en more expensive than they already had been. The North wasfighting the Civil War for two reasons, first to keep the NationUnified, and second to abolish slavery. Abraham Lincoln, theCommander and Chief of the Union or Northern forces along withmany other Northerners believed that slavery was not only completelywrong, but it was great humiliation to America. One can see that withthese differences a conflict would surely occur, but not many hadpredicted that full-blown war would breakout. One did and after threebloody and costly years for both sides we come to the date of July 1,1863.Before the Battle of Gettysburg, major cities in the North such asPhiladelphia, Baltimore, and even Washington, were under threat ofattack from General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of NorthernVirginia which had crossed the Potomac River and marched intoPennsylvania.On Tuesday morning, June 30, 1863, an infantry brigade ofConfederate soldiers searching for shoes headed toward Gettysburg. “The Confederate commander spotted a long column of Federalcavalry heading toward the town. He withdrew his brigade andinformed his superior, General Henry Heth, who in turn told hissuperior, A.P. Hill, he would go back the following morning for shoesthat were desperately needed.” (Coddington, 289)The battle began on July 1, 1863, when some of General AmbrosePowell Hill’s advance brigades entered the town of Gettysburg,Pennsylvania looking for shoes. “Due to General Stuart’s failure tocomplete his mission of tracking the Union Army, Hill’s troopsencountered a Union cavalry division command by Major General JohnBuford.” (Microsoft Encarta, Battle of Gettysburg) During battle infront of Cemetery Hill, General Hill was faced with stubbornresistance from the Union forces trying to hold until the rest of theforces could arrive and help out. “Having made his decision to stay atGettysburg a...
