Battle of East Cemetery Hill 1863
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 2 July 1863 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1863 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | United States | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | North America | Natural Earth |
| Coordinates | 39.8219, -77.2289 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The battle of East Cemetery Hill during the American Civil War was a military engagement on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, in which an attack of the Confederacy's Louisiana Tigers Brigade and a brigade led by Colonel Robert Hoke was repelled by the forces of Colonel Andrew L. Harris and Colonel Leopold von Gilsa of the XI Corps (Union Army), plus reinforcements. The site is on Cemetery Hill's east-northeast slope, east of the summit of the Baltimore Pike.
Confederate General Robert E. Lee assigned Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps to launch a demonstration against the Union right to distract the Army of the Potomac during Longstreet's attack to the south-southwest (Hood's Assault, McLaws' Assault, and Anderson's assault). Ewell was to exploit any success his demonstration might achieve by following up with a full-scale attack at his discretion. Preceded by a 4 p.m. artillery barrage from Benner Hill, the demonstration's infantry attack commenced with Johnson's Assault on Culp's Hill. The Union artillery lunettes on East Cemetery Hill provided protection from the barrage, and the counterbattery fire on Ewell's 4 batteries forced them to withdraw with heavy casualties (e.g., Major Joseph W. Latimer).
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of East Cemetery Hill (revision 1370473125), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Gettysburg, first day 1863 · 1 km
- Battle of Gettysburg 1863 · 1 km
- Battle of Gettysburg, second day 1863 · 1 km
- Battle of Hunterstown 1863 · 9 km
- Battle of Fairfield 1863 · 12 km
- Skirmish of Littlestown 1863 · 16 km
Browse more: battles in United States · North America · 19th century battles