After fighting for a little over two years in their own country (Confederacy), General Robert E. Lee wanted to change the Confederate battle plan and move on north to start an offensive. The Southerners were feeling the brutalities of war because the battles have only been fought on their ground, so they would like to show the Union that they are winning and make them feel the brutality of war by beating them on their own soil. So General Lee and his army marched north in hopes of a glorious battle to rally the troops and bring an end to the war. Little did General Lee know that he was about to make a major mistake by choosing the battlefield of Gettysburg. (Catton, intro on book)

At the beginning of the American Civil War, the Confederate plan was to take a defensive side and just ward off the...