At the beginning of the Civil war, both the North and South needed generals. Lincoln promoted dozens of men to the rank of general without any idea if they were competent or not.[9] Many generals were politicians or leaders of some influence and most were generals of state militias. Any who proved their worth in battle were rewarded with regular army rank.[9] Grant, as an example, started the war as a brigadier of Illinois volunteers.[9] He was given a commission as a major general in the regular army, then later promoted to lieutenant general.[9]
By late 1862, Virginia was running out of food to feed its army.[13] Lee's horses were dying of disease because they had little or no fodder. The cavalry and artillery units had to be widely scattered behind his lines in order to find food for the horses.[13] In the winter of 1863, food trains from the south were becoming more and more scarce. One of Lee's main reasons for invading the North was to get supplies to continue the war. Lee's army foraged many of the small towns around Gettysburg for food and fodder.[14] They took whatever supplies they could find from the rich Pennsylvaniacountryside back to the safety of Virginia.[14]
