June_1863.html

Army of the Potomac - Early in the day, June 28, 1863 a courier arived in the headquarters camp of the Army of the
Potomac, this courier was from the War Department in Washington. The courier had massages for two of the Army of the Potomac's generals. The first was for Major General Joseph Hooker, commander of the army. The massage relieved Hooker of command. The officials in Washington had been considering relieving Hooker from command since his severe defeat at the Battle of Chancelorsville in early May. The second message was for Major General George G. Meade commander of the V Corps. Meade was ordered to take command of the army emediatly. Meade rushed to army headquarters to better understand the positions of the army. He appointed Major General George Sykes to command V Corps.

Army of Northern Virginia - On June 28, 1863 Robert E. Lee's army had been moving north out of Virginia for nearly one month. Richard Ewell's II Corps was the farthest north, near Carlisle Pennsylvania. The III Corps was moving into Pennsylvania through the Cumberland Valley with the I Corps right behind. JEB Stuart's Cavalry Division had moved away from Lee's army in search of information and supplies. Lee had not heard from Stuart for several days.

Army of the Potomac - Meade, in command for less than 24 hours, was already making plans to deal with the Army of Northern Virginia. He picked a place called Pipe Creek along the Baltimore Pike as ground for a battle. Pipe Creek was a excelent defensive position and Meade hoped that he could force Lee to attack him there. Meade ordered his engineers and artillery officers to prepair the position. At the same time the cavalry division of John Buford was shadowing Lee's army in southern Pennsylvania.

Army of Northern Virginia - Up to this point in his invasion Robert E. Lee had faced almost no resistence from the Federal army. However, on June 29, Lee bacame aware that the Army of the Potomac was closing in on him. He decided to converge his army on a small town called Gettysburg. Gettysburg was important because numorous roads converged here from all directions. Lee's I and III Corps were moving into Gettysburg from Cashtown eight miles west. His II Corps was moving from Carlisle, from the north.

Army of the Potomac - In the early morning, John Buford's cavalry division approached Gettysburg form the south-east. Meade continued to build the defenses at Pipe Creek, however he began to realize that he would not be able to fight there. The federal I Corps, under Major General John Reynolds, was moving north behind Buford in order to support him if a battle began.

Army of Northern Virginia - Early on June 30, Major General Henry Heth's division of A. P. Hill's III Corps moved from Cashtown toward Gettysburg. Heth was going after supplies rumoured to be in the town. By this time Lee's entire army was converging on Gettysburg. Hill's whole III Corps was right behind Heth's division , behind that was the three divisions of James Longstreet's I Corps. Just to the north Richard Ewell's II Corps was headed toward Gettysburg.

One mile north west of Gettysburg - Late in the afternoon of June 30 the two forces met. Heth's division moving from Cashtown saw elements of Buford's cavalry moving towards them from Gettysburg. Not knowing what size force opposed him Heth withdrew from the area until the next day, when he could converge upon Gettysburg with a larger force. On the other side Buford saw Heth's advancing division. Buford reasoned that Lee's entire army was closing on him. He chose to entrench his division across the Chambersburg Pike. His goal was to keep Lee away from the ridges and hills south of town until Reynolds' I infintry Corps could relieve him, sometime the next morning. Buford knew well that Lee would have two confederate corps converging on him from the north and west in the morning.