The two armies at the Battle of Gettysburg were similar in structure. Both were organized into corps, divisions and brigades, But they look very different when comparing corps and divisions.

Comparative Strength of the Corps of the Armies at Gettysburg

Lee organized his army into only three army corps at Gettysburg. This was an increase from just two prior to April 1. Each was roughly twice the size of the seven Union corps. One small factor in this difference was that Meade had an Artillery Reserve of 2,400 men that were not part of any army corps and does not show up in the table below, while all of Lee’s artillery was assigned to an army corps or a division and is included in the tables.

Comparative Strength of the Infantry Divisions at Gettysburg

Lee had fewer divisions than Meade, 9 versus 19. But the average strength of a Confederate division was almost double that of a Union division, 6,778 vs. 3,835. The two weakest Confederate divisions were just a but stronger than the largest Union. Lee’s strongest division was three times the size of Meade’s weakest.