y the two armies came into contact on
July i, 1863. The Southerners were in stronger force at the moment and
drove the Union soldiers back through the town to the high land called
Cemetery Ridge. This was a remarkably strong position, with Culp's Hill
at one end of the line and the Round Tops at the other end. Meade
determined to fight the battle at that spot and hurried up all
his forces.

[Illustration: MAP: Battle of Gettysburg.]

[Sidenote: The second day.]

418. Gettysburg, July 2, 1863.--At first matters seemed to go badly
with the Union army. Its left flank extended forward from Little Round
Top into the fields at the foot of the ridge. The Confederates drove
back this part of the Union line. But they could not seize Little Round
Top. On this day also the Confederates gained a foothold on Culp's Hill.

[Sidenote: The third day. _Source-Book_, 323-327.]

[Sidenote: Pickett's charge. _Hero Tales_, 227-236.]

[Sidenote: It fails.]

[Sidenote: Lee retreats, July 4, 1863.]

419. Gettysburg, July 3, 1863.--Early on this morning the Union
soldiers drove the Confederates away from Culp's Hill and held the whole
ridge. Now again, as at Malvern Hill (p. 321), Lee had fought the Army
of the Potomac to a standstill. But he would not admit failure. Led by
Pickett of Virginia, thirteen thousand men charged across the valley
between the two armies directly at the Union center. Some of them even
penetrated the Union lines. But there the line stopped. Slowly it began
to waver. Then back the Confederates went--all who escaped. The battle
of Gettysburg was won. Lee faced the Army of the Potomac for another day
and then retreated. In this tremendous conflict the Confederates lost
twenty-two thousand five hundred men killed and wounded and five
thousand taken prisoners by the Northerners--a total loss of
twenty-eight thousand out of eighty thousand in the battle. The Union
army numbered ninety-three thousand men and lost twenty-three thousand,
killed and wounded. Vicksburg and Gettysburg cost the South sixty-five
thousand fighting men--a loss that could not be made good. We must now
turn to eastern Tennessee.

[Sidenote: Rosecrans and Bragg, 1863.]

[Sidenote: Chickamauga, September, 1863.]

[Sidenote: Thomas and Sheridan.]

[Sidenote: Grant in command in the West.]

420. Chickamauga, September, 1863.--For six months after
Murfreesboro' (p. 326) Rosecrans and Bragg remained in their camps. In
the summer of 1863 Rosec