Chapter 16: Gettysburg: the first day
- High tide. -- opportunity open. -- suggestion made. -- invasion. -- special feature. -- feature impossible. -- reorganization. -- armament. -- Lee moves. -- Brandy Station. -- Ewell in Valley. -- captured property. -- Hooker moves. -- Lincoln suggests. -- Lee in Valley. -- Stuart proposes raid. -- conditional consent. -- Stuart's raid. -- Carlisle. -- results of raid. -- across the Potomac. -- Hooker relieved. -- Chambersburg. -- return of scout. -- orders. -- chance encounter. -- Hill to Gettysburg. -- Meade's movement. -- Reynolds to Gettysburg. -- battle Opens. -- Archer captured. -- Rodes Arrives. -- Early Arrives. -- Lee orders pursuit. -- Ewell stops pursuit. -- Lee Confers. -- the enemy's line. -- best Point of attack. -- Longstreet's arrival. -- Federal arrivals.
A pause of four weeks after the battle of Chancellorsville to prepare for an aggressive counter-stroke, was, perhaps, the period of highest tide in Confederate hopes among all the vicissitudes of the war. The campaign which ensued, culminating at Gettysburg, is generally accepted as the turning-point of Confederate fortunes. I think it may be held that each summer campaign in Va. marked a Confederate crisis. That is to say, that defeat in any one of them would have been followed by the collapse of its government, within less than another 12 months, while a victory would assure it only of that much of life. More than that was impossible as long as the war spirit ruled the North, and this was certainly the case in 1863. A year later, however, there did come a period of very great Federal discouragement, due to a succession of severe losses. At the same time, there occurred a crisis in the military situation, which threatened an ignominious termination to Grant's campaign, the greatest campaign of the war. This was saved by a brilliant piece of Federal strategy, which is to be told of in due course. In it will be found the real crisis — the story of the passing of the last hope of Confederate success. It was not
