We watch Jeopardy almost every weeknight, playing against one another and testing our knowledge. The History categories are usually flipped to my daughter Stephanie or myself. The other night I entertained the crew by yelling at Alex Trebek. One of the questions was roughly asking where the Confederate Army marched looking for shoes. The answer given was Gettysburg. Now there are several reasons why Lee marched his Army of Virginia all the way to Pennsylvania but rest assured, not one of them involved shoes. Yes they needed supplies, as all armies crossing the country on foot needed. Robert E. Lee made to marches into northern states to attempt to relieve the suffering of the people of Virginia where the bulk of battles had been fought. He wanted a victory on Union soil to push the northern people to seek a peace with the south and to rally the people of the south. He planned to strike at Harrisburg, to destroy bridges and communication and to force the Union army to attack him, giving him the defensive position.
When Lee finds out their are five Union Corps moving towards him under the direction of the new commander of Union forces, General George Meade, he consolidates his forces around Cashtown PA. He is unfamiliar with the terrain, his cavalry is suspiciously absent and as such decides to stand and fight. This is the setup for the Battle of Gettysburg
No comments:
Post a Comment