Gettysburg Study Guide: Volume 1

By Rea Andrew Redd

The Gettysburg Campaign Exam Study Guide, Volume One contains 700+ questions and answers regarding the armies, chronologies, maps, cemeteries, commanders of the 1863 Pennsylvania Campaign. The book's format and content help a students' exam performance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Savas Publishing
• Release date: Mar 31, 2014
• ISBN: 9781940669182

Rea Andrew Redd

Rea Andrew Redd is a native of Washington County, Pennsylvania. He received a baccalaureate degree in history and English at Waynesburg University in 1970. He received a masters degree in history at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1976 and a masters degree of library science from the University of Pittsburgh, 1993. His Pennsylvania certification for social studies education, grades 7-12 was earned from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1982. Currently he is the director of Eberly Library, Waynesburg University and serves as an instructor of American history there also. Since 1993 he has reenacted the American Civil War as a Federal infantryman, a Federal Medical Service captain, and as President Abraham Lincoln.

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—— SECTION ONE ——

Antebellum, Bellum, Postbellum*

The Wills House where Lincoln wrote his Gettsyburg Address, the R.G. Harper House and old Adams Sentinel building Tipton #2570

*Antebellum: From the 1787 Constitution to 1860

Bellum: 1861-1865

Postbellum: 1866-1877

1.   Describe the 3/5 clause.

Is embedded in the 1787 U.S. Constitution; in Article 1, Section 2 Paragraph 3, 3/5 of all slaves are counted as white for the purpose of establishing the number of representatives in the U.S. Congress and Electoral College.

2.   How do the Northwest Ordinances of 1785 and 1789 relate to slavery?

The territories of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin would not have enslaved labor. The Northwest Ordinances supplied the rationale in 1820 that the U.S. Congress could limit slavery in the territories.

3.   Describe the Missouri Compromise.

In 1820, Missouri entered the Union as a state with enslaved labor; Maine entered the Union with wage labor. Other territory above the southern border [36 degrees 30 minutes] of Missouri would not have slave labor. The compromise reinforced the notion that the U.S. Congress wss able to limit slavery in the territories.

4.   Describe the Compromise of 1850.

California entered as wage labor state; Fugitive Slave law was reinforced; slave auctions in Washingtion DC were disallowed.

5.   Describe the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

1854, 36 degrees 30 minutes limits were abolished, popular sovereignty became the law instead, Fugitive Slave Act was reinforced.

6.   Describe the Dred Scott decision.

Dred Scott decision announced in March 1857 by the U.S. Supreme Court: no black person has rights that any white man must respect; Scott, a slave, was not free just because his master termporarily resided in a wage labor state.

7.   What was the number of slaves in the U.S. in 1860?

About four million

8.   Describe the First and Second Confiscation Acts.

In March 1862, Congress approved legislation stating from that point onward it was forbidden for Union Army officers to return fugitive slaves to their owners. In April 1862, Congress declared that the federal government would compensate slave owners who freed their slaves. Slaves in the District of Columbia were freed soon afterward and their owners were compensated.

9.   Describe the Emancipation Proclamation

In September 1862- a preliminary proclamation was issued; January 1, 1863, the final proclamation was issued, all slaves within states in rebellion were free behind the Confederate lines. The net result was that as Federal armies progressed southward, they encountered slaves who were legally free. Lincoln used wartime powers of the presidency to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

10. Describe the 13th Amendment.

The 13th Amendment abolished slavery throughout the Union and was ratified by the states in 1865.

11. Describe the 14th Amendment.

The 14th Amendment was proposed in 1866 and ratified by the states in 1868. It guaranteed citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States and granted them federal civil rights.

12. Describe the 15th Amendment.

The 15th amendment stated that all citizens have the right to vote without obstruction. The 15th Amendment, proposed in late February 1869 and passed by the state in early February 1870, decreed that the right to vote could not be denied because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. The amendment did not declare the suffrage an unconditional right. It only prohibited discrimination. Specific electoral policies were determined within each state.

13. Describe the Freedmen’s Bureau.

Administered by Major General Oliver O. Howard, the bureau offered physical protection, education, and other assistance to freedmen.

14. Describe the death of Booth.

While resisting arrest, Booth was killed by Federal troops at the Garrett farm in Virginia early in the morning of April 26. David Herold, Booth’s accomplice and traveling companion surrendered before Booth was shot.

15. Describe the execution of the assassination conspirators.

In Washington D.C., Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt were hanged in the Old Arsenal Penitentiary on July 7, 1865. The trial and executions were supervised by the military. Mary Surratt was the first woman executed by the U.S. government. The military kept extensive records of the proceedings.

16. In what prision was Samuel Mudd incarcerated?

He entered prison in July 1865 at Dry Tortuga, Key Islands, Florida and stayed there until March 1869 when he was pardoned by President Johnson.

17. What was Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction?

In late 1863, Lincoln announced a formal plan for reconstruction. When one tenth of the number of voters who had participated in the 1860 election had taken the oath of loyalty within a particular state, then that state could write a new constitution without slavery, ratify it and then elect representatives to Congress. A general amnesty would be granted to all who would take an oath of loyalty to the United States and pledged to obey all federal laws pertaining to slavery. Confederate officials and military leaders were to be temporarily excluded from the process. The states of Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee rapidly acted to comply with these terms. However, the Lincoln plan was not acceptable to Congress, which rejected the representatives of these states during 1863-1865.

18. What was Johnson’s Reconstruction?

President Johnson did not pursue the redistribution of farms from the planters to the freedman. He ordered that confiscated or abandoned lands would not be distributed to the freedmen but be returned to pardoned owners. He also pardoned Confederate officials and military leaders who were excluded from office holding under Lincoln’s plan.

19. What was Radical Reconstruction?

The Wade–Davis Bill of 1864 proposed a method of reconstructing the South. In contrast to President Abraham Lincoln’s more lenient plan, the bill made re-admittance to the Union for former Confederate states contingent on a majority in each Southern state to take an oath that stated that they had never in the past supported the Confederacy. The bill passed both houses of Congress by July 2, 1864, but was pocket vetoed by Lincoln. During Johnson’s administration Republicans in Congress again advanced the plan. It included new Constitutional amendments, known as the Reconstruction Amendments. These amendments attempted to elevate the former slaves to political equality with white citizens.

20. What was the end of the Reconstruction?

Because of disputed ballots from Florida in the 1876 presidential election, the Electoral Commission awarded Rutherford B. Hayes the electoral votes. Congress certified he had won the presidential election by one electoral vote. In accepting this decision, the Republicans and the Democrats made a deal that federal troops would be removed on the condition that the Southern states pledged to protect the lives of African Americans.

—— SECTION TWO ——

Infantry and Cavalry on Campaign

West View from Little Round Top, looking over Valley of Death into Wheatfield and Rose Woods (1885-1888). Tipton #2448

1.   What is the speed of the Common Time for infantry?

28 inch step, 90 steps a minute, 100 yards in 84 seconds

2.   What is Quick Time for infantry?

28 inch step, 110 steps per minute, 100 yards in 70 seconds

3.   What is Double Quick time for infantry?

33 inch steps, 165 steps per minute, 100 yards in 40 seconds

4.   What is the length of the average brigade on the march?

one to one and a half miles in length

5.   What is the length of an average division on the march?

2.25 to 4.0 miles in length

6.   What is the average length of a corps on the march?

7 to 15 miles in length

7.   What is the pace of cavalry at a Walk?

4 miles per hour

8.   What is the pace of cavalry on the march at Slow Pace?

6 miles per hour

9.   How many companies are in a Union cavalry squadron?

4 companies with 3 squadrons to a regiment

10. How many companies are in a Confederate cavalry squadron?

2 companies, with 5 squadrons to a regiment

11. How many companies are in a Union cavalry regiment?

12

12. How many companies are in a Confederate cavalry regiment?

10

13. What is the pace of cavalry on the march at Trot Walk?

5 miles per hour

14. What is the pace of cavalry on the march at Maneuvering Gallop?

12 miles per hour

15. What is the pace of cavalry on the march at Full Gallop?

16 miles per hour

16. How many days can a cavalry horse march without extended rest?

No more than four

17. What were the most prevalent lever action loading rifles used during the battle?

Sharps 7 shot, breechloading, .53 caliber carbine and Spencer 7 shot, buttloading, .53 caliber carbine

18. What was the caliber of most minie balls used during the campaign?

.58 caliber

19. What was the largest caliber of minie ball used during the campaign?

.69 caliber

20. What are the calibers of most pistols used during the campaign?

.36 to .44 caliber

—— SECTION THREE ——

Campaign Dates and Incidents

View northeast on Confederate Avenue towards William J. Althoff Farm, from Richardson’s Battery of Washington Artillery (c. 1902) Tipton: #2798

1.   On what date did the Army of the Northern Virginia begin the campaign?

June 3, 1863

2.   On what two dates did the Confederate cavalry hold reviews at Brandy Station, Virginia?

June 5 and June 8, 1863

3.   What is the date of the Battle of Brandy Station, Virginia?

June 9, 1863

4.   What are the dates of the Second Battle of Winchester, Virginia?

June 13 & 14, 1863

5.   What is the date of the Battle of Martinsburg, [West] Virginia?

June 14, 1863

6.   What is the date of the Battle of Stephenson’s Depot, Virginia?

June