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Battle Starts
First shot fired at 7:30am 3 miles North West of Gettysburg. First blood is by the Unions at 10:30am. A bullet through the base of his skull kills Major General Reynolds. -
Union Takes Positions
At 10:30 Major General John Reynolds and two brigades of the Union arrive and join the line. At 11am Two divisions of the Union Eleventh Corps arrive and take positions north of town. -
Confederate Attacks
At 2:00pm Confederate Lieutenant General Richard Ewell's divisions arrives and engages the right flank of the Union. At 2:10pm General Robert E. Lee arrives to prepare for a new attack. At 2:15pm Another division of Ewell's attacks the Union position. -
Confederate Army Dominates
At 3:00pm Confederate Major General Robert Rhode's division launches an attack. It's the largest division in either army. At 4:00pm Confederate soldiers arrive from the northeast and cause the right flank of the Union Corps. This causes two small Union divisions to buckle -
Day Ends
At 4:00pm a cahin reaction of Union Corps retreating back is caused. At 5:00pm Confederates appear to have won, but to complete the job, Lee tells Ewell, whose third division is arriving, to attack Cemetery Hill where the Unions resided. After midnight Union General Meade arrives and decides to stay and fight the next day from the strong defensive position. -
Period: to
The Battle of Gettysburg
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Day 2 Starts
Before dawn All of the Rebel Army of Northern Virginia reaches Gettysburg.They arrived during the day after marching all night. -
Confederate Attacks
At 4:00pm Confederate troops Attack. A Union General spots them coming and moves his men into a position on a hill. Commanded by the Prominent Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, he and his men were positioned on the left side. -
Battle Rages
Between 4:00-7:00pm the battle rages across the Wheatfield. At 7:00pm in a desperate defensive position on his hill, Chamberlain gives the order, "Bayonet!", and the Union men charge down the hill. -
Day Ends
The Confederates still hold their position overnight. There is frequent firing by pickets. On both the Confederate and Union side troops arrive. In Meade's headquarters, he takes a vote from his generals and they decide to stay and fight. -
Confederate Make the First Move of the Day
At 1:00pm Confederate Generals lead their men around to confront the Union rear. 1:07pm Two cannon shots fire from Seminary Ridge, the signal for Confederates to harden the attack -
Confederate Continue to put Pressure
Between 2:00pm and 3:00pm there are almost two hours of rapid fire from 250 cannons. It is reportedly heard in Pittsburgh, 150 miles west. The Confederate soldiers run low on ammunition. Major General George E. Pickett asks, "General, shall I advance?" and receives a nod to carry out the now famous Pickett's Charge. -
UNION WINS!!!!
At 4:00pm Confederate General Lewis A. Armistad and about 200 men make it through, but he is mortally wounded as he places his hand on an enemy cannon to capture it. The high of the battle is reached and the Confederacy survivors retreat. At 5:00pm Union commander General Judson Kilpatrick learns of the successful repulse and organizes his own counterattack against Confederates west of the hills. Though it is unsuccessful without infantry. -
Day 3 Starts
At 4:30am Union troops renew the fight. Attacks and counterattacks continue for nearly seven hours. At 8:30am Sniper fire between Confederate troops barricaded in town and Union troops on Cemetery Hill continues throughout the day. Mary Virginia "Jenny" Wade is shot by a stray bullet in her sister's kitchen as she makes biscuits for Union soldiers. She is the only civilian casualty of the battle.