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Chapter Three: The Road to Gettysburg
Chapter Three: The Road to Gettysburg

Hampton's Duel by Daniel Troiani, which shows General Wade Hampton III personally fighting in the Battle of Brandy Station​

Following his crushing victory at Chancellorsville, Lee prepared for what he hoped would be the decisive campaign of the war, a second invasion of the North. He hoped that victories in the North, and possibly even capturing major Union cities like Baltimore, Annapolis, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, or possibly even Washington D.C., (which was Lee's ultimate goal), would ruin what Northern morale was left after two bloody defeats in the East. He also hoped that invading the North would bring the armies of the North into northern soil, letting farmers in the South have an uninterrupted harvest, while Union farmers would have to provide for the two armies. He further believed that a successful campaign in the East would force Union forces in the Western Theater, particularly those sieging Vicksburg and Port Hudson, to be pulled out to support the Eastern Theater. With the approval of President Davis, and supremely confident in the superiority and invincibility of his troops, Lee began his invasion of the Union. Before he did, however, he did something he had been planning for a while, a reorganization of his army. Hoping to relieve Generals Thomas and Jackson of the stress of commanding four divisions, Lee had been planning to form a third corps for a while, but was unsure of which of his senior division commanders, Major Generals James Longstreet, D. H. Hill, and A.P. Hill, to give the command. With Longstreet and the two divisions under his command returning from his time with independent command during the Chancellorsville campaign, Lee made his decision. Longstreet, the senior of the three generals, would be given the command of the new III Corps, which consisted of his division, now under newly promoted Major General John B. Hood, from Thomas' I Corps, D.H. Hill's division from Jackson's II Corps, and a newly created division under Isaac Trimble, which was formed by taking Heth's and Archer's brigades from A.P. Hill's division, and transferring in the brigades of Joseph Davis and James Pettigrew in exchange for some of the Army of Northern Virginia's brigades. With the transfer of the cavalry brigades of Beverly Robertson and Albert Jenkins into Stuart's Cavalry Corps and John Imboden's men being placed under Stuart's command, and Robert E. Rodes being confirmed in command of the Stonewall Division following his temporarily appointment to command in during the Battle of Chancellorsville, Lee's reorganization was complete. With his army ready, Lee began his invasion of the North.


Distant Thunder by Matthew Kunstler, the most prominent CSA Civil War painter, and fierce rival of Daniel Troiani
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As Lee planned and began his invasion of the North, Hooker seeked someone who he could blame for the defeat at Chancellorsville. Ultimately, Generals Stoneman and William Averell, a division commander in the Cavalry Corps, would be Hooker’s victims, and they would be sacked, with their replacements being Alfred Pleasonton and David McM. Gregg respectively. Hooker would also have to assign the II Corps a new commander, as Darius Couch had requested and received reassignment, leaving the position open. Hooker would fill it with General Winfield S. Hancock, Couch’s most trusted subordinate and who had distinguished himself in the retreat from Chancellorsville. Meanwhile, the Army of Northern Virginia had begun its northward movements by moving down through the Shenandoah Valley, and Stonewall Jackson engaged in two of his classic lightning campaigns. In rapid succession, Jackson captured the garrisons at Harper’s Ferry and Winchester under the command of Generals William H. French and Robert Milroy respectively. Hooker, meanwhile, had not started moving, instead planning a campaign to capture Richmond. President Lincoln would personally veto this plan, and ordered Hooker to begin a pursuit of Lee, while making sure that Washington and Baltimore remained protected. Hooker would follow these orders, and began his pursuit of Lee. All the while, Hooker’s senior subordinates began a whisper campaign behind his back questioning his ability to command.

From left to right: Alfred Pleasonton, David McM. Gregg, Winfield S. Hancock, William H. French, and Robert Milroy
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As both armies moved north rapidly, Hooker’s worry began to grow. Receiving reports that J.E.B. Stuart had established a camp near Culpeper, Virginia, Hooker feared that Stuart was planning a raid of his lines of supplies. He would dispatch the Cavalry Corps, along with two infantry brigades to attempt to at least disrupt and disperse, but hopefully destroy Stuart and his Cavalry Corps. The result was the Battle of Brandy Station. In preparation for the attack, Pleasonton divided his force into two wings, each with an attached infantry brigade, and under the command of Generals John Buford and David Gregg. When the attack began, Pleasonton would manage to catch Stuart by surprise, and Buford’s advancing Union cavalry wing, led by a cavalry brigade under Col. Benjamin F. Davis, a fighting commander if there ever was one, was opposed merely by Stuart’s horse artillery. Unfortunately for the Union, the artillery was under the command of Major John Pelham, a brilliant artillerist. The Confederate batteries blunted the Union attack, killing Davis in the process, and managed to buy time for Stuart’s cavalry to form. Pelham's valiant actions at Brandy Station, along with those at Fredericksburg, would earn him promotion to Colonel.

Benjamin F. Davis and John Pelham
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Despite Pelham’s heroics, Stuart and his cavalry were not safe yet. Pelham had been forced by overwhelming odds to pull back, and Gregg’s wing, which had planned to attack with Buford, but had been delayed by a forced reroute, also began their attack. Pleasonton’s two wings trapped three of Stuart’s brigades, under Generals Rooney Lee, Grumble Jones, and Wade Hampton, between them. Despite this, the Confederate cavalry held, and at the end of the day, it was the Union, not the Confederate cavalry that left the field. However, they were not forced off, and had proven themselves in hard combat. They also had damaged Stuart’s reputation, which helped lead to his decision to go off raiding, leaving Lee unaware of the Army of the Potomac’s positions.

A picture showing Rooney Lee’s defense on Fleetwood Hill
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With Lee advancing further north, Hooker began to panic. He repeatedly asked for troops, and each time, his request was denied. Eventually, he demanded that the IV Corps, which was currently operating in Virginia, be transferred to the Army of the Potomac and under his command. President Lincoln and General-in-Chief Halleck would deny this request, leading Hooker to offer his resignation, which they accepted. They would replace him with George Meade of Pennsylvania, with Lincoln allegedly making the comment that he would “fight well on his own dunghill.” Meanwhile, the Confederate forces had entered Pennsylvania. General Trimble would send the brigade of James Pettigrew to search the town of Gettysburg, reportedly in search of supplies, particularly shoes. Pettigrew would find Union cavalry under the command of John Buford in the town, and would pull back, and report it to Trimble and Longstreet, Trimble’s corps commander. Longstreet and Trimble believed Buford’s command to merely be militia, and ordered two brigades of Trimble’s division, Joseph Davis’ and James Archer’s, to perform a reconnaissance in force the next day. On July 1, the two forces would collide. A skirmish broke out, which soon lead to actual fighting. The Battle of Gettysburg had begun.
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