The Battle for Gettysburg

The battle for Gettysburg has often been viewed as a commander's battle. Historians have eagerly read the official records looking for errors made by General Robert E. Lee that cost the Confederacy the battle, the plans for a successful Northern invasion, and twenty-three thousand soldiers, killed, wounded or missing. Historians have also considered Major General George Gordon Meade and the problems that Eleventh Corps commander Major General Oliver O. Howard had with the ex-Congressmen from New York City, Major General Daniel E. Sickles. Little notice has been given to the individual regiments that actually fought the battle. For instance, much has been written of Brigadier General G. K. Warren's frantic ride to find troops to man Little Round Top, but little is written, except in regimental histories, of the 20th Maine that defended that hill. This thesis describes the battle for Gettysburg, but with the emphasis placed on the regiments. The regiments described are the 24th Michigan, 145th New York, the 143rd, 149th and 150th Pennsylvania, the 20th Indiana, 2nd Massachusetts, 20th Maine end the 1st Minnesota For the Army of the Potomac. Those regiments representing the Army of Northern Virginia are the 15th Alabama and the 4th and 5th Texas Regiments. It is hoped that by considering the battle from the regimental point of view, Gettysburg will become less of a major chess game end more of what it actually was, frustration.