lee was the primary leader of the confederate army in the battle of gettysburg.
lee was the primary leader of the confederate army in the battle of gettysburg.
who was the primary leader the confederate army in the battle of gettysburg?
lee
in the eastern theater, the union army of the potomac, commanded by major general joseph hooker, attacked the confederate army of northern virginia commanded by general robert e. lee in the battle of chancellorsville. hooker planned to moved most of his army around to the confederates's rear before lee could react and force lee to retreat but the union army was slowed and then stopped by a small confederate force, which was reinforced by the rest of the confederate army. lee then sent a flanking column led by thomas j. jackson around hooker's left, which attacked a few hours before sunset on may 2; this attack and further confederate attacks the following day forced hooker to retreat on may 6. during the battle, jackson was wounded by friendly fire and died several days later. lee reorganized his army following the campaign and launched an invasion of union territory in june, moving through the shenandoah valley into pennsylvania; hooker was relieved of command on june 29, due to continuous disputes with the government over the garrison of harpers ferry, and replaced by major general george meade. during the battle of gettysburg from july 1 to july 3, meade successfully held off lee's attacks while inflicting heavy casualties in return. lee was forced to retreat back to virginia; meade followed in close pursuit but was unable to find an opportunity to completely crush the confederate army. in october, lee attempted to isolate and destroy meade during the bristoe campaign but failed in an attack on union positions at the battle of bristoe station on october 14. pressed by union authorities, meade also tried to attack lee's positions along the mine run; however, lee was able to establish a fortified defensive line across the union line of advance. meade judged the confederate position too strong to attack and retreated.
troop engagements of the american civil war, 1863
after the battle of atlanta southern confederates wanted to stop general sherman and his army of northern troops. general sherman aimed to finish his march to the sea; conquering every town that his army encountered. the leader of the confederate army, general hood, and his soldiers were ordered to destroy the railroad that ran through the town of allatoona. doing so would weaken any chance of the union army to finish taking control of other southern towns. on the morning of october 5, 1864, a battle in the town of allatoona took place, as confederate troops approached allatoona pass they were outnumbered by union troops at 2,000 to 1,944.confederate soldiers in an attempt to fight off the larger number of union troops resorted to rocks and hand to hand combat to secure the town of allatoona for the south. john claytons plantation home, known as the clayton-mooney house was used as a union headquarters as well as a makeshift hospital during the battle.during the battle, the confederate army had received a tip that the union army would have more reinforcements and that they would be overtaken by the union army. general hood had made the decision to pull his troops from battle, and thus ended up defeated.the confederate army lost to the union because of false information they had received. it is known as one of the civil wars bloodiest battle due to the duration of the battle which approximately lasted 6-8 hours. also making it one of the civil wars shortest battles. the clayton-mooney home, circa 1836, is the only structure still standing that is a reminder of days gone by. bloodstains and bullet holes are still able to be seen today and serve as a reminder of the events that took place in allatoona.
allatoona, georgia