Battle of Gettysburg

The South lost Gettysburg for several reasons. The most important reasons were Pickett's charge and the ratio of Confederate to Union soldiers. Pickett's charge was an attack on an open field and it was uphill. In terms of the amount of people, the Confederates were well behind in number. Unlike other battles in which the Union attacked the South, this battle was the other way around. The Confederates decided to invade Pennsylvania and not only did they have less soldiers, but they had far from the 3:1 ratio that the invading side needs. To answer your last question, I don't think it was likely at all that the Union leaders would have sought after a peace negotiation. They were aware that foreign intervention was no longer a threat and that the small Confederate army that had suffered tons of collateral damage was struggling. In fact, I recently interviewed James McPherson and he made it clear that he felt that a peace negotiation was an invalid reason for invading the North. This is why I disagree with one of the things that "Senator" said a couple posts earlier. He wrote, "Even if they had not the war would have gone on even longer leading to the U.S. to ask for peace later, from being war weary." It was the South that didn't want the war to go on longer. That was part of Lee's strategical plan. He knew the Confederates couldn't last long.

Can anyone help me understand why Lee invaded Pennsylvania in late June of 1863? Didn't he realize that the amount of soldiers he needed was not the amount of soldiers he had? Didn't he realize he would cut off his communications and possible route of retreat? Were there other options to such an ambitious choice?

Invasion63 said:

Can anyone help me understand why Lee invaded Pennsylvania in late June of 1863? Didn't he realize that the amount of soldiers he needed was not the amount of soldiers he had? Didn't he realize he would cut off his communications and possible route of retreat? Were there other options to such an ambitious choice?

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Lee knew exactly how many soldiers he had and what he had to do.

He invaded Pennsylvania for twofold reasons. He thought that if he could get the Army of the Potomac out in the open he could defeat it and that defeat might cause the North to negotiate a peace with the South. Another reason was to take the war away from Virginia for awhile and give the civilian population a chance to recover. He felt he could feed his army off the Pennsylvania farms. This is my theory but I believe that after the winter of 1862-63 and the privations his army and particularly his animals, (horses and mules) suffered, because of disease and poor nutrition, Lee knew that another winter would see the Army of Northern Virginia practically without transport and therefore unable to move very far and fast. The Southern armies were growing weaker and the Union armies were growing stronger.

Invasion63 said:

Can anyone help me understand why Lee invaded Pennsylvania in late June of 1863? Didn't he realize that the amount of soldiers he needed was not the amount of soldiers he had? Didn't he realize he would cut off his communications and possible route of retreat? Were there other options to such an ambitious choice?

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and how many times did Lee win a battle with an inferior force? He knew what he had and what he faced.

Lee drove McClellan back at the Seven Days despite being outnumbered. He defeated Pope at Second Manassas while outnumbered. He fought McClellan to a draw at Sharpsburg outnumbered two to one. He was outnumbered by Burnside at Fredricksburg and won and by Hooker at Chancellorsville and won. The Army of Northern Virginia was almost always outnumbered but seldom defeated. I expect that Lee felt that at Gettysburg with about 70000 that he actually had an advantage over Meade's 90000 or so.

At this time Lee was feeling his army could not be beaten by the Union forces and that a successful invasion of the North had several advantages, some already mentioned. A victory at Gettysburg would have changed the complexion of the war. First, politically, it could have been disasterous for Lincoln when the war was not popular to start with. Lee probably was aware of this and may have been his goal. Second, a victory by the South and Lee, having already defeated Meade, loose in the country with a possilble threat to both Washington and New York, would certainly have caused Grant to be recalled no matter how many men Lee had or where Meade had established a defensive line, since he had demonstrated an ability to defeat Union forces no matter what the odds. Even if Lee could not have advanced deeper or to Washingtion, perception would have been everything.

Invasion63 said:

Can anyone help me understand why Lee invaded Pennsylvania in late June of 1863? Didn't he realize that the amount of soldiers he needed was not the amount of soldiers he had? Didn't he realize he would cut off his communications and possible route of retreat? Were there other options to such an ambitious choice?

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There are many reasons, I. The one he sold Davis on was that it would relieve some of the pressure on Vicksburg.