Battle of Gettysburg, second day 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 | 39.8112, -77.2249 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
During the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg (July 2, 1863) Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee attempted to capitalize on his first day's accomplishments. His Army of Northern Virginia launched multiple attacks on the flanks of the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade. The assaults were unsuccessful, and resulted in heavy casualties for both sides.
Early in the afternoon, Union Maj. Gen. Daniel Sickles repositioned his III Corps forward in a salient without authorization in the hopes of occupying slightly elevated ground to his front. After a short delay to assemble his forces and avoid detection in his approach march, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet attacked with his First Corps against the Union left flank. His division under Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood attacked Little Round Top and Devil's Den. To Hood's left, Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws attacked the Wheatfield and the Peach Orchard. Although neither prevailed, the Union III Corps was effectively destroyed as a combat organization as it attempted to defend its salient over too wide a front. Gen. Meade rushed as many as 20,000 reinforcements from elsewhere in his line to resist these fierce assaults.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Gettysburg, second day (revision 1376477729), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Gettysburg 1863 · 0 km
- Battle of Gettysburg, first day 1863 · 1 km
- Battle of East Cemetery Hill 1863 · 1 km
- Battle of Hunterstown 1863 · 10 km
- Battle of Fairfield 1863 · 12 km
- Skirmish of Littlestown 1863 · 15 km
Browse more: battles in United States · North America · 19th century battles