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Special Feature: Scene of the 3-day battle of Gettysburg, which ended Lee's second invasion of the North.

IN 1895 the battlefield of Gettysburg was made a national military park by act of Congress. In that year the Gettysburg Battlefield Association, which was founded a few months after the battle, transferred its holdings of 600 acres of land, 17 miles of paved roads, and 320 monuments and markers to the Federal Government. This park was under the jurisdiction of the War Department until 1933, when it was transferred to the Department of the Interior, to be administered by the National Park Service. Today it contains 2,530 acres of land, 35 miles of paved roads, and more than 2,000 monuments and markers.

The battlefield of Gettysburg is the scene of one of the epoch-making events in the history of our country. Here, on July 1, 2, and 3, 1863, General Lee, after his success at Chancellorsville in May, decided to stake the fortunes of the Confederacy in an attempt to destroy the Army of the Potomac on its own soil. In the great struggle 75,000 Confederates were pitted against 88,000 Federals. General Lee lost about 28,000, against a Federal loss of some 23,000 men.

Some unforeseen circumstances between June 25 and June 29 threatened to deprive General Lee of every advantage sought in his daring march up the Shenandoah and into the Cumberland Valley. General Meade had superseded General Hooker as commander of the Army of the Potomac. His exact strength and position were unknown to General Lee. General Stuart, the incomparable Confederate cavalry leader, had gone on a circuitous route around the Army of the Potomac. On the night of June 28, Harrison, a secret Confederate agent, brought information to General Lee at Chambersburg, Pa., that should have been delivered 3 days before by Stuart's cavalry. The information established the fact that the Federal Army was north of the Potomac River, that three of its seven corps were at Frederick, Md., and that two more corps were located near the base of South Mountain. General Lee instantly altered his plan. The following day, June 29, he issued orders for Hill's corps to move to Cashtown, Pa., 8 miles west of Gettysburg. General Longstreet's corps was ordered to follow the next day, while General Ewell was recalled from Carlisle, Pa., and directed to join the army at Cashtown or Gettysburg.

General Meade also was without information as to the enemy's position. On June 30 General Buford's Cavalry Division, supported by the left wing of the Army of the Potomac, was sent to Gettysburg to seek information concerning the location of the enemy. He and his division bivouacked west of Gettysburg that night. On the morning of July 1 Buford's pickets were attacked by a column of Confederates 2-1/2 miles west of Gettysburg. The column was approaching Gettysburg via the Chambersburg Pike in order to secure supplies and information. Severe fighting followed. Each detachment called up reenforcements. The Battle of Gettysburg had begun.

General Reynolds, commanding the Federal left wing, was killed shortly after be had thrown his First Corps into the fray and had ordered the Eleventh Corps, then at Emmitsburg, Md., to advance to Gettysburg. The Confederates received reenforcements from the west, but were giving ground when General Ewell's Corps, hastening southward in accordance with General Lee's orders of June 29, moved from the cover of the woods north of Gettysburg and struck the right flank of the Federals' First Corps. At the same time, Ewell directed his attack at the Federals' Eleventh Corps, which had taken a position north of the town. The Federal line collapsed. They withdrew southward through the town, occupied Cemetery Hill and Cemetery Ridge, displaying there a strong force of infantry and artillery. The Confederates failed to press them any further that day.

North Carolina State Memorial, Gettysburg National Military Park.

The battle was not resumed until 4 p. m. the following day, July 2. During the lapse of time both armies had moved into position. The Federal right flank occupied an eminence southeast of Gettysburg known as Gulp's Hill. From this point their line extended in a northwesterly direction to Cemetery Hill, then southward along Cemetery Ridge to Round Top. The Confederate right wing extended along Seminary Ridge, nearly parallel to that of the Federal line along Cemetery Ridge. This line projected northward on Seminary Ridge to the Seminary buildings, then eastwardly through the town to Benner's Hill, opposite the Federal right wing on Gulp's Hill. The Federal Army occupied a position, the front of which was 3-1/2 miles long, whereas the Confederate Army's line extended for a distance of 6 miles from the mouth of Willoughby's Run to Benner's Hill.

General Lee assumed the offensive. His plan was to attack both flanks of the Federals simultaneously and, when they were heavily engaged, to deal a crushing blow at their center on Cemetery Ridge. The attacks were not synchronized and failure ensued. The fighting began on the Federal left at about 4 p. m. The Confederates drove the Federals from the Devil's Den, the Peach Orchard, and the Wheatfield, and secured a foothold on the Federal left only to be dislodged later. The fighting on the left had almost subsided before the action on the right began. The poorly supported drive toward the Federal center came after the pressure on the flanks had been relieved. There had been successes on both sides but the Confederates had failed in their main purpose. Thus the second day of the battle closed with the Federals holding most of their original position.

During the night of July 2 both Generals Lee and Meade planned their action for the following day. Encouraged by his partial success, General Lee decided to renew the conflict on July 3. He was now reenforced by Pickett's Division of Infantry and Stuart's Cavalry, both of which were absent during the first 2 days of the battle. He decided to use the artillery to silence or disable the Federal guns on Cemetery Ridge, while Pickett's Division, well supported, was to attack the Federal left center. Stuart's Cavalry was directed to ride around the Federal right flank and threaten their rear. In the meantime, General Meade was correcting his position to meet the possible attack of the enemy on the third day.

Dawn broke on the morning of July 3 with the thunder of Federal guns to the right, heralding the attack that dislodged the Confederates from the position they had gained on Gulp's Hill during the evening and night of the 2d of July. At about 1 p. m. the artillery of both armies, more than 200 guns, roared a salvo that shook the earth. For 1 hour and 45 minutes the guns thundered. Then the Federal firing slackened. The attacking wave moved forward, aiming straight at the Federal left center on Cemetery Ridge. It swept up the slope and entered the zone of deadly musket fire. On they came, never faltering, even though their ranks were decimated. Some of them reached their objective, engaging in a death-dealing hand-to-hand struggle over the stone wall.

Where was Stuart's Cavalry? It, too, was engaged in a desperate sabre charge with Federal cavalry 3-1/2 miles east of Gettysburg and failed in its mission of supporting the attack on the Federal front.

With the assailants at close quarters General Hancock relates the final scene:

"The fight became close and deadly. The enemy's battle flags were soon seen waving on the stone wall . . . The men of all the brigades had in some measure lost their regimental organization, but individually they were firm . . . The colors of the different regiments were now advanced, waving defiance of the long line of battle flags presented by the enemy. The men pressed firmly tinder them . . . After a few minutes of desperate fighting the enemy's troops were repulsed . . . The battle flags were ours and the victory won."

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