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Day 1: July 1, 1863 - Union
Reinforcements Arrive
General
Meade's
headquarters throughout the first day's battle was nine miles to
the south of Gettysburg at Taneytown, Maryland. While there, he
had received word from Hancock
that Gettysburg would be the location to make a stand against the
ANV. XII
Corps
arrived shortly after the fighting ended, in addition to the two
corps (I
Corps
and XI
Corps)
that were already on the field. III
Corps
shortly followed later that evening, while II
Corps
was closeby. The larger VI
Corps
was over 30 miles away and would not arrived until later next
afternoon. General Meade
arrived at Cemetery Hill at about 23:30 on July 1 and began
positioning his corps into defensive positions.
Meanwhile, Johnson's division (of Ewell's
Corps) arrived from the northeast and Longstreet
Corps joined from the northwest. Longstreet's
Corps consisted of the divisions of Hood and McLaws.
Anderson's Division (the remaining division of A.P.
Hill) also arrived on the field from the northwest.
The terrain surrounding Gettysburg consisted mostly of ridges
and hills to the south of the town. The most prominent features
were Cemetery Hill (which received its name from Evergreen
Cemetery on Baltimore Pike) which rises about 80 feet above the
town and Culp's Hill to the east which stands about 100 feet
higher. Cemetery Hill was relatively clear, while Culp's Hill was
significantly covered with woods and large boulders. Cemetery
Ridge stretched some two miles to the south and ended at Little
Round Top and Big Round Top. At some places near the center,
Cemetery Ridge barely rose above ground level.
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