July 3, 1863. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

The Battle of Gettysburg had been raging for the past two days and had, by that point, already become the bloodiest battle in American history. But Lee wanted to break what he saw as a tactical stalemate by launching an all or nothing frontal assault on the center of the Union position. The plan that was eventually drawn up on paper involved the massing of Confederate artillery (roughly 150 cannon in all) to fire on Cemetery Ridge. Believing this position to be the weakest point the Federal line, the idea was to soften it up further.

Following this, three divisions of Confederate infantry (roughly 13,000 men in all) were to advance across the no-man's-land between the two armies and split the Union center. This force would be commanded by Lt. General James Longstreet and would consist of the divisions of George Pickett, Dorsey Pender (commanded by Isaac Trimble) and Henry Heth (commanded by J.J. Pettigrew). Should a proper breach in the Union line be made, this assault would be followed up by the divisions of Richard Anderson and Robert Rodes to exploit the breach. Meanwhile, Confederate cavalry under the command of the recently-arrived JEB Stuart would cause chaos and confusion in the rear to prevent Federal reinforcements from reaching the area where the assault was taking place.

The artillery bombardment would last for about 90 minutes but would prove to be ineffective. The infantry assault would go forward in good order and cross the nearly mile of open ground while eating Federal artillery fire for almost the entire march. The left wing of the assault (that of Pettigrew and Trimble) was pulverized in the area of Zeigler's Grove by massed Union infantry under the command of Alexander Hays. Pickett's division had better success against the division of John Gibbon around the low stonewall, with one brigade of Confederate infantry under the command of Lewis Armistead even breaking through temporarily. However, Union reinforcements rushed into the breach and killed or captured every single Confederate who made it over the wall.

In just over an hour the battle was over. The Confederate forces had lost 1,123 men killed, 4,019 wounded, and 1,358 either captured or missing. Union casualties were considerably lighter (268 killed and 1,232 wounded). Additionally, JEB Stuart's end around run of the Army of the Potomac's right flank was stopped by cavalry under the command of George Armstrong Custer, ending that part of the Confederate plan before it had even started.

In short, the engagement which has gone down in history as Pickett's Charge was a total and abject failure. That evening, a remorseful Robert E. Lee told his men that it was all his fault before deciding to withdraw from the field the next day. Pickett's Charge has since gone down into history as the "High Water Mark of the Confederacy," with the engagement taking on near-mythical proportions some 160+ years later.

The field of Pickett's Charge today.