The Role of Geography on the Morning of July 1, 1863

Abstract

The Battle of Gettysburg has been studied extensively through a variety of lenses, but it has been overlooked by military geographers. Ever piece of literature on the Battle of Gettysburg does pay respect to geography, but this paper is different. It goes beyond the world of elevation disparity and explores other dimensions of both physical and human geography through the scope of the first encounters on July 1, 1863, between the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac. Proven through the use of primary and secondary source material, this paper shows that the Battle of Gettysburg occurred the way it did in history because of the location and proper utilization of geographic resources, both human and physical.