(July 1-3, 1863), the turning-point battle of the
Civil War. Gen.
Robert E. Lee initiated a second invasion of the North (
Antietam was the first) when he crossed into southern Pennsylvania. His Army of Northern Virginia met the Union Army of the Potomac, led by Gen.
George Meade, at Gettysburg on July 1. The bloodiest battle of the war lasted three days. On July 3 at 3:00 P.M., Confederate general
George Pickett led his disastrous charge on Cemetery Ridge. The attack failed and Lee retreated into Virginia. General Meade, recognizing that his men were exhausted, refused to follow Lee's troops, and the Civil War continued for two more long and bloody years. Meade was criticized as overcautious for failing to pursue Lee, but military historians tend to exonerate him.
