You might look at the guy on the right, and at first glance, you might not know who he is, but his name is George Armstrong Custer. Custer was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the Civil War and was considered one of the most well-known soldiers in the entire country. However, he is known to have led his men to their death in the most controversial battle in U.S history, the Battle of Little Big Horn, in 1876.
His name was John “Gimlet” W. Lea, and he was a Confederate officer. He was also a classmate of Custer’s at West Point. During the Battle of Williamsburg, Custer noticed that Lea had been injured in battle, and although they were on opposing sides, he carried Lea to a hospital nearby. Because of his grandiose personality, he insisted that Lea have his picture taken with him.
The Confederacy Needed Allies
The Civil War was mostly fought by Americans on American soil. You may be wondering what the European diplomats were doing hanging around a waterfall located in New York. The reason is that the Confederacy was making inroads with the English and the French to some degree because they wanted to intervene on their behalf.
This photo from 1863 shows the Secretary of State William Seward having some downtime with the Ambassadors of Sweden, Italy, Nicaragua, France, Great Britain, and Russia, along with others. It was crucial that these relationships were in good standing at all times to ensure that it would just be an American war, and it was President Lincoln who was able to do that.
A Bad Commander With A Great Beard
General Ambrose Burnside’s beard is one that will go down in history as one of the most awesome. It would certainly be a hard one to top. However, he was a one-time commander of the Army of the Potomac, and he didn’t really do that great of a job leading his men into battle. President Lincoln picked General George McClellan to lead the army when defeating the South, but the two did not really get along.
Unfortunately, General McClellan had proved to President Lincoln that he was not aggressive enough in battle. Soon after, he was replaced by General Burnside. To his surprise, he didn’t necessarily want the job. However, he took on the job and led his army against Lee’s army in Fredericksburg. After the battle had ended, General Burnside had put in his resignation, which President Lincoln accepted after three months on the job.
The Battle Of Gettysburg
As we have gathered at this point, most of the battles in the Civil War took place in the Southern states. So, the war at Gettysburg was obviously strange, and is considered to be the biggest battle in North American history. General Lee decided that he wanted to take the war to the Union. It was in a small town in southern Pennsylvania that he located their army.
A strange myth about the battle at Gettysburg was that it started because the Confederates had been looking for shoes. However, the truth is that they were looking for some trouble. There were ten roads that were going in and out of the town, so it was very likely that the two would stumble upon each other. The battle at Gettysburg lasted a total of three days and is known to be the deadliest battle in American history.
Just Three Days On The Job!
As previously stated, General Burnside only lasted about three months as the commander of the Potomac Army. Following his resignation, General Hooker lasted three months longer, for a total of six months. Following his exit is the man who is pictured below, General Meade, who lasted for roughly a year as the commander. None of these men really stood a chance when lined up for battle against the Army of Northern Virginia, which was commanded by Lee. However, it was General Meade who was in charge during the most decisive battle of the war.
General Meade had only been the commander of the Army of the Potomac for three days when Lee came rolling and ready to go through Gettysburg. Although many lives were lost, Meade’s ordering of his army on the first day proved to be priceless by the end of the battle.