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The Battle of Gettysburg, fought on July 1–3, 1863, was the battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War and is often considered as the war's turning point. Fought in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the Battle of Gettysburg saw 165,000 Union and Confederate soldiers clash in a three day battle that resulted in more than 51,000 casualties. On the third day of the battle, Confederate soldiers in an attack called Pickett's Charge reached the copse of trees near The Angle (a corner in a low stone wall) on Cemetery Ridge; this represented the farthest point north that Robert E. Lee's forces reached during the Civil War. For this reason the copse of trees is often referred to as the High Water Mark of the Confederacy.
Pickett's Charge was a disaster for the Confederate forces and ended Robert E. Lee's plan to move his forces north to Harrisburg Pennsylvania and on to Washington DC. While the Civil War continued on for two more years, the Battle of Gettysburg changed the dynamics of the war and General Lee was never truly on the offensive again.
During the battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee appropriated the house of Mary "Widow" Thompson to use as his headquarters. Widow Thompson wasn't happy about this intrusion, but General Lee's gentlemanly manners swayed her into tolerating his presence.
Today, you will find a Quality Inn hotel built around the original house. Behind the Thompson house was a barn that was used as a field hospital in 1863. This barn has been converted into a couple suites for the hotel. The hotel has a small museum on site.
