Editing Battle of Gettysburg (section)

==Background==
===Military situation===
{{Main|Gettysburg campaign|Gettysburg Battlefield}}
{{further|Battle of Chancellorsville|Eastern theater of the American Civil War|American Civil War}}
[[File:Gettysburg Campaign.png|thumb|A military map of the [[Gettysburg campaign]] through July 3, 1863, including cavalry movements shown with dashed lines {{legend|#ED1C24|Confederate}}
{{legend|#2E3192|Union}}
]]
Shortly after the [[Army of Northern Virginia]] won a major victory over the [[Army of the Potomac]] at the [[Battle of Chancellorsville]] (April 30&nbsp;– May 6, 1863), General [[Robert E. Lee]] decided upon a second invasion of the North (the first was the unsuccessful [[Maryland campaign]] of September 1862, which ended in the bloody [[Battle of Antietam]]). Such a move would upset the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]'s plans for the summer campaigning season and possibly reduce the pressure on the besieged Confederate garrison at [[Vicksburg, Mississippi|Vicksburg]]. The invasion would allow the Confederates to live off the bounty of the rich Northern farms while giving war-ravaged [[Virginia]] a much-needed rest. In addition, Lee's 72,000-man army<ref name=BM260/> could threaten [[Philadelphia]], [[Baltimore]], and [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]], and possibly strengthen the growing peace movement in the North.<ref>Coddington, pp. 8–9; Eicher, p. 490.</ref>

===Initial movements to battle===
Thus, on June 3, Lee's army began to shift northward from [[Fredericksburg, Virginia]]. Following the death of [[Stonewall Jackson|Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson]], Lee reorganized his two large corps into three new corps, commanded by [[Lieutenant General (CSA)|Lieutenant General]] [[James Longstreet]] (First Corps), Lieutenant General [[Richard S. Ewell]] (Second), and Lieutenant General [[A.P. Hill]] (Third); both Ewell and Hill, who had formerly reported to Jackson as division commanders, were new to this level of responsibility. The cavalry division remained under the command of Major General [[J.E.B. Stuart]].<ref>Eicher, pp. 489–491.</ref>

The Union's [[Army of the Potomac]], commanded by Major General [[Joseph Hooker]], consisted of seven infantry corps, a cavalry corps, and an artillery reserve, for a combined strength of more than 100,000 men.<ref name=BM125/>

The first major action of the campaign took place on June 9 between cavalry forces at [[Battle of Brandy Station|Brandy Station]], near [[Culpeper, Virginia]]. The 9,500 Confederate cavalrymen under Stuart were surprised by Major General [[Alfred Pleasonton]]'s [[combined arms]] force of two cavalry divisions (8,000 troopers) and 3,000 infantry, but Stuart eventually repelled the Union attack. The inconclusive battle, the largest predominantly cavalry engagement of the war, proved for the first time that Union cavalrymen were equal to their Southern counterparts.<ref>Symonds, p. 36.</ref>

By mid-June, the [[Army of Northern Virginia]] was poised to cross the [[Potomac River]] and enter [[Maryland]]. After defeating the Union garrisons at [[Second Battle of Winchester|Winchester]] and [[Martinsburg, West Virginia|Martinsburg]], Ewell's Second Corps began crossing the river on June 15. Hill's and Longstreet's corps followed on June 24 and 25. Hooker's army pursued, keeping between Washington, D.C., and Lee's army. The Union army crossed the Potomac from June 25 to 27.<ref>Trudeau, pp. 45, 66.</ref>

Lee gave strict orders for his army to minimize any negative effects on the civilian population.<ref>Symonds, p. 49.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/rebellionrecord06evergoog |title=The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, with Documents, Narratives Illustrative Incidents, Poetry, Etc |first=Frank |last=Moore |date=September 25, 1864 |publisher=Putnam |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Food, horses, and other supplies were generally not seized outright unless a citizen concealed property, although quartermasters reimbursing Northern farmers and merchants with [[Confederate States of America dollar|Confederate money]] which was virtually worthless or with equally worthless promissory notes were not well received.<ref>Symonds, 49-50.</ref> Various towns, most notably [[York, Pennsylvania]], were required to pay indemnities in lieu of supplies, under threat of destruction.<ref>Symonds, p. 51.</ref> During the invasion, the Confederates seized between 40 and nearly 60 northern [[African Americans]]. A few of them were escaped fugitive [[History of slavery in the United States|slaves]], but many were freemen; all were sent south into slavery under guard.<ref name="Wynstra81"/><ref name="Symonds, pp. 53, 57"/>

On June 26, elements of Major General [[Jubal Early]]'s division of Ewell's corps occupied the town of Gettysburg after chasing off newly raised 26th Regiment Pennsylvania Emergency Militia Infantry in a series of minor skirmishes.<ref>{{cite web |last1=J. David Petruzzi |first1=Steven Stanley |title="They Came with Barbarian Yells and Smoking Pistols" |url=https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/they-came-barbarian-yells-and-smoking-pistols |website=American Battlefield Trust |date=May 19, 2009 |access-date=24 November 2023}}</ref> Early laid the borough under tribute, but did not collect any significant supplies. Soldiers burned several railroad cars and a [[covered bridge]], and destroyed nearby rails and [[telegraph line]]s. The following morning, Early departed for adjacent [[York County, Pennsylvania|York County]].<ref>Nye, pp. 272–278.</ref>

Meanwhile, in a controversial move, Lee allowed Stuart to take a portion of the army's cavalry and ride around the east flank of the Union army. Lee's orders gave Stuart much latitude, and both generals share the blame for the long absence of Stuart's cavalry, as well as for the failure to assign a more active role to the cavalry left with the army. Stuart and his three best brigades were absent from the army during the crucial phase of the approach to Gettysburg and the first two days of battle. By June 29, Lee's army was strung out in an arc from [[Chambersburg, Pennsylvania|Chambersburg]] ({{cvt|28|mi|km}} northwest of Gettysburg) to [[Carlisle, Pennsylvania|Carlisle]] ({{cvt|30|mi|km}} north of Gettysburg) to near [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg]] and [[Wrightsville, Pennsylvania|Wrightsville]] on the [[Susquehanna River]].<ref>Symonds, pp. 41–43; Sears, pp. 103–106; Esposito, text for Map 94 ([https://archive.today/20100607100747/http://www.military.com/Resources/ResourceFileView/civilwar_maps_map34_largerview.htm Map 34b] in the online version); Eicher, pp. 504–507; McPherson, p. 649.</ref>

In a dispute over the use of the forces defending the [[Harpers Ferry, West Virginia|Harpers Ferry]] garrison, Hooker offered his resignation, and [[Abraham Lincoln]] and General-in-Chief [[Henry W. Halleck]], who were looking for an excuse to rid themselves of him, immediately accepted. They replaced Hooker early on the morning of June 28 with Major General [[George Meade|George Gordon Meade]], then commander of the [[V Corps (Union Army)|V Corps]].<ref>Sears, p. 123; Trudeau, p. 128.</ref>

On June 29, when Lee learned that the Army of the Potomac had crossed the Potomac River, he ordered a concentration of his forces around [[Cashtown-McKnightstown, Pennsylvania|Cashtown]], located at the eastern base of [[South Mountain (Maryland and Pennsylvania)|South Mountain]] and {{cvt|8|mi|km|spell=in}} west of Gettysburg.<ref>Coddington, pp. 181, 189.</ref> On June 30, while part of Hill's corps was in Cashtown, one of Hill's brigades (North Carolinians under [[Brigadier General (CSA)|Brigadier General]] [[J. Johnston Pettigrew]]) ventured toward Gettysburg. In his memoirs, Major General [[Henry Heth]], Pettigrew's division commander, claimed that he sent Pettigrew to search for supplies in town—especially shoes.<ref>Eicher, pp. 508–509, discounts Heth's claim because the previous visit by Early to Gettysburg would have made the lack of shoe factories or stores obvious. However, many mainstream historians accept Heth's account: Sears, p. 136; Foote, p. 465; Clark, p. 35; Tucker, pp. 97–98; Martin, p. 25; Pfanz, ''First Day'', p. 25.</ref>

When Pettigrew's troops approached Gettysburg on June 30, they noticed Union cavalry under Major General [[John Buford]] arriving south of town, and Pettigrew returned to Cashtown without engaging them. When Pettigrew told Hill and Heth what he had seen, neither general believed that there was a substantial Union force in or near the town, suspecting that it had been only Pennsylvania militia. Despite Lee's order to avoid a general engagement until his entire army was concentrated, Hill decided to mount a significant [[Reconnaissance-in-force|reconnaissance in force]] the following morning to determine the size and strength of the enemy force in his front. Around 5{{nbsp}}a.m. on Wednesday, July 1, two brigades of Heth's division advanced to Gettysburg.<ref>Eicher, p. 508; Tucker, pp. 99–102.</ref>