Invasion of Pennsylvania. To alleviate the burdensome situation in Mississippi, Lee decides to regain the initiative in the East, also aiming to carry the war to the North by granting Virginia a truce and strengthening the Northerners’ support for the armistice, ultimately allowing his army to pass through a country rich in all things. On June 3, the Army of Northern Virginia marches north. Several attempts by Union General Hooker to stop it fail. But contrary to expectations, the North unites behind Congress and the President in the face of danger, and Lee now finds himself in hostile territory. His ultimate goal, however, is the destruction of the approaching Army of the Potomac. He points to the map and tells his subordinates where to wait. General Trimble, leaning forward to better read the name of the town, pronounces: “Gettysburg.”
