Gettysburg was Lee's next chance to strike a final blow that would win the war. The battle was fought from July 1 to July 3, 1863. This time Lee suffered more casualties than he could afford. The standoff that was Gettysburg ended Lee's invasion of the north and nearly destroyed the Army of Northern Virginia. Now the war was turned around for the Union.
The battle revealed the Army of Northern Virginia had another agenda. As the Confederate army swept northward into Pennsylvania, the soldiers rounded up escaped slaves and free blacks. African-Americans, men, women and children were gathered up and taken with the army as they marched north. When the Army of Northern Virginia retreated, they took the captured black people, estimated to be over a thousand, back to Virginia. There those who had escaped slavery were returned to their slaveowners. Others were sold at auction or imprisoned. Lee may not have ordered the "slave hunt". Once in Pennsylvania he told his troops "no greater disgrace could befall the army," or discredit the Confederate cause, "than the perpetuation of the barbarous outrages upon the unarmed and defenceless [sic] and the wanton destruction of private property that have marked the course of the enemy in our own country." This did not stop his officers and men from rounding up blacks. In one case at Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, soldiers threatened to burn "every house which harbored a fugitive slave". They gave the people in their homes 20 minutes to give up any black people.
In mid-May, 1864, rumors were going around that the Army of Northern Virginia was beaten. A Union officer on General George G. Meade's staff corrected the idea. He said "Lee is a brave and skillful soldier and he will fight while he has a division or a day's rations left." Of Lee's soldiers Lyman said "These rebels are not half-starved and ready to give up—a more sinewy, tawny, formidable-looking set of men could not be". Lyman knew they were still a deadly fighting force even after three years of hard war against a larger and better equipped army. Not surprisingly, it would take another 11 months of hard fighting before the Army of Northern Virginia finally surrendered at Appomattox.
Stenhousemuir F.C.
Stenhousemuir FC is a Scottish football club from Stenhousemuir. The club is a member of the Scottish Football League and currently plays in the Scottish Second Division.
Through much of its history the team has competed in the lower leagues of Scottish football, spending the 2006–07 season in the Third Division. In 2008–09, despite earning 4th place, the club won the promotion play-offs and returned to the Scottish Second Division.
In September 2009, Stenhousemuir Football Club, Ltd. was re-registered as a Community Interest Company.
The club was founded in 1884 following a break away from a local team called "Heather Rangers". In 1890, the Warriors moved to Ochilview Park following spells at Tryst Park and Goschen Park. In the early 20th century the club had a brief spell of success, winning the Scottish Qualifying Cup twice in 1901 and 1902. In 1902–03, the club reached the Scottish Cup semi-final, losing 1–4 at home to Rangers. The 1921–22 season saw Stenhousemuir compete for the first time in senior Scottish League Football.
In 1925–26, Stenhousemuir goalkeeper Joe Shortt was offered a £50 bribe to throw a match against Broxburn, but he rejected the offer and the Warriors won the match 6–2. A bookmaker from Bainsford, a small village on the outskirts of Falkirk, was subsequently jailed for attempted match fixing.
In 1928, the wooden grandstand at Ochilview Park burnt down in a fire, which lead to a new stand being built in its place, although staircases had to be added later due to planning errors. During the 1936–37 season saw the club record a record victory – a 9–2 win against Dundee United. More than a decade later in 1949–50, a Scottish Cup quarter-final tie against East Fife drew a record crowd of 12,500 – the highest ever at Ochilview Park.. In November 1951, the first floodlit game between two Scottish senior teams occurred at Ochilview Park, between Stenhousemuir and Hibernian.
In the summer of 1964, Rangers FC revealed a plan to The Scottish Football League to remove the Warriors from the league, along with four other clubs, on the basis that they were poorest-supported clubs over the previous three seasons. Four years later, Stenhousemuir, along with Albion Rovers, Berwick Rangers, Brechin City and Stranraer, with support from a number of clubs, including Celtic F.C., Hamilton Academical F.C. and Airdrieonians F.C., successfully defeated this plan.
In 1972–73, the Warriors defeated Rangers 2–1 at Ibrox Stadium in the Scottish League Cup. Notably, Rangers were the holders of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup at the time.
In 1992–93, the team allowed their rivals Stirling Albion to share their stadium Ochilview Park. In the 1993–94 season, the Warriors moved out of the bottom league for the first time, due to the formation of the Scottish Third Division. The mid-90s was one of the club's most successful periods in its history; in 1994–95 they defeated St. Johnstone 4–0 and Aberdeen 2–0, both higher league opposition, en-route to the Scottish Cup quarter finals. In the 1995–96 season, Stenhousemuir won the Scottish Challenge Cup, defeating Dundee United 5–4 on penalties after a goalless 90 minutes and extra time. In the process, reaching their first national semi-final since 1902.
Stenhousemuir was relegated from the Scottish Second Division to the Scottish Third Division for the first time in the history of the club. However, the next season winning promotion back to the Second Division, also a first in its history.
In 2006–07, the club announced a plan to lay 'fake' grass at Ochilview Park. It became the first in the UK to pass the FIFA 2 Star category accreditation.
Stenhousemuir were promoted to the Scottish Second Division after defeating Cowdenbeath 5–4 on penalties after drawing 0–0 on aggregate in the play-off final at the end of the 2008–09 season. The 2010–11 season saw the club narrowly avoid relegation after spending most of the season in the relegation zone. On the final day of the season the club defeated Peterhead 3–0 to move above Alloa Athletic and therefore avoided the relegation play-offs.
For the 2011/2012 Season, the Home Kit is sponsored by Figure 11 Communications Ltd, the Away Kit is sponsored by Apex Hotels, and the rear of kit sponsor is Wright & MacLennan.
Stenhousemuir Supporters' Club is the official supporters' club of Stenhousemuir FC. It is a democratic organisation based on one vote per person, and its committee is elected every year by the members. It is the largest shareholder in the club with about 11 % of the shares with the aim to increase the shareholding so that no individual(s) can take control of the club away from its supporters.
The Kriss Akabusi Loyal is a band of traveling supporters. It has a democratically-elected representative on the Stenhousemuir FC Board to relay supporter's ideas and wishes. This person serves two years on the Board before being replaced by another member of the committee.
The club also has many foreign supporters: the Norwegian Supporters' Club is a small supporters' organisation based in Oslo, Norway). The Supporters Club was founded on New Year's Eve 1992 by Rolf Erik Wulff, Christian Wulff and Kjell Jarslett. In 1996 it was given one share of Stenhousemuir F.C. as a recognition of their support and promotion of the club. As of today, the supporters club and its members owns about 5% of the shares in Stenhousemuir. Also the Stenhousemuir FC Danish Support. The Denmark based supporters club is an unofficial Warriors fan club founded and established in the summer 2000. The fan club has approximately 30 members.