The Battle of Gettysburg

After a major victory at Chancellorsville, Virginia, Robert E. Lee launched a second invasion of the North—and again failed. Marching 75,000 men through Maryland into Pennsylvania, Lee hoped to reach Harrisburg. But General George Meade, now in command of the Army of the Potomac, met him at Gettysburg with 88,000 men on July 1, 1863. Meade’s forces occupied the high ground. For three days, the two armies battled, with terrible losses. General George Pickett led the final Southern assault, against the center of the Union line. When it failed, Lee recognized defeat, retreated, and abandoned his hope of taking the war into Northern territory.

Map of the field of Gettysburg — **Map of the Field of Gettysburg**

**Gardner’s Sketch Book, Harvest of Dead at Gettysburg**

Related Objects

Shell jacket
As cloth grew scarce in the South, the long frock coat gave way to a shorter sack coat or more often to a shell jacket, which became standard issued in the Confederate Army. This jacket belonged to George William Ramsay of the 17th Regiment of the Virginia Infantry.
Gift of The Heirs of William and Dennis Ramsay

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New Testament
New Testament owned by James H. Stetson, who was killed at the Battle of Gettysburg
Gift of Mrs. Robert Southworth Stetson

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Painted Canteen
Said to have been used at Gettysburg. The scene painted on this canteen is a snapshot of camp life, preserved as a memento of the war like a letter home or a diary entry. At right, a soldier appears to be on guard duty beside a tent over which flies an American flag. To the left, another soldier sits on a log before a fire.
Gift of Estate of Stephen Earl Hagerman

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