The Battle After the Battle Welcome to the Lobby Gettysburg Museum The Battle Important People Before the Battle After the Battle Museum Entrance Welcome to the Lobby

The Gettysburg Museum The Gettysburg museum is a museum that tells the history and the importance of the ferocious battle of Gettysburg. This museum shows the importance of the battle and how this battle effected the outcome of the American Civil War. Back to Lobby Note: Virtual museums were first introduced by educators at Keith Valley Middle School in Horsham, Pennsylvania. This template was designed by Lindsey Warneka under the direction of Dr. Christy Keeler during a Teaching American History grant module. View the Educational Virtual Museums website for more information on this instructional technique.

Basics Back to Lobby

Important People Back to Lobby 4

Before the Battle Back to Lobby 5

After the Battle Back to Lobby 6

Union Civil War Cap This cap was worn by Lucius Fairchild who fought in the battle of Gettysburg during the civil War. Fairchild’s arm was shot and was amputated. He later became a three-term Governor of Wisconsin. Back to Room 1

Day 1 Map The Confederate infantry brigade was going to Gettysburg in search of supplies when they spotted General Buford’s Calvary, of the Union, heading toward Gettysburg. The Confederates then sent troops to engage on the Calvary at McPherson Ridge. Union soldiers started to arrive to help, but their general was shot. Not too long after, The confederate army general Robert E. Lee arrived in Gettysburg. This caused the Union forces to retreat and regroup at Cemetery Hill. General Robert E. Lee then ordered General Richard S. Ewell to attack, but Ewell hesitated, giving the Union forces time to bring reinforcements and to set up an artillery. The Union commander, Maj. General George G. Meade, ordered all Union forces to Gettysburg totaling around 90,000 troops. Back to Room 1

Day 2 Map The Confederate commander Robert E. Lee ordered General Richard S. Ewell and James Longstreet to attack Union forces on Culp’s Hill, but Longstreet delayed, causing Ewell to attack before Longstreet, giving the Union forces time to strengthen their position. The Union’s General Daniel Stickles moved past the main line, putting them under attack. This caused some of the fiercest fighting in the American Civil War. Ewell attacked the Union at Cemetery Hill and Culp’s Hill, but the Union won. Back to Room 1

Day 3 Map Around 4 a.m., the Union artillery attacked the Confederates at the bottom of Culp’s Hill. This finally drove the Confederates away from the hill, so fighting over the hill ends. Confederate cannons opened fire on the Union that were in the center of Cemetery Ridge. The Union artillery slowed its fire, to trick the Rebels into thinking they had knocked out the Union cannons. Gen. George Pickett commanded 15,000 Confederate troops as they charged Cemetery Ridge. The Union artillery started to attack again, bombing the Confederates. The outnumbered Confederates began to retreat. Lee went to meet the survivors, taking all the blame. He reportedly says, "All this has been my fault. It is I who have lost this fight, and you must help me out the best way you can." The battle for Gettysburg is over. Gettysburg was the last attempt by the South to launch a major offensive in the northern states. Back to Room 1

George G. Meade George G. Meade was the Union commander during the Battle of Gettysburg. He lead the Union to victory during this ferocious battle. Meade was born December 31, 1815, in Cadiz, Spain, where his father worked as a U.S. naval officer. After his father passed away, his family had financial troubles, causing them to have to move back to the U.S. to Pennsylvania. In 1831 Meade entered the United States Military Academy at West Point. He graduated four years later. In the beginning, Meade had not wanted a military career, and he resigned from the army in 1836 after briefly serving in Massachusetts and Florida. For a few years after, Meade worked in civil engineering, working for railroads and the U.S. War Department. In 1842 Meade reenlisted in the Army. Back to Room 2

Richard S. Ewell Richard S. Ewell was a Major General for the Confederates during the Civil War. He was criticized for attacking so hesitantly on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Ewell was born in 1817 near Washington, D.C. and raised on a farm in Prince William County, Virginia. Richard Ewell graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1840. during the Mexican War, he was promoted to the position of Captain. Ewell resigned his U.S. Army commission in 1861, after Virginia seceded from the Union. After serving in the First Battle of Bull Run, he was promoted to major General. Back to Room 2

Robert E. Lee Robert E. Lee served as a military officer in the U.S. Army. He was a famous general of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Lee was born in 1807 in Virginia. Robert E. Lee graduated second in his class from West Point in 1829. In 1852, he was made superintendent of West Point. Three years later, with the approval of Jefferson Davis, he was appointed Secretary of War. On April 20, 1861, at the start of the American Civil War, Lee resigned his commission. Three days later, he was appointed by Governor John Letcher of Virginia to be commander in chief of the military and naval forces of the state. When Virginia’s troops were transferred to the Confederate service, he became, a brigadier general. Soon after he was promoted to full general. Back to Room 2

Confederates Before the Battle Before the Battle, General Robert E. Lee had just won the Battle of Charlottesville over the Army of Potomac. This caused Lee to be overly confident and made him want to continue invading the North. The South had been very successful up until the Battle of Gettysburg so this also made Lee even more confident than he already was. Back to Room 3

Confederate Battle Flag The Confederate Battle Flag, was originally know as “stars and bars”. It was adopted by the Confederate Congress in 1861 as the battle flag for the Confederate States of America. This battle flag was designed because the original federal Confederate Flag closely resembled the United states of America flag which confused soldiers during battles. Many still see this flag as a symbol of the men who sacrificed their lives while others see this flag as a symbol of racist and hateful. Back to Room 3

Union Before the Battle Before the battle, General George G. Meade was given command of the army of Potomac. The army of Potomac had just suffered a loss to General Robert E. Lee’s Army at the Battle of Charlottesville in one of the few battles in the North. Back to Room 3

Confederates After the Battle After the battle, General Robert E. Lee waited for a counter attack for attacking the Union originally in Gettysburg, but it never came. Lee eventually took his defeated army back toward Virginia. The battle was a tremendous loss for the Confederacy. The confederates lost around 28,000 men. Devastated by the defeat at Gettysburg, Lee offered his resignation to President Jefferson Davis of the Confederate States of America, but was refused. Back to Room 4

Gettysburg Address The Gettysburg address was a speech given by Abraham Lincoln in November 1863. The speech was given at the official dedication ceremony for the National Cemetery Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. This 273-word address would be remembered as one of the most important speeches in American history. In it, he spoke about the principles of human equality contained in the Declaration of Independence and connected the sacrifices of the Civil War with “a new birth of freedom,” as well as the important preservation of the Union created in 1776 and its ideal of self-government. Back to Room 4

Union After the Battle Though it was a victorious time for the Union and George G. Meade may of led the Union to victory, Meade was still criticized. Meade received criticism from Abraham Lincoln for not finishing off the army of Northern Virginia as it was weakened. Meade offered his resignation, but it was denied, and he was promoted to brigadier general in the regular army in 1863. In the spring of 1864, Ulysses S. Grant, the new lieutenant general and general in chief of Union forces, made his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac. Meade commanded the army through the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor, and finally outside of Petersburg. After his success during the battles, Grant asked for Meade to be promoted to major general, and it was permitted. Back to Room 4