He died when he was only thirty-one, deeply mourned by all his men.
GETTYSBURG
But to return to General Lee. After winning the two important battles of
Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, he decided that he would again invade
the North (1863). He believed that a great victory north of the Potomac
River might lead to the capture of Philadelphia and Washington and thus
end the war.
Having marched boldly into Pennsylvania, he met the Union army, under
General Meade, at the little town of Gettysburg, not far from the southern
border of the State. There for three days the most terrible battle of the
war, and in its results, one of the greatest battles of all history, took
place. After three days of fighting, in which the loss on both sides was
fearful, Lee was defeated and forced to retreat to Virginia.
The defeat of Lee's army at Gettysburg was a crushing blow to the hopes of
the South. Lee himself felt this to be true. And, grieving over the heavy
loss of his men in the famous Pickett's Charge, he said to one of his
generals: "All this has been my fault. It is I that have lost this fight,
and you must help me out of it the best you can."
But even in the face of this defeat his officers and soldiers still
trusted their commander.
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