Pickett's Charge

Pickett's Charge
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Conflict	Pickett's Charge
Partof	Battle of Gettysburg and the American Civil War
Date	July 3, 1863
Place	Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Result	Decisive Union repulse

Pickett's Charge Pickett's Charge was the climactic infantry assault on the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. The assault involved Confederate corps under James Longstreet and division commanders including George Pickett, supported by artillery under James Ewell Brown Stuart and resisted by Union forces under George G. Meade, Winfield Scott Hancock, and Gouverneur K. Warren. The failure of the assault marked a turning point in the Gettysburg Campaign and influenced subsequent operations in the Overland Campaign and the broader course of the Civil War.

Background and strategic context

On June 3, 1863, after victories at Second Battle of Winchester and maneuvers across the Shenandoah Valley, General-in-Chief Robert E. Lee led the Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania as part of the Gettysburg Campaign. Lee sought to threaten the Northern states and influence the 1864 United States presidential election by carrying the war into Union territory and seeking a decisive victory on northern soil. Opposing him, the Army of the Potomac under Joseph Hooker and later George G. Meade concentrated around Gettysburg after clashes at Harrisburg approaches and engagements on July 1 and July 2, including fighting at McPherson Ridge, Cemetery Hill, Little Round Top, and Culp's Hill. Lee’s tactical decisions on July 3 followed deliberations with Longstreet, discussion of cavalry operations under J.E.B. Stuart, and the Confederate need to break the Union center after heavy fighting on the flanks.

Opposing forces and commanders

The Confederate assault was organized from divisions of the First Corps under Longstreet, including divisions led by George Pickett, James Johnston Pettigrew, and elements of Isaac Ridgeway Trimble's command after reassignment. Lee, the commanding general of the Army of Northern Virginia, coordinated with corps commanders such as A.P. Hill and staff officers like Robert E. Lee's aides. The Confederate artillery was massed under generals including Edward Porter Alexander and supported by cavalry leaders such as J.E.B. Stuart though Stuart’s absence for much of the campaign affected Confederate reconnaissance. Union defenses on Cemetery Ridge were arranged under commanders including Winfield Scott Hancock, Gouverneur K. Warren, Daniel Sickles, and Henry J. Hunt who directed artillery, while Meade, commanding the Army of the Potomac, coordinated reserve forces including brigades from the II Corps, III Corps, and XI Corps. Prominent brigade and regimental leaders involved included Alexander Hays, Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Brigadier General J. H. Hobart Ward, Brigadier General Lewis A. Grant, and many others who shaped the defensive line.

The assault: movements and actions

On July 3, Confederate artillery under Alexander and others initiated a preparatory bombardment aimed at silencing the Union guns on Cemetery Hill, Cemetery Ridge, and Round Top. The barrage involved batteries from units associated with commanders such as William N. Pendleton and Edward Johnson and produced limited effects against Union positions manned by troops including elements of the I Corps and V Corps. Following the bombardment, Longstreet’s infantry columns formed in the open fields beyond Seminary Ridge and advanced across the Emmitsburg Road toward the Union center. Pickett’s division, Pettigrew’s detachment returning from fighting at the Wheatfield and the Peach Orchard, and Trimble’s brigades moved in lines of battle, passing landmarks such as the Copse of Trees—a focal point referenced by contemporaries including Sgt. John B. Mitchell—and attempting to breach hastily prepared earthworks, abatis, and artillery positions manned by Union brigades under leaders like Andrew A. Humphreys and Alexander S. Webb. Union artillery, directed by Henry J. Hunt and deployed in batteries such as those commanded by John Gibbon and James Barnes, and small-arms fire from regiments including units from Vermont and New York inflicted severe losses and ultimately repulsed the assault.

Casualties and immediate aftermath

Confederate casualties were heavy among assaulting brigades led by officers including Lewis Armistead—who was mortally wounded near the Union line—and James L. Kemper, while Union defenders suffered significant casualties among units from Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maine, and New Jersey. The assault’s failure resulted in the capture or death of many Confederate soldiers and officers and diminished offensive capability for Lee’s army, contributing to the eventual Confederate withdrawal on July 4 and the retreat across the Potomac River culminating in actions near Falling Waters. Immediate reactions included staff reports from Meade to Abraham Lincoln and correspondence between Confederate officers and Richmond authorities such as Jefferson Davis. Field hospitals and ambulance operations under personnel like Jonathan Letterman struggled to treat the wounded, while prisoner handling involved units associated with commanders like Brigadier General John G. Parke.

Analysis and historical interpretations

Historians have debated Lee’s decision-making, Longstreet’s advocacy for alternative maneuvers, and the role of Confederate artillery effectiveness; scholars such as Seymour Drescher and James M. McPherson—as well as biographers of Lee and Longstreet—have offered contrasting interpretations. Analyses consider logistical constraints, reconnaissance failures linked to the absence of J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalry, and the tactical challenge of frontal assaults against prepared positions, drawing comparisons with later campaigns involving commanders like Ulysses S. Grant in the Overland Campaign and engagements at Spotsylvania Court House. Military theorists reference the assault in discussions that include the evolution of massed artillery and infantry doctrine as seen in later European conflicts such as the Franco-Prussian War and the First World War. Revisionist studies examine primary sources including after-action reports from Meade, Lee, Hancock, and Longstreet, as well as letters from officers like George Pickett and Lewis A. Armistead, to assess accountability and the interplay between personality, politics, and strategy.

Commemoration and legacy

Gettysburg became a focal point for remembrance, inspiring commemorations including the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery by Abraham Lincoln with the Gettysburg Address; monuments and regimental markers on the Gettysburg Battlefield honor units and commanders such as Pickett’s division, Armistead, Hancock, and Warren. The battlefield’s preservation involved organizations like the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association, the National Park Service, and later advocacy by the Civil War Trust and American Battlefield Trust. Cultural representations of the assault appear in works by Bruce Catton, productions like the film Gettysburg (1993 film), and exhibitions at institutions including the Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center. The assault remains a subject of battlefield tours, scholarly conferences hosted by universities such as Gettysburg College and West Point, and public debates over memory, reconciliation, and the interpretation of Civil War symbolism.

Category:Battles of the American Civil War Category:Gettysburg Campaign