Also in June 1863, Major General George G. Meade was named as Hooker’s replacement, and within days, his army was battling the invading Confederate army in the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. At one point, Meade considered a withdrawal from Gettysburg, but was informed by Sharpe, who had interrogated hundreds of prisoners and analyzed other intelligence, that the Confederates had limited forces available not yet engaged. That insight was instrumental in Union forces remaining at Gettysburg and set the stage for one of the most lopsided encounters in U.S. military history when the final Confederate attack, known as Pickett’s Charge, was soundly defeated.
Also in June 1863, Major General George G. Meade was named as Hooker’s replacement, and within days, his army was battling the invading Confederate army in the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. At one point, Meade considered a withdrawal from Gettysburg, but was informed by Sharpe, who had interrogated hundreds of prisoners and analyzed other intelligence, that the Confederates had limited forces available not yet engaged. That insight was instrumental in Union forces remaining at Gettysburg and set the stage for one of the most lopsided encounters in U.S. military history when the final Confederate attack, known as Pickett’s Charge, was soundly defeated.
That wasn’t the BMI’s only success at Gettysburg. A force of Union cavalry, accompanied by Sergeant Milton Cline, the BMI’s chief scout, captured a number of Confederate cavalrymen, confiscating letters from Confederate President Jefferson Davis to General Robert E. Lee, who commanded the Confederate forces at Gettysburg. With one such letter from Davis in hand, denying Lee’s request for additional reinforcements, Meade knew his numerical advantage would hold.