As part of Lee's second invasion of the North, Confederate forces advanced deeper into Pennsylvania in mid-June 1863, foraging for supplies and threatening Harrisburg. The advance, intended to relieve pressure on Virginia and shake Northern morale, would collide with the Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg two weeks later in the war's bloodiest battle.
By mid-June 1863, the Army of Northern Virginia was streaming north in its most audacious gamble of the war. Lee hoped a decisive victory on Union soil might fracture Northern political will, embolden peace Democrats, and possibly win European recognition for the Confederacy.
Confederate units under Richard Ewell pushed toward Chambersburg and beyond, seizing horses, cattle, and food from Pennsylvania farms — and in some documented cases, seizing free Black residents to sell into slavery, a grim detail often omitted from campaign narratives. Panic spread through Harrisburg and Philadelphia as militia scrambled to organize defenses.
Meanwhile the Army of the Potomac, soon to be placed under George Meade, shadowed Lee's movements, uncertain of his exact target. The two armies would finally collide at a small crossroads town named Gettysburg on July 1, in three days of fighting that produced over 50,000 casualties and marked the war's turning point — the farthest north the Confederacy would ever reach.
Key people: Robert E. Lee, Richard S. Ewell