Prelude to Gettysburg: The Armies Move North

Invading the North, Lee surmised, would force Hooker (still in command of Union forces) to pull his troops out and shadow Lee's movements, remaining between Lee and Washington, DC. This would afford Lee the opportunity to fight on ground of his own choosing, positioning himself in such a way as to force Hooker to attack him and, thus, engaging in an offensive-defensive campaign -- that is, taking the offensive while invading enemy territory but taking the defensive in actual battle on that ground (Gallagher, 1992). And on the tenth of June Lee ordered Richard S. Ewell's corps into the Shenandoah Valley, signaling the start of the offensive.

Lee's entire army was on the move, heading north from west of Winchester, Virginia to the Potomac River. General J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry, riding to the east of the army's main body, was serving as a buffer between the two armies and as a scouting unit, reporting enemy movements directly to Lee. Unfortunately for Stuart, his love for adventure and fame, not to mention good positioning by Federal cavalry, brought him into a somewhat embarrassing large-scale engagement at Brandy Station against Alfred Pleasonton's troopers. The Federal cavalry did not wipe out Stuart's force, of course, but they did manage to put a dent in Stuart's ego. As Lee's forces were moving north, Stuart had to rest and refit his men. Once ready, Stuart then began a series of run-around maneuvers in eastern Virginia and Maryland, thus leaving the Federal army between him and Lee. This would cut him off from Lee's main body and would not be reunited with the Confederate force until after the Battle of Gettysburg had begun (Coddington, 1968).

By June 23, advance elements of Lee's force was in Pennsylvania (Ewell's II Corps). General Robert Rodes' division had occupied first Chambersburg, then Carlisle. General Jubal Early's division, moving through Gettysburg on June 24, advanced on and occupied York (Battle of Gettysburg Homepage). Ewell, eager to take Harrisburg as his prize, prepared for an offensive against the town defended by some 15,000 militiamen and soldiers. Upon hearing of a Federal presence in Maryland that threatened Confederate communication lines, Lee ordered Ewell's corps south toward Cashtown, eight miles west of Gettsyburg (Hassler, 1970). Ewell began his corps movement the next day, as well as Hill's III Corps and Longstreet's I Corps, both coming from the direction of Chambersburg, about 20 miles west of Gettysburg. By June

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