the projectile and embed it into the brick wall as they were repairing it. I'm sure it makes the house more valuable.      Our guide told us the story of two men who knew each other and who fought against each other on opposite sides in the battle. During a lull, they yelled to each other in conversation. They both knew a young woman who lived in town named Jenny Wade. One said that he had a message for Jenny. They other one said that he could deliver it. The first one said, No. I'll deliver it after this is all over. Both of the men were killed during the battle, and the message was never delivered. Then he told us about the people who lived in the town. Many left town when they saw that a major battle was going to occur. Others attempted to hide in basements. When the battle was over there had been only one fatality among the civilians. It was Jenny Wade. She had come up out of the basement to bake some bread. On July 3rd, a stray bullet went through two solid wood doors and hit her in the middle of the back, killing her instantly.

This picture was taken soon after we left the Eternal Light Peace Memorial. It is another view of the ridges and a stone fence. This picture was taken in the morning when there was still a fog and a haze. Conditions were better in the afternoon.

Above is a picture of the Lutheran Seminary Building where Buford viewed the battlefield on the first day and kept an eye out for reinforcements.