The two forces met near the little town of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania,
and a great three-days' battle took place.
The fighting began on the first of July when the Federal army was
still widely scattered through the country, and Meade himself far
in the rear, and again the Confederates triumphed.
Late that night General Meade arrived upon the field, and began
to make preparations for the struggle on the morrow. On both sides
the commanders and armies seemed to feel that a great turning point
of the war had come, and they bent all their energies on winning.
Both camps were early astir, yet each side seemed to hesitate to
begin the fearful game, and put fortune to the test. So the morning
passed quietly, the hot silence of the summer day being broken only
now and again by fitful spurts of firing.
Late in the afternoon at length the Confederates attacked, and
soon the battle raged fiercely. The fight swung this way and that,
first the one side and then the other gaining ground here, losing
it there. When night came the position was little changed. The
advantage still lay with the Confederates.
Next day there was no hesitation. Both sides knew that the deadly
duel must be fought to the close, and at dawn the roll and thud of
cannon began. From hill to hill gun answered gun, shells screamed
and hissed, and the whole valley seemed to be encircled with flame
and smoke.
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