Editing Battle of Gettysburg (section)

===Union reaction to the news of the victory===
The news of the Union victory electrified the North. A headline in ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]'' proclaimed, "Victory! [[Battle of Waterloo|Waterloo]] Eclipsed!" New York diarist [[George Templeton Strong]] wrote:<ref>McPherson, p. 664.</ref>

{{Blockquote|The results of this victory are priceless. ... The charm of Robert E. Lee's invincibility is broken. The Army of the Potomac has at last found a general that can handle it, and has stood nobly up to its terrible work in spite of its long disheartening list of hard-fought failures. ... [[Copperhead (politics)|Copperheads]] are palsied and dumb for the moment at least. ... Government is strengthened four-fold at home and abroad.|George Templeton Strong|Diary, p. 330.}}

Union enthusiasm soon dissipated, however, as the public realized that Lee's army had escaped destruction and the war would continue. Lincoln complained to [[Gideon Welles]], his Secretary of the Navy, that "Our army held the war in the hollow of their hand and they would not close it!"<ref>Donald, p. 446; Woodworth, p. 217.</ref> Brigadier General [[Alexander S. Webb]] wrote to his father on July 17, stating that such Washington politicians as "[[Salmon P. Chase|Chase]], [[William H. Seward|Seward]] and others", disgusted with Meade, "write to me that Lee really won that Battle!"<ref>Coddington, p. 573.</ref>