Opening of Gettysburg Campaign

Confederate Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart and most of his cavalry division arrived in Culpeper two weeks after the Chancellorsville Campaign ended in May 1863. On 22 May and again on 5 June, Stuart staged grand reviews of his division on this field, drawing many civilian spectators. Gen. Robert E. Lee arrived from Fredericksburg on 7 June and the next day conducted his own review of Stuart’s division, encompassing 10,000 men extending nearly two miles to the northeast. On 9 June, Union cavalry under Brig. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton attacked Stuart at Brandy Station and fought to a draw. Confederate infantry then moved toward the Shenandoah Valley and Pennsylvania while Stuart screened the army’s march.