gan.

XV.

THE FIRST DAY'S FIGHT AT GETTYSBURG.

The sanguinary struggle which now ensued between the Army of Northern
Virginia and the Army of the Potomac continued for three days, and the
character of these battles, together with their decisive results, have
communicated to the events an extraordinary interest. Every fact has
thus been preserved, and the incidents of the great combat, down to
the most minute details, have been placed upon record. The subject is,
indeed, almost embarrassed by the amount of information collected and
published; and the chief difficulty for a writer, at this late day, is
to select from the mass such salient events as indicate clearly the
character of the conflict.

This difficulty the present writer has it in his power to evade,
in great measure, by confining himself mainly to the designs and
operations of General Lee. These were plain and simple. He had been
forced to relinquish his march toward the Susquehanna by the dangerous
position of General Meade so near his line of retreat; this rendered
a battle unavoidable; and Lee was now moving to accept battle,
designing, if possible, to secure such a position as would give him
the advantage in the contest. Before he succeeded in effecting this
object, battle was forced upon him--not by General Meade, but by
simple stress of circumstances. The Federal commander had formed the
same intention as that of his adversary--to accept, and not deliver,
battle--and did not propose to fight near Gettysburg. He was, rather,
looking backward to a strong position in the direction of Westminster,
when suddenly the head of his column became engaged near Gettysburg,
and this determined every thing.

A few words are necessary to convey to the reader some idea of the
character of the ground. Gettysburg is a town, nestling down in a
valley, with so many roads centring in the place that, if a circle
were drawn around it to represent the circumference of a wheel, the
roads would resemble the spokes. A short distance south of the town is
a ridge of considerable height, which runs north and south, bending
eastward in the vicinity of Gettysburg, and describing a curve
resembling a hook. From a graveyard on this high ground it is called
Cemetery Hill, or Ridge. Opposite this ridge, looking westward, is a
second and lower range called Seminary Ridge. This extends also north
and south, passing west of Gettysburg. Still west of Seminary Ridge
are other st