Heth Camp
— Gettysburg Campaign —
After Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee stunning victory at Chancellorsville in May 1863, he led the Army of Northern
Virginia west to the Shenandoah Valley, then north through central Maryland and across the Mason-Dixon Line into
Pennsylvania. Union Gen. George G. Meade, who replaced Gen. Joseph Hooker on June 28, led the Army of the Potomac
in pursuit. Confederate cavalry commander Gen. J.E.B. Stuart cut Federal communications and rail lines and captured
supplies. The armies collided at Gettysburg on July 1, starting a battle that neither general planned to fight there. ?
Three days later, the defeated Confederates retreated, crossing the Potomac River into Virginia on July 14.
Virtually all of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee
Army of Northern Virginia camped in Rappahannock County en route to and from Pennsylvania
in the summer of 1863. About half of the troops
passed this location. Part of Confederate Gen.
Henry Heth 7,300-man division of Gen. A.P.
Hills corps stopped here on June 18, 1863, two
weeks before they initiated the
greatest battle ever fought in
North America. Heth division
included units from North
Carolina, Virginia, Alabama,
and Tennessee. It also had
several regimental bands who
serenaded the troops both on
the march and in camp. From
here Heth marched to just south of Chester Gap
on June 19, where the division bivouacked amid
rattlesnake dens—a bad
omen, some thought.
The division arrived
west of Gettysburg on June 29.
On the morning of July 1, Hill
ordered Heth to reconnoiter
in force toward Gettysburg.
There, he made contact with
Union Gen. John Buford
cavalry. Elements of the Army of the Potomac I
Corps arrived soon thereafter to reinforce Buford,
and a major fight ensued. Despite Lee orders not
to bring on a major fight, the Battle of Gettysburg was underway. Later that day, a bullet that
narrowly missed Heth skull knocked him unconscious. Two days later, Heth division, under Gen.
Johnston Pettigrew,
took part in Pickett
Charge, Lee last gasp
at Gettysburg. Pettigrew died on July 17
from a wound received
on the retreat to Virginia. Heth division
again passed through
Rappahannock County
(along present-day
Route 729) on July 23
as the Confederate
army returned to
Culpeper County.
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