Why Did Lee Engage the Union Gettysburg

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 for undertaking the battle, Lee cited both strategic as well as morale implications of undergoing fire. “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 failure to defend his relatively weak army against Union aggression. The boldness which had stood him in good stead during earlier battles resulted in very high casualties during the first days of battle on both sides, causing Lee to lose men he could ill afford to sacrifice. [10: “Battle of Gettysburg.”]
The third day saw even more casualties, cumulating with the disastrous Pickett’s Charge, in which the Confederate Pickett lost two-thirds of his men to Union forces, compelling Lee to retreat. Lee approved the charge with the opposition of Longstreet, who saw the action as unnecessarily risky.[footnoteRef:11] The defeat of Pickett decisively ended any hopes of a Confederate victory, although Lee hoped at least to inflict further causalities upon Union troops in the wake of a Union counterattack which ultimately never came, forcing Lee to retreat in defeat.[footnoteRef:12] Lee knew after Gettysburg that recognition by Europe was unlikely, given that no nation would want to associate itself with what would likely be the losing side. Lee took full responsibility for the defeat at Gettysburg, although he praised the valor of his men. “The conduct of the troops was all that I could desire or expect, and they deserve success so far as it can be deserved by heroic valor and fortitude.”[footnoteRef:13] But even if his men had indeed showed bravery, that bravery was not directed in a strategically correct manner. [11: Ibid.] [12: Ibid.] [13: “Robert E. Lee’s Account.”]
There are of course many ifs in regards to Gettysburg in retrospect, including if Lee might have prevailed had Stonewall Jackson still been alive, or if Lee had listened to the advice of his more conservative generals, versus wishing to fight in such an aggressive manner. Given that tactical attacks, rather than a defensive strategy was seen by Lee himself as the source of his previous victories, he saw no reason to alter the pattern. Still, Lee knew that he had mismanaged the battle, and even offered his resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, which Davies subsequently refused.[footnoteRef:14] [14: “Robert E. Lee’s Account.”]
Criticism was leveled at Union General Meade, it should be noted, not just at Lee. Although Lee was disappointed he did not have a chance to engage Meade in a final fight at Gettysburg, he was criticized for not pursuing Lee and dealing him a final death-blow, thus prolonging the war. In other words, while Lee was criticized for being too bold, given his vulnerable position, Meade was lambasted for being overly passive. President Lincoln himself wrote Meade, while acknowledging the many casualties Meade had inflicted upon the enemy, that he should have followed Lee. “You fought and beat the enemy at Gettysburg; and, of course, to say the least, his loss was as great as yours. He retreated; and you did not, as it seemed to me, pressingly pursue him...”[footnoteRef:15] Lincoln criticized Meade for ignoring the fact that his men were more experienced than Lee’s yet let “the enemy move away at his leisure.”[footnoteRef:16] [15: “Letter from President Lincoln to George G. Meade, July 14, 1863,” accessed December 28, 2018, https://www.gilderlehrman.org/sites/default/files/inline-pdfs/LincolnToMeade.pdf] [16: Ibid.]
Of course, it will never be known what the outcome would have been if Meade had followed Lincoln’s suggestion. Regardless, it is clear that the errors on Lee’s side were greater, and as heavy as the causalities were upon the Union side, the Confederacy never recovered its military or political advantage. The myth of Lee’s invincibility had been shattered in the eyes of his troops and in Lee’s own self-conception. If Lee had hoped to secure a public relations advantage, his actions ultimately accomplished precisely the opposite and further emboldened the Union.
Bibliography
“Battle of Gettysburg.” History.com. Accessed December 28, 2018.
https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/battle-of-gettysburg
“Letter from President Lincoln to George G. Meade, July 14, 1863.” Accessed December 28,
2018. https://www.gilderlehrman.org/sites/default/files/inline-pdfs/LincolnToMeade.pdf
Lincoln, Abraham. “Gettysburg Address.” Accessed December 28, 2018.
http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/gettysburg/good_cause/transcript.htm
“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/docume nts/lee.ht