After his success at Chancellorsville in Virginia in May 1863, Lee led his Confederate forces through Shenandoah Valley to begin the Gettysburg Campaign, his second attempted invasion of the North. With Lee's army in high spirits, he intended to shift the focus of the summer campaign from war-ravaged Northern Virginia in the hopes of penetrating as far as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, or Philadelphia, which he hoped would convince northern politicians to abandon their prosecution of the war. President Abraham Lincoln initially prodded Major General Joseph Hooker to move his Union forces in pursuit of Lee, but relieved Hooker of his command just three days before the battle, replacing him with Meade.
After his success at Chancellorsville in Virginia in May 1863, Lee led his Confederate forces through Shenandoah Valley to begin the Gettysburg Campaign his second attempted invasion of the North. With Lee's army in high spirits, he intended to shift the focus of the summer campaign from war-ravaged Northern Virginia in the hopes of penetrating as far as H,arrisburg, Pennsylvania, or Philadelphia, which he hoped would convince northern politicians to abandon their prosecution of the war. President Abraham Lincoln initially prodded Major General Joseph Hooker to move his Union forces in pursuit of Lee, but relieved Hooker of his command just three days before the battle, replacing him with Meade.