Gettysburg: Why Did Lee Engage the Union?
“Four score and seven years ago.”[footnoteRef:1] The Battle of Gettysburg is today remembered best in the popular imagination as the inspiration of President Lincoln’s famous address. Lincoln wrote, [1: Abraham Lincoln, “Gettysburg Address,” accessed December 28, 2018, http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/gettysburg/good_cause/transcript.htm]
“…from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion,” and resolved to fight on in what ultimately became a successful Union effort.[footnoteRef:2] Of course, from the Confederate perspective, the Battle was quite the opposite, as it became the source of dashed hopes and dreams. Gettysburg is also famous because of the bloody nature of the engagement, occurring relatively late in the American Civil War. It was fought from July 1-3, 1863, and was to prove in retrospect decisive in securing a Union victory, tipping the then-delicate balance in favor of the Union army.[footnoteRef:3] It must be remembered at the time that the victory of Union forces was far from a foregone conclusion. Although the Confederacy was weaker militarily, Lincoln had suffered a series of disastrous conflicts with his generals, and there was weak public support for the war in many quarters. Also, a number of European nations were highly dependent upon the cotton which the South provided. [2: Ibid.] [3: “Battle of Gettysburg,” History.com. accessed December 28, 2018, https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/battle-of-gettysburg]
Lee hoped to push Confederate forces as far North as possible. After a series of successive victories against superior numbers, Lee felt that he was in an excellent position to intimidate the North and politically to encourage surrender. Historians have called Lee’s aims more political than tactical.[footnoteRef:4] Northern supporters of surrender, Lee hoped, would become more vocal and he also hoped to secure recognition from Britain and France of the Confederacy.[footnoteRef:5] In his own account of the reasons...
“It was thought…a fair opportunity to strike a blow at the army then commanded by General Hooker, and that in any event that army would be compelled to leave Virginia, and, possibly, to draw to its support troops designed to operate against other parts of the country.”[footnoteRef:6] [4: Ibid.] [5: Ibid.] [6: “ Robert E. Lee’s Account of the Battle of Gettysburg (July 31, 1863),” accessed December 28, 2018, http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/eamerica/media/ch17/resources/documents/lee.htm]
Unfortunately for his men, Lee’s greatest strength—his confidence—also proved to be his greatest weakness as a general at Gettysburg. Lee also had been deprived of his greatest General, Stonewall Jackson, who had fallen at the Battle of Chancellorsville (where the Confederate had emerged victorious).[footnoteRef:7] Still, even though Lee had hoped to score a decisive victory, he later wrote that he had felt compelled to attack sooner than he had initially planned, well aware of the fact that the Confederate troops had secured fewer provisions than they had originally intended, deeming the country “unfavorable for collecting supplies.”[footnoteRef:8] He also noted that even when unexpectedly attacked, it was difficult to withdraw through such mountainous territory.[footnoteRef:9] [7: “Battle of Gettysburg.”] [8: “Robert E. Lee’s Account.”] [9: Ibid.]
Although in overall numbers Lee’s army was considered the underdog, the leadership of the Union army was in great turmoil at this time. Major General George Gordon Meade had recently been appointed by President Lincoln to succeed General Joseph Hooker. During the first day of battle, the Union Army was clearly helped by a number of tactical errors of Lee, including his decision to attack the Union at Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Ridge, going against the advice of his second-in-command James Longstreet.[footnoteRef:10] Again, in retrospect, Lee showed a great deal of hubris and a…
