On this date 156 years ago...

June 30, 1863.

Brigadier General John Buford road into Gettysburg at the head of 2,700 Union cavalrymen. His men moved at the trot west of town toward Seminary Ridge where they spotted a Confederate brigade of infantry under Brigadier General J. Johnston Pettigrew, moving into town from the west.

Pettigrew had been approaching Gettysburg from Cashtown (8 miles to the west) with an eye for procuring supplies from the town. His orders stated, however, to avoid engaging Union forces until the Confederate army had been brought together. As his men topped McPherson's Ridge just west of town, Pettigrew sighted Buford's men deploying along Seminary Ridge to receive his brigade. Immediately remembering his orders, he halted his brigade, ordered an about-face, and then marched his Confederates back toward Cashtown.

The battle-hardened Buford immediately recognized the danger that was present and immediately ordered scouts to mount up and ride to the north and west to ascertain Confederate strength in the area. His scouts reported back sometime later that sizable Confederate forces were approaching from both directions. Sensing that Lee's entire army was within a day's march of Gettysburg, he determined to hold his position and put up a fight should any Confederates come marching toward town.

Buford then sent out a message addressed to Major General John Reynolds (commander of the I Corps of the Army of the Potomac), informing him of the situation, letting him know what his intentions were, and requesting infantry support. The lead elements of the I Corps were some 10 miles to the south and Buford believed he would need every last one of them come morning.

Back at Cashtown, Pettigrew returned and informed his immediate superior - Major General Henry Heth - that there was Union cavalry in Gettysburg. Heth took this news to Lt. General A.P. Hill, commander of the III Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia, who took it with a huge bit of skepticism. The latest intelligence put Union forces in Maryland. If there was indeed Union cavalry in Gettysburg, the Army of the Potomac couldn't be far behind. Hill dismissed Pettigrew's information as a case of mistaken identity. It couldn't be cavalry. Pettigrew, new to combat command, must have seen local militia and mistook them for the real thing.

Hill issued orders to Heth to send his entire division forward to Gettysburg on the morning. It would be a reconnaissance in force operation to ascertain what was ahead of them. Thus, the balance of the III Corps would provide Heth's division with support should he need it. At the very least, Gettysburg being such a strategic road junction, seizing the town would do well since the Confederates were in the process of bringing their army together.

Thus the stage was set for the largest and bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil to begin....