Gettysburg campaign
Action Dates Section of campaign
Battle of Brandy Station June 9 , 1863 Brandy Station
Second Battle of Winchester June 13-15 Winchester
Battle of Aldie June 17 Hooker 's pursuit
Battle of Middleburg June 17-19 Hooker 's pursuit
Battle of Upperville June 21 Hooker 's pursuit
Battle of Fairfax Court House June 27 Stuart 's ride
Skirmish of Sporting Hill June 30 Invasion of Pennsylvania
Battle of Hanover June 30 Stuart 's ride
Battle of Gettysburg July 1-3 Gettysburg
Battle of Carlisle July 1 Stuart 's ride
Battle of Hunterstown July 2 Stuart 's ride
Battle of Fairfield July 3 Lee 's retreat
Battle of Monterey Pass July 4-5 Lee 's retreat
Battle of Williamsport July 6-16 Lee 's retreat
Battle of Boonsboro July 8 Lee 's retreat
Battle of Funkstown July 10 Lee 's retreat
Battle of Manassas Gap July 23 Lee 's retreat
Campaign timeline
The battles of the Gettysburg Campaign were fought in the following sequence ; they are described in the context of logical , sometimes overlapping divisions of the campaign .
The Gettysburg campaign was a military invasion of Pennsylvania by the main Confederate army under General Robert E. Lee in summer 1863. The Union won a decisive victory at Gettysburg, July 1-3, with heavy casualties on both sides. Lee managed to escape back to Virginia with most of his army. It was a turning point in the American Civil War, with Lee increasingly pushed back toward Richmond until his surrender in April 1865. After his victory in the Battle of Chancellorsville, Lee's Army of Northern Virginia moved north for a massive raid designed to obtain desperately needed supplies, to undermine civilian morale in the North, and to encourage anti-war elements. The Union Army of the Potomac was commanded by Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker and then (from June 28) by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade. Lee's army slipped away from Federal contact at Fredericksburg, Virginia, on June 3, 1863. The largest predominantly cavalry battle of the war was fought at Brandy Station on June 9. The Confederates crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains and moved north through the Shenandoah Valley, capturing the Union garrison at Winchester, Virginia, in the Second Battle of Winchester, June 13-15. Crossing the Potomac River, Lee's Second Corps advanced through Maryland and Pennsylvania, reaching the Susquehanna River and threatening the state capital of Harrisburg. However, the Army of the Potomac was in pursuit and had reached Frederick, Maryland, before Lee realized his opponent had crossed the Potomac. Lee moved swiftly to concentrate his army around the crossroads town of Gettysburg.