Lee led his Army of Northern Virginia in its second invasion of the North. With high morale, Lee intended to march through Pennsylvania farmland to collect supplies and divert the fighting away from war-torn Virginia. He wanted to fight and win a major battle on northern soil and strengthen the Northerners’ calls for peace. General Joseph Hooker soon moved his Union Army in pursuit of Lee, but he was relieved of duty just three days before the battle. Hooker's successor, General George Gordon Meade, moved northward, keeping his army between Lee and Washington, D.C. When Lee learned that Meade was in Pennsylvania, Lee focused his army around Gettysburg (History).
Elements of the two armies collided west and north of the town on July 1, 1863. Union cavalry slowed the Confederate advance until Union infantry arrived. More Confederate reinforcements reached the scene, however, and 30,000 Confederates ultimately defeated 20,000 Northerners, who fell back through Gettysburg to the hills south of town--Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill …show more content…
Lincoln was shot and killed at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., by John Wilkes Booth. News of the president’s death traveled rapidly, and flags across the nation flew at half-mast. On April 18, Lincoln’s body was carried to the Capitol and, three days later, his remains were boarded onto a train that conveyed him to Springfield, Illinois, where he had lived before taking office. Thousands of Americans lined the railroad route and paid their respects to their fallen leader during the train’s solemn progression through the North. Lincoln was interred on May 4, 1865, at Oak Ridge Cemetery near Springfield. Lincoln’s sudden and tragic murder left the nation in need a leader, as Andrew Johnson took his place