Gen. Robert E. Lee and 75,000 men took on Gen. George G. Meade and 90,000 Union forces at Gettysburg, PA, on July 1-3, 1863, in one of the most important battles of the Civil War. Strategically, Lee first tested the left side of the Union lines, then the right. On July 3, Gen. George Pickett led what has become the most famous charge in American military history. He took 15,000 men against the center of the Union lines, and only 5,000 survived. The Confederacy had 20,000 casualties and lost 30,000 men. The North lost almost as many. The battle psychologically affected both sides, causing President Lincoln to come to Gettysburg and give what has become his famous address. The Battle of Gettysburg was fought during the same week that Gen. Ulysses S. Grant won at Vicksburg, which put the Confederates on the defensive in the east.