Brief History Of Gettysburg: The Battle Of Cashtown

Was the Battle of Gettysburg a sufficient enough victory to actually turn the tide of the Civil War? Was three days of fighting enough to make that much of an impact on a war that lasted two more years after this famous battle? Well that is what I will be discussing in this paper. I will be going over each day of the battle and how they ultimately led to a Union victory and a turning point in the Civil War.

Today, the Battle of Gettysburg is considered one of the most important battles of the American Civil War. However, with 23,049 casualties on the Union side and 28,063 on the Confederate side, it can also be considered one of the bloodiest (Civil War Trust). Such heavy losses naturally rattled the entire nation and Americans on both sides began to question the war and what it stood for. As Americans gathered together at the consecration ceremony of the Gettysburg National Cemetery, the much acclaimed orator and politician Edward Everett delivered what was meant to be the Gettysburg Address. Yet, today, it is not Edward Everett’s Gettysburg Address that the world remembers, but Abraham Lincoln’s, who was invited to the ceremony almost as an afterthought. Lincoln’s 272 words helped remake America by giving hope to its citizens at a time when they were at their lowest.

The Battle of Gettysburg was fought by the largest number of soldiers, totaling 172,000 young men (“American Civil War”). During the Civil War, our nation was divided by the North (Union Army) and the South (Confederate Army) for opposing viewpoints on slavery and states’ rights. The Battle of Gettysburg was fought over three long, arduous days. The soldiers struggled under their respected generals in a 25 mile battle zone (“American Civil War”). This battle was a triumphant victory and a heart-wrenching loss for the troops of the Yankee North and Rebel South. The complexity of the Battle of Gettysburg brought together two fronts whose decisions and commitment would determine its outcome.

The types of challenges that the Generals have faced during The Battle of Gettysburg are, location, following orders, and the weaponry. In a life or death situation, the position of where your men are stationed is crucial due to the fact if the opposite army crawls up behind or has the higher ground then there is a greater chance of getting murdered. General’s must accept the system that a more experienced General has stated and to not promote their individual procedures. Finally, the rifles, pistols, muskets, cannons and other artillery the Generals had to work with may have been difficult to shield or perform with. In conclusion, the Generals faced many complications when battling in the Battle of

This is a brief thought of the events that came to unfold. Some say that Gettysburg was the battle that stopped the confederate advance to the north. In addition, that Lee only wanted to take the battle out the state of Virginia that had been hit rather hard by the unions Army . In this review of the Battle of Gettysburg, we will discuss the key events that people believed that allowed the Union Armies to cause the retrograde actions of the confederate forces. In addition, what each side wished to accomplish. And how the wished to accomplish these tasked the imagined

Two hours later, General Meade ordered the First 11th Corps to Gettysburg with Major Reynolds to lead them on their way. Major Reynolds summoned Major General Abner Doubleday, who was acting commander of the First Corps at this time, to headquarters. Between the hours of seven and eight AM, they went over to inspect dispatches from General Meade and Buford. Major Reynolds also sent Captain Joseph Rosengarten, to tell the townspeople that there was to be a battle here soon, but instead of listening, they threw mud in his face. He briefly told Major Reynolds what had happened and he replied jokingly, “You must be mistaken; they have been throwing mud in your eyes.” (Pfanz,73)

Over the last 153 years Gettysburg, has moved from honoring those who fought and died during the battle at Gettysburg to preserve the battlefield. Gettysburg went through two phases of change. The first phase happened between 1863 –1938 and the second phase happened in 1938 when the War Department transferred the administration of Gettysburg to the National Park Service.

The Battle of Gettysburg was one of the most famous battles of the Civil War. The battle was fought from July 1 to July 3 near Gettysburg. The famous battle was between Robert Lee and his Northern Virginia Army and George Meade and the North's Army of the Potomac, The Union. The original leader of the Army of the Potomac was General Joseph Hooker, but President Lincoln relieved Hooker of his duties and named Meade the new General of the Army. Many soldiers died from both sides during this battle and that is the reason it is known as one of the bloodiest battles. The Battle of Gettysburg was General Robert Lee's second attempt at invading the North and there was a definite aftermath to this battle.

On the 19th, Lee and his forces retreated from the battle and returned to Virginia, slipping past the Potomac. After Lee withdrew his army back to Virginia, McClellan refused to pursue Lee further which led him to be removed from command by Abraham Lincoln. This Confederate retreat gave President Abraham Lincoln the “victory” he desired before issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. The bloodiest single day battle with a combined total of 22,717 casualties, finally concluded in a draw.

Late in the day, Major. General Ambrose Burnside’s corps pushed across a bullet-strewn stone bridge over Antietam Creek and with some difficulty managed to imperil the Confederate right. At a crucial moment, A.P. Hill’s division arrived from Harpers Ferry, and counterattacked, driving back Burnside and saving the day for the Army of Northern Virginia.

This battle in particular was the final of a succession of battles known as the Seven Days Battle, or the Peninsula Campaign. Over the course of the first six days General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate forces managed to hold off General George G. McClellan’s offensive on the peninsula in an attempt to take the confederate capitol in Richmond (Gabriel, 2011). On the night of June 30th General McClellan’s Army on the Potomac took its place atop Malvern Hill. After doing a hasty inspection of the area General McClellan left to board a gun ship approximately one mile north on the James River. He left General Fitz-John Porter in charge of the positon on the hill. Given the Advantage in terrain, General Porter Strategically placed his infantry in a U-shape with approximately 36 guns on the western and northern slopes of the hill. The Army had heavy artillery in reserve on the southern of Malvern Hill which consisted of 20 and 30 pound parrot rifles (Gabriel, 2011). This was a battle in which artillery played a very heavy role on both sides. Although the Union and Confederate were somewhat equal in numbers, communication proved to be key in the Unions favor. During Confederate attacks the Union laid down effective artillery gun fire that took many casualties. General’s James Longstreet and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson of the Confederacy constructed an excellent strategy where they would

This can easily be seen as the turning point of the war and was the most costly battle against General Lee. Throughout the battle on the third day they tried to take Culp Hill, but try as they might they were only beaten back and then beaten back again. A quiet then came over the battlefield as everyone regrouped and restrategized. That is when Lee’s hubris struck one final time. He demanded that General Pickett march fifteen thousand men to charge and try to take Cemetery Ridge at last. Longstreet once again found this to be completely insane and felt that this would only lead the men to slaughter, but the march to battle would go forward regardless. On the other side, some of the Union troops had been taken off of Cemetery Ridge, because they thought Lee would attack from the south and now on the ridge there were only 5,750 infantrymen stretched out along the half-mile front to face the 15,000 man Confederate

Hooker, to defend his headquarters, ordered Union forces off a hilltop called Hazel Grove, to form a defensive perimeter around his headquarters. While this decision enabled Hooker to consolidate his lines, Hazel Grove possessed a commanding view of the area and direct line of sight to his headquarters. Confederate artillery rapidly occupied the high ground and began shelling the Union headquarters building. A close shell impact rendered Hooker unconscious for over half an hour, which most historians believe was a concussion. The lack of a clear succession of command caused confusion amongst the officers in his headquarters. After resuming consciousness, General Hooker refused to relinquish control of the Army to any of his commanders, despite clearly being in an impaired state of

Dated July 18, 1864, the message from General Joseph E. Johnston, commander of the Confederacy’s army of Tennessee, spelled the downfall of Atlanta. For weeks Davis had watched Johnston’s operations in Georgia with mounting dissatisfaction (Wert 1). If the federals captured Atlanta, Southerners perhaps faced inevitable defeat. On July 10, the Yankees crossed the Chattahoochee River, forcing the Rebels to abandon their works North of the stream. The Chattahoochee was the last natural barrier between Sherman’s troops and Atlanta, which lay 6 miles from the river. Throughout these weeks, Davis and Johnston exchanged numerous telegrams concerning the conduct of the campaign. Neither man liked the other (Wert

An interesting turn of events would soon favor the Federal Army as General J.E.B. Stuart and his cavalry were north and east of Gettysburg causing a lot of fear in the North but consequently were not performing adequate reconnaissance, the result was that General Lee did not know where General Meade and the Army of the Potomac were or what their strength was (Freeman, 147). When Confederate General Henry Heth moved into