ensued; and fifteen hundred mounted Confederates dashed across the Potomac in pursuit of Milroy's  wagon-train. They pushed up the Cumberland Valley as far as Chambersburg, plundering the people and causing intense alarm in all Pennsylvania.
Lee had, by skillful movements, kept Hooker in doubt as to his real object, until Ewell's corps had crossed the Potomac above Harper's Ferry on the 22nd and 23rd of June, and marched rapidly  up the Cumberland Valley to within a few miles of the Susquehanna opposite Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania. Another large body of Confederates, led by General Early, pushed on through Gettysburg to York, on the Susquehanna, levying contributions on friend and foe alike. Ewell and Early were speedily followed by Hill and Longstreet (June 25, 1863), and again the whole of Lee's army was in Maryland and Pennsylvania. It seemed, at one time, as if nothing could prevent that army penetrating to the Schuylkill and even to the Hudson. The panic north of the Potomac was intense. Valuable goods that were portable were sent from Philadelphia to points above the Hudson Highlands, for safety. The people flew to arms everywhere to oppose the invaders.
The Army of the Potomac was now one hundred thousand strong. It was thrown across the river into Maryland, at and near Edwards's Ferry. Halleck (the general-in-chief) and Hooker differed most decidedly in opinions about some important military movements that were proposed, when the latter resigned and was succeeded by General George G. Meade, who held the command of that army until the close of the war. Meade entered upon his duties at Frederick (June 28) in Maryland, where the Army of the Potomac lay, ready to strike Lee's communications or to attack him, as circumstances might dictate.
Lee was preparing to cross the Susquehanna and push on to Philadelphia, when news reached him that the reinforced Army of the Potomac was threatening his flank and rear. Alarmed by this intelligence and the rapid gathering of the yeomanry on his front, he ordered the concentration of his army near Gettysburg, with the intention of crushing Meade's forces by a single blow, and then marching on Baltimore and Washington; or, in case of failure, to secure a direct line of retreat into Virginia. In the meantime Meade was pushing toward the Susquehanna with cautious movement; and on the evening of the 30th of June he discovered Lee's evident intention to give battle at once.
The National cavalry, meanwhile, had been carefully reconnoitering; and on the previous day, Kilpatrick's mounted men had a sharp fight at Hanover, a few miles from Gettysburg, with some of Stuart's cavalry, and, assisted by General Custer, defeated them. Buford's division of National cavalry entered Gettysburg the same day; and the next day the left wing of Meade's army, led by General J.F. Reynolds, arrived near there. At the same time the corps of Hill and Longstreet were approaching from Chambersburg, and Ewell was marching down from Carlisle in full force. That night Buford's cavalry, six thousand strong, encamped between Reynolds and Hill.
On the morning of the first of July, Buford met the van of Lee's army, led by General Heth, between Seminary Ridge, a little out of Gettysburg, and a parallel ridge a little further west, when a sharp skirmish ensued. Reynolds, who was a few miles distant, hastened to the relief of Buford, and in a severe battle that followed, he was killed, and General Abner Doubleday took command of his troops. In the meantime General 0.0. Howard came up with his corps. Lee's troops were then concentrated there, and the battle soon assumed grander proportions. The Nationals were finally pressed back; and under the general direction of Howard, they took a strong position on a range of rocky hills near Gettysburg, of which Culp's Hill and Little Round Top were the two extremes of the line, and Cemetery Hill, at the village, was the apex. There the Nationals rested that night, and the Confederates occupied Seminary Ridge.
General Meade, with the remainder of the Army of the Potomac, now hastened to Gettysburg, and he and Lee prepared cautiously to renew
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