an anniversary

Pickett's Charge. A grade-A disaster for the Confederacy and a turkey-shoot for the Federals.

149 years ago (God, please let that be accurate) the Confederate Army under General Robert E. Lee lost to General Meade of the Union Army of the Potomac at a place called Gettysburg. These days were days that will live in infamy, coming in 3rd, perhaps, behind Pearl Harbor and, of course, 9/11. The Confederate defeat was due to a variety of causes, not only the fact that the Confederate Army was out-manned and out-gunned by the Federal forces. Cavalry officer J.E.B. Stuart decided to go joy-riding in northern territory, trying to make a name for himself, and in the process he left Lee completely blind to the Federal troop movements. The matter wasn't merely due to bad ground, though the Confederates certainly did have that (one could say that the entire battle could've been turned around if the Confederate officer Ewell had taken Cemetery Ridge as he was supposed to. But he didn't, and after the first day's battle, the Union forces were entrenched in the hills around Gettysburg. Despite his best generals warning him against attacking--General Longstreet implored Lee to retreat and find better ground--Lee's only desire to see the war end, and his conviction that fighting the battle on bad ground was the will of God, led thousands upon thousands of Confederate soldiers to their deaths. The second day's fighting took place along the southern end of the Federal position, at a place called Devil's Den and Little Round Top. The Federalist 20th Maine held off Longstreet's attack, and on the third day 12,500 Confederate troops swarmed into the promise of death in a failed attack known as Pickett's Charge. The death toll ranged anywhere between 46,000 to 51,000 dead for both armies. Lee's string of victories--not least Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville--came to an end in this battle, a battle that left Lee's army in tatters and turned the tide of war against the South. 

I'm aware no one, probably, read any of that.

But it's interesting to me, so there you have it.

In my opinion, all the fireworks from the 1-3 are in honor of the three-day battle.

Independence Day is just the icing of the cake (as long as you're a Union supporter).

And for further intrigue: The Ghosts of Gettysburg.