After the Emancipation Proclamation, President Lincoln decided to remove McClellan from commanding after the delay in following up his victory over General Lee. His replacement was General Ambrose Burnside, but unfortunately, he was not a great strategist. Unlike McClellan, Burnside was not cautious, so he quickly advanced to Virginia with his men. In simple words, the plan of the general was to directly cross a river on bridges into the forces of Lee. General Lee let them cross since he believed if the army of Burnside attacked, the Confederate forces could make a crushing defeat. Then, throughout the day, Burnside ordered his men to charge into the Confederate gunfire. With this tactic, Union army units lost more than half of their soldiers. …show more content…
In this battle, General Lee became aware of the plans of Hooker, so a cavalry under the command General J.E.B. Stuart camped west of Fredericksburg, near a road crossing by the name of Chancellorsville. General Lee sent a great number of his army to meet the army of Hooker. As the army Hooker marched forward, they noticed the army of Lee facing them. A brief clash led Hooker to send his men into the woods. Lee divided his forces again and sent General Jackson and 26,000 men on a march to the Union army. Having a warning, Hooker was prepared to face the Confederate forces. After a confederate mistakenly shot General Jackson, Stuart lead the Confederate army to victory. Hooker withdrew back across a river, but unfortunately for the Confederacy, General Stonewall Jackson …show more content…
During this, General Lee marched northward in hopes of finding supplies in Pennsylvania, making a victory for the Confederacy, and forcing the Union to give up. On July 1, 1863, Confederate troops moved into the town of Gettysburg; here the Confederate troops met the Union cavalry. From here a fight developed, and it would become the Battle of Gettysburg, the greatest battle in North America. On the first day, the two forces stopped on opposite ridges; Lee, who was in favor of attacking for one more day, discussed a plan with General Longstreet, who was against the attack. The center field was the place at which the battle took place. On day two, Alabama soldiers decided to assault an undefended union position on the ridge; this could bombard the Union lines on the ridges. However, Union soldiers under Colonel Chamberlain noticed the plan before it occurred, thus preventing it and saving the union from defeat. On the third day, there was a brief attack between the force. Abruptly Northerners noticed 15,000 Confederate soldiers formed a mile-long line that was three rows deep coming running toward them. This line became known as Pickett’s Charge. The name was after Commander Pickett who was the only commander among the men on the center field. As a result, Northern soldiers began shooting, and after 30 minutes, the battle ended