Nestled on just over a square mile of land, the town of Gettysburg is defined by a battlefield so vast and consequential that its 6,000 preserved acres tell a story of America forever changed by three days in July.
Key Takeaways
- Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, covers a total area of 1.20 square miles, with 1.17 square miles of land and 0.02 square miles of water
- In the 1860 U.S. Census, the population of Gettysburg was recorded as 2,401 residents, predominantly of German descent
- The modern population of Gettysburg as of the 2020 U.S. Census is 7,777 people, reflecting growth due to tourism
- The Union Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. George G. Meade totaled 93,921 men present for duty on July 1, 1863
- The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under Gen. Robert E. Lee had 71,699 men engaged at Gettysburg
- Union forces included 7 infantry corps with 51 divisions, commanded by Meade who assumed command on June 28
- On July 1, Brig. Gen. John Buford's Union cavalry engaged Heth's Division at 8 AM near Willoughby Run with 2,500 vs 7,000
- Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds arrived with I Corps at 10:30 AM, deploying 9 brigades totaling 9,000 men on McPherson Ridge
- Reynolds was killed at 10:50 AM by a Confederate sharpshooter while directing Wadsworth's Division
- On July 2 afternoon, Longstreet's I Corps assaulted the Union left at 4 PM starting with artillery barrage of 50 guns
- Maj. Gen. Daniel Sickles advanced III Corps 0.5 miles forward to Peach Orchard, exposing flank with 10,500 men
- Hood's Division attacked Devil's Den at 4:15 PM, capturing it after 2 hours with 1,200 casualties
- On July 3, Confederate Grand Battery of 153 guns opened fire at 1 PM lasting 2 hours, firing 9,000 rounds
- Union artillery under Henry Hunt replied with 80 guns from Cemetery Hill, conserving ammo
- Pickett's Charge involved 12,500 Confederates from 47 regiments advancing 0.75 miles across open fields
Gettysburg grew from a small town into a major historical tourism destination.
Casualties and Aftermath
- Total Battle of Gettysburg casualties numbered 50,286 (Union 23,049; Confederate 27,237)
- Union killed: 3,155; wounded: 14,529; captured/missing: 5,365, per official returns
- Confederate killed estimated 4,708; wounded 12,693; missing 5,830
- 7,058 dead bodies buried on field, including 3,320 unknowns in national cemetery
- Pennsylvania supplied 34,529 Union troops at Gettysburg, highest of any state
- New York regiments suffered 6,000 casualties, second highest
- The Irish Brigade (69th NY et al.) lost 935 of 1,815 (52%) on Day 2 Wheatfield
- Pickett's Division entered charge with 4,500, returned with 1,200 (73% loss)
- 1st Minnesota Infantry charged 411 vs 2,000, losing 215 (82% casualties, record)
- Over 22,000 wounded overwhelmed field hospitals; 10 surgeons per 1,000 casualties
- Amputation rate was 75% for arm/leg wounds due to minié ball damage
- 1,665 surgeons treated wounded; chloroform used in 75% of operations
- Confederate dead buried in trenches; 3,200 reinterred post-war to Hollywood Cemetery
- Lincoln's Gettysburg Address dedicated cemetery on Nov 19, 1863, for 3,577 burials
- Total battle cost $18 million (1863 dollars), equivalent to $400 million today
- 14 Union generals wounded/killed including Reynolds, Hancock, Sickles
- 11 Confederate generals hit: Pender, Armistead, Garnett, Semmes, Barksdale, Kemper et al.
- Disease claimed 1,000 more lives post-battle in camps/hospitals
- Virginia provided 19,000 Confederate troops, suffering 8,000 casualties (42%)
- Field hospitals at Slyder Farm treated 1,200 wounded with 200 deaths
- 6,000 horses killed, creating sanitation crisis with mass graves
- Post-battle, Meade's army pursued but failed to destroy Lee at Williamsport due to rain
- The battle halted Lee's second invasion, shifting momentum to Union
- Annual Gettysburg reenactment draws 10,000 participants and 150,000 spectators since 1863
- National Military Park established 1895, managed by NPS since 1933 with 1.3 million visitors/year
- 45% of battlefield privately owned pre-preservation; now 45% protected via ABT efforts
Casualties and Aftermath Interpretation
Amid the clinical ledger of staggering losses, from the Irish Brigade halved to Pickett's Division gutted, each cold statistic begs a visceral human question: can a nation truly consecrate ground already saturated by the blood of brothers?
Day 1 Events
- On July 1, Brig. Gen. John Buford's Union cavalry engaged Heth's Division at 8 AM near Willoughby Run with 2,500 vs 7,000
- Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds arrived with I Corps at 10:30 AM, deploying 9 brigades totaling 9,000 men on McPherson Ridge
- Reynolds was killed at 10:50 AM by a Confederate sharpshooter while directing Wadsworth's Division
- By noon, Confederate Maj. Gen. Robert Rodes' Division of 8,000 assaulted from Oak Hill, capturing Herbst Woods
- Union Brig. Gen. Lysander Cutler's Brigade repulsed attacks but lost 700 of 1,600 men near railroad cut
- The 153rd Pennsylvania Regiment held the railroad cut, capturing 250 Confederates but losing 140 men
- Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's Corps assaulted at 2 PM with Jubal Early's Division flanking Seminary Ridge
- Union XI Corps under Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard arrived 1 PM, deploying 10,000 men east of town but routed by 4 PM
- Barlow's Knoll saw heavy fighting where Union Brig. Gen. Francis Barlow was wounded capturing 500 prisoners
- By 4 PM, Confederates captured 4,000 Union prisoners as I and XI Corps retreated through Gettysburg town
- Ewell assaulted Cemetery Hill at 6 PM but halted short of victory despite 5,000 casualties
- Union forces occupied Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill by dusk, with 22,000 men vs Confederate 25,000 engaged that day
- Total Day 1 casualties: Union 9,000 (killed 600, wounded 3,000, captured 5,400); Confederate 6,000
- Buford's cavalry skirmish line used 6 guns from Lt. John Calef's battery, firing 1,080 rounds
- The 56th New York Regiment lost 200 of 300 in defense of the railroad embankment
- Confederate Archer's Brigade lost 450 of 1,300 captured in a Union counterattack near Herbst Woods
- Oak Ridge was held by Union until 3 PM when Davis' Brigade flanked it, causing collapse
- Iverson's North Carolina Brigade lost 500 of 1,700 in a failed assault on Oak Hill
- Union signal station on Seminary Ridge spotted Confederates at 7:30 AM, relaying to Meade 30 miles away
- By nightfall July 1, Lee concentrated 30,000 men around Seminary Ridge ready for July 2
- Howard ordered the XI Corps wagons burned to speed retreat, abandoning 200 vehicles
Day 1 Events Interpretation
On that bloody first day, the Union’s desperate, piecemeal arrivals and tenacious but outnumbered stands—where brigades were shattered yet bought precious hours—transformed a cavalry skirmish into a grim race for the high ground, a race the Confederates won in the fields but ultimately lost by hesitating at the hills as dusk fell.
Day 2 Events
- On July 2 afternoon, Longstreet's I Corps assaulted the Union left at 4 PM starting with artillery barrage of 50 guns
- Maj. Gen. Daniel Sickles advanced III Corps 0.5 miles forward to Peach Orchard, exposing flank with 10,500 men
- Hood's Division attacked Devil's Den at 4:15 PM, capturing it after 2 hours with 1,200 casualties
- The 20th Maine under Chamberlain repulsed 14 assaults on Little Round Top, losing 130 of 386
- Wheatfield fighting involved 20 regiments changing hands 6 times, with 3,000 total casualties in 2 hours
- Trostle Farmhouse sheltered Sickles after leg amputation by cannonball at 6 PM
- Union Brig. Gen. Stephen Weed killed on Little Round Top commanding artillery
- Confederate Brig. Gen. Paul J. Semmes mortally wounded in Rose Woods, his brigade losing 50%
- Ewell attacked Culp's Hill at 7 PM with Johnson's Division using bayonets after ammo shortage
- Union XII Corps under Maj. Gen. Henry Slocum defended Culp's Hill with breastworks from 7,000 logs
- Peach Orchard saw 17 Union guns captured by Kershaw's South Carolina Brigade
- Berdan's 1st U.S. Sharpshooters sniped from Devil's Den, killing many but losing 200 of 400
- Longstreet committed 18 brigades totaling 28,000 in the assault, achieving temporary breakthroughs
- Union reinforcements from V Corps arrived 5 PM, stabilizing line with 4 brigades under Ayres
- Day 2 casualties totaled 9,000 Union and 8,000 Confederate, heaviest on southern end
- The 16th Michigan lost 396 of 450 holding Little Round Top's slope against Law's Alabama
- Confederate artillery fired 2,500 rounds from 60 guns in support of infantry assaults
- Union batteries on Cemetery Hill under Capt. Greenleaf Tully repelled Early's attack at dusk
- Brig. Gen. Goerge S. Greene's Brigade entrenched Culp's Hill beforehand, saving it from capture
- McLaws' Georgia Brigade captured 300 prisoners in the Peach Orchard fight
Day 2 Events Interpretation
On July 2nd, Longstreet’s 28,000 Confederates threw themselves at the Union left in a brutal, piecemeal symphony of valor and blunders, where Sickles’ reckless advance, Chamberlain’s desperate defense, and fields that changed hands six times culminated in a staggering 17,000 casualties, proving that at Gettysburg, the high ground was won not just by hills, but by the men who stubbornly refused to give them up.
Day 3 Events
- On July 3, Confederate Grand Battery of 153 guns opened fire at 1 PM lasting 2 hours, firing 9,000 rounds
- Union artillery under Henry Hunt replied with 80 guns from Cemetery Hill, conserving ammo
- Pickett's Charge involved 12,500 Confederates from 47 regiments advancing 0.75 miles across open fields
- Armistead's Brigade breached the Angle stone wall with 150 men before repulsed
- Union II Corps under Hancock lost 2,500 in repelling the charge, Hancock wounded by shell fragment
- Confederate losses in Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble assault: 6,000 of 12,500 (50%)
- Stuart's cavalry attacked Union right flank at 1 PM with 4,800 vs 3,000, repulsed after 3 hours
- Farnsworth's Charge saw 65 Union cavalry killed including Gen. Farnsworth
- Culp's Hill fighting continued from Day 2, Union recapturing trenches after 18 assaults
- Lee's order for the infantry assault was delivered at 11 AM, debated as conditional on artillery success
- Union Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren spotted the empty Little Round Top on Day 2, preventing disaster
- Confederate Gen. Barksdale's Brigade advanced 1 mile in Day 2 but was destroyed on Day 3 flank fire
- The 69th Pennsylvania held the Angle with 15 colors captured from attackers
- Total Day 3 casualties: Union 4,500; Confederate 7,000, mostly in the charge
- Lee's retreat began July 4 in heavy rain, covering 40 miles to Potomac River by July 13
- Union pursuit under French's column clashed at Monterey Pass with 1,200 casualties
- Confederate wagon train of wounded stretched 17 miles long during retreat
Day 3 Events Interpretation
Despite its thunderous two-hour artillery prelude that cost a continent a minute of noise, Pickett's Charge was ultimately a brutal, half-mile arithmetic of bodies, where the high ground of logic and ammunition held firm while the valor of those who crossed became the slow, seventeen-mile exhalation of a defeated army retreating in the rain.
Geography and Demographics
- Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, covers a total area of 1.20 square miles, with 1.17 square miles of land and 0.02 square miles of water
- In the 1860 U.S. Census, the population of Gettysburg was recorded as 2,401 residents, predominantly of German descent
- The modern population of Gettysburg as of the 2020 U.S. Census is 7,777 people, reflecting growth due to tourism
- Gettysburg National Military Park encompasses 6,000 acres of preserved battlefield land, including key sites like Little Round Top
- The elevation of Gettysburg town center is approximately 527 feet above sea level, influencing artillery positioning
- Adams County, where Gettysburg is located, had 54,750 residents in 2020, with Gettysburg as its county seat
- The Gettysburg Battlefield features Cemetery Ridge, a 1-mile-long Union defensive line at an average height of 40 feet
- Seminary Ridge, the Confederate starting point on July 1, spans about 2 miles and rises 50-60 feet above surrounding fields
- Little Round Top is a 300-foot hill that played a pivotal role on July 2, covering 53 acres within the park
- The Peach Orchard, a 9-acre site of intense fighting on July 2, was owned by John Rose pre-war
- Devil's Den is a 40-acre boulder-strewn area used for cover by Confederate troops on July 2
- Culp's Hill covers 150 acres and saw action on July 2-3 with steep slopes up to 100 feet
- The Wheatfield battlefield spans 20 acres of rolling terrain that changed hands 17 times on July 2
- High Water Mark of the Confederacy is marked on a stone wall 50 yards long on Cemetery Ridge
- Gettysburg's annual average precipitation is 42.5 inches, with July typically seeing 4.2 inches
- The town of Gettysburg receives over 1.5 million visitors annually to its historic sites
- Pennsylvania Route 134 runs 10.3 miles through the battlefield, connecting key monuments
- The Gettysburg National Cemetery occupies 17.5 acres and holds 979 unknown soldiers' graves
- Over 1,300 monuments dot the Gettysburg battlefield, the most of any Civil War site
- The Cyclorama painting at Gettysburg, restored in 2008, measures 377 feet in circumference and 50 feet high
- Gettysburg's median household income in 2022 was $54,948 according to ACS data
- 22.4% of Gettysburg residents live below the poverty line per 2022 estimates
- The racial makeup of Gettysburg in 2020 was 82.5% White, 7.2% Black, 5.1% Hispanic
- Gettysburg College, founded 1832, enrolls about 2,200 students on 200 acres adjacent to the battlefield
- The Majestic Theater in Gettysburg opened in 1925 and seats 250 for performances
- Eisenhower National Historic Site near Gettysburg spans 579 acres with 3 miles of roads
- The Gettysburg Railroad Station, built 1858, handled 20 trains daily pre-war
- Willoughby Run creek, site of initial skirmishes, is 15 feet wide and 2-3 feet deep
- The Leister Farmhouse served as Meade's HQ, covering 0.5 acres with 8 rooms
- Pitzer Woods, used for Confederate cover, spans 100 acres of dense forest
Geography and Demographics Interpretation
While today’s modestly-sized town of Gettysburg hosts over 1.5 million visitors a year drawn to its vast, hallowed battlefield, it’s a solemn irony that the very ground which saw such catastrophic loss of life has become the primary reason for the town’s own growth and sustenance.
Military Forces and Command
- The Union Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. George G. Meade totaled 93,921 men present for duty on July 1, 1863
- The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under Gen. Robert E. Lee had 71,699 men engaged at Gettysburg
- Union forces included 7 infantry corps with 51 divisions, commanded by Meade who assumed command on June 28
- Confederate forces comprised 3 infantry corps led by Lt. Gens. James Longstreet, Richard S. Ewell, and A.P. Hill
- Union artillery at Gettysburg numbered 372 pieces, including 110 rifled guns
- Confederate artillery totaled 250 guns, with 75 Parrott rifles among them
- Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, aged 37, had 22,000 men in his 1st Corps under Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds
- Brig. Gen. John Buford's cavalry division of 3 brigades totaled 3,000 troopers on July 1
- Confederate Maj. Gen. Henry Heth led Heth's Division of 5 brigades with 7,700 men in Hill's Corps
- Union VI Corps under Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick arrived late with 12,000 men on July 2 evening
- Confederate cavalry under Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart numbered 6,800 sabers but was absent until July 3 afternoon
- Longstreet's I Corps had 20,000 infantry organized into 3 divisions under McLaws, Hood, and Pickett
- Ewell's II Corps totaled 22,400 men with divisions led by Rodes, Early, and Johnson
- A.P. Hill's III Corps had 21,700 men in divisions of Heth, Pender, and Anderson
- Union Maj. Gen. Daniel Sickles commanded III Corps with 10,500 men on the left flank
- Confederate Maj. Gen. John B. Hood's Division had 5 brigades and 7,000 men in Longstreet's assault
- Brig. Gen. Stephen H. Weed commanded the Union artillery brigade on Little Round Top with 18 guns
- Col. Joshua Chamberlain's 20th Maine Regiment had 386 men holding Little Round Top's left flank
- Confederate Brig. Gen. J. Johnston Pettigrew's Brigade had 2,600 men in Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble Charge
- Union Brig. Gen. Elon J. Farnsworth led 375 troopers in a desperate cavalry charge on July 3
- Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock's II Corps anchored the Union center with 15,000 men
- Confederate Gen. William N. Pendleton commanded the 1st Corps Artillery with 53 batteries
- Union Col. Henry Hunt directed all artillery as chief of artillery with 30 batteries on Cemetery Hill
- Brig. Gen. Lewis A. Armistead's Brigade of 1,600 men led Pickett's Division in the final assault
- Union V Corps under Maj. Gen. George Sykes had 9,900 men supporting Little Round Top defense
- Confederate Col. E. Porter Alexander supervised 69 guns in the Grand Battery on July 3
Military Forces and Command Interpretation
The Union army, while larger and better supplied, was a cumbersome beast only recently tamed by Meade, while Lee’s leaner but disconnected forces gambled everything on landing a knockout blow against an opponent whose most famous act of heroism was, in the end, simply refusing to yield.
Sources & References
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