At the Battle of Gettysburg, General Lee made a desperate bid to smash through Union forces and approach Washington, D.C., from the west. General George G. Meade met him accidentally at Gettysburg, Pennsylvanis. Lee's assaults on federal positions brought heavy losses to both sides. On July 3, when the famous charge of General George E. Pickett's division failed, with one until leaving 3393 out of 4800 men died or wounded on the field, the battle was lost to the South. On July 4 both sides were exhausted. On July 5 Lee's army retreated across the Potomac River, never to return to northern territory. The south suffered 30,000 killed, wounded, or missing; the North, 23,000.