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Estimates of the number of men engaged at Gettysburg vary widely. Figures for the strength of the Army of Northern Virginia range from a low of about 65,000 men of all arms to a high of about 75,000, while those for the Army of the Potomacvary between 80,000 and 95,000. On paper the total strength of the two armies was enormous: the Army of Northern Virginia officially had over 100,000 men in early June, and the Army of the Potomacnearly 200,000. But in practical terms, that is, men physically present, the Army of Northern Virginia apparently numbered about 77,000 men at the beginning of June, and the Army of the Potomac about 115,000-- plus about 13,000 cavalry horses, 7,000 artillery horses, and 9,000 horses and 22,000 mules to haul its 5,200 supply wagons and ambulances, roughly one for every 22 men. These are the strengths with which the armies began to march nortwards into Pennsylvania. But these are not useful figures. The rolls of both armies, and particularly the Army of the Potomac, counted great numbers of non-combatants. There were, in fact, several different ways which the troops could be counted. In the Union service these may be summarized as:

• Present: including all personnel for whom rations had to be issued
• Present for Duty: excluding personnel on sick call or under arrest, but including teamsters, hospital personnel, musicians, and other non-combatants
• Present for Duty Equipped: including only combat ready enlisted personnel and their officers. The Confederates did not use this category, referring instead to "Effectives," a figure which applied to enlisted men only, to the exclusion of officers, who could number up to 7% additional personnel.

Normally, accounts of Civil War battles rely for the numbers of troops rather heavily on the Union "Present for Duty Equipped" figures and a modified version of the Confederate "Effectives." However, this is not necessarily accurate, particularly as such figures are almost never available for the specific date of a battle. In the case of the Gettysburg Campaign, Union "Present for Duty" figures were reported on 30 June for most formations, while comparable Confederate figures are available for different units over the previous few days. Between the reporting dates and the battle itself, many men became stragglers, orther were sent off on detached duty, and some men took sick, while in some instances, additional men and units reported for duty. Upon including all of these changes, a new set of figures results , "Engaged" strength, personnel actually committed to combat, whether they fought or not.

This table compares the forces actually on the field during each day of the Battle of Gettysburg, including the cavalry action of 3 July. All figures are in thousands, and for each day take into account the forces which were on hand at the start of the day's fighting and those which arrived during it, with losses in parenthese. Losses are deducted from each day's total before the balance is carried forward to the next day. The US:CS figures give the ratio of Federal figures to those of the Confederacy.

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