Gettysburg Artillery Analysis

During the Revolutionary War, the Artillery assets that were available were a combination of cannons, mortars and howitzers. There were two types of cannons used at this time. The Field Guns, which were lightweight and easier to move, and the Siege Guns, which were much heavier and less mobile. The cannons utilized

Both armies suffered about the same losses. The 3 groups that make up the total casualty numbers are the killed, wounded and missing. The North had a total of 23,040 casualties and the South had between 20,000 and 25,000 casualties(Document A). Even though the casualties were about the same, it affected the South way more because the North had a much larger supply of men to replace the casualties, the South didn’t. The North had more than 3 times the size of men as the South. At the end, both sides lost nearly the same amount of men. The North started with thousands of more troops than the South. Therefore, compared to the North, the South was very very small. This evidence shows that the numerous losses was a reason that the Battle of Gettysburg was a major turning point of the Civil War because the South couldn’t afford to take another major loss of men without knowing they were going to lose and that they would not have enough men to

     At the beginning of the battle, there were approximately 75,000 Confederate troops and the Union had approximately 97,000. By the end of the third day, there were about 51,000 Confederate and Union soldiers left dead or wounded. Pickett’s Charge has become known worldwide due to the amount of Confederate soldiers involved. In the charge itself, about 15,000 soldiers crossed a mile wide valley towards the Union lines only to be killed or captured when they arrived. The Battle of Gettysburg gave

“It was not war-it was murder” (M.G. D Hill 1862). July 1st 1862, held one of the bloodiest battles during our civil war. Throughout the battle we have learned the importance of understanding your terrain and surroundings. Confederate also realized the relevance of controlling Malvern Hill from a military stand point. Throughout the mistakes of this battle it has taught us over time better ways to communicate, emplace, and maneuver artillery units as a whole. This battle plays a key role in the advancement of our military tactics and execution in the ways that we use artillery today.

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

At this point in the Battle of Gettysburg, both North and South sustained large numbers of casualties. The Southern casualties roughly totaled 7,000 of 22,000 troops. The North suffered even more by losing 15,000 soldiers. Both sides needed to re-evaluate their battle strategies. Lee thought victory for the South was possible with better timing and artillery. Conversely, Meade and his other Union generals decided to stay in their current position and continue the battle (King 22).

The three-day Battle of Gettysburg, starting on July 1st in 1863, would be known to be one of the most memorable and important battles in history. It would become the major outcome of the Civil War. The day of the outburst of the Battle of Gettysburg was a hot humid day on the first of July. It was between two sides. One side was the Union, which was the Army of Potomac Commanded by General George G. Meade, along with other notable commanders such as John F Reynolds, Winfield Scott Hancock, Daniel E. Sickles, George Sykes, John Sedgwick, Oliver O. Howard, Henry W. Slocum, and Alfred Pleasonton (“Battle of Gettysburg,” 2016). The other side was the Confederate Soldiers called the Army of Northern Virginia who was commanded by General Robert E. Lee, along with other notable commanders as well, which were James Longstreet, Richard S. Ewell, A. P. Hill, and J.E.B. Stuart (“Battle of Gettysburg,” 2016). Between these two sides, the Army of Potomac had a great advantage with 93,700 men and 372 guns, while the Army of Northern Virginia were outmanned and outgunned with only 70,100 men and 280 guns. The Army of Potomac’s mission was to defeat the Army of Northern Virginia as well as to make sure Washington, D.C. remained safe. It may seem like the Army of Potomac would be the clear winner at the Battle of Gettysburg yet the Army of Northern Virginia had a strategy that would help to attempt to beat the Union which was to go on the aggression and confront them. This would

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

The Battle of Gettysburg was the turning point of the American Civil war. General Robert E. Lee was the commanding officer of the Confederate army. During the battle of Gettysburg Lee’s military strategy was to fight offensive. Lee’s goal during the battle was to seize the high ground and out last the union army. The Union army had outnumbered the Confederate soldiers. General Lee’s first hand man was General James Longstreet. Longstreet believes the new technology in warfare would make attacking the Union army bloody for the Confederate soldiers. Longstreet suggests to Lee that defensive warfare tactics such as using trenches and rocks for cover and concealment would be the Confederacy’s best fighting chance. Lee denies Longstreet’s ideas and continued with the plan to fight out in the open and attack the enemies head on. After three days of fighting the Confederate army lost the battle at Gettysburg. Lee’s tactical approaches that led to this lost included the lack of communication and the absence of and with General J.E.B Stuart, Lee’s continuation to pursue offensive attacks and Pickett’s charge.

Around noon, Union and Confederate cavalry troops battled three miles east of Gettysburg but Stuart was eventually repulsed by cannon fire led in part by Gen. George Custer and the Union Cavalry. The diversion attempt failed. Back at the main battle site, just after 1 p.m. about 170 Confederate cannons opened fire on the Union position on Cemetery Ridge to pave the way for the Rebel Charge. This was the heaviest artillery barrage of the war. The Federals returned heavy cannon fire and soon the battlefield was covered in smoke and dust. Around 2:30 p.m. the Federals slowed their rate of fire, then stopped firing, to conserve ammunition and to fool the Rebels into thinking the cannons were knocked out-and that's exactly what the Rebels thought too. But as the Rebels got within range, Federal cannons opened fire using grapeshot which is a shell containing iron balls that flew apart when fired, and they also used deadly waves of rifle fire. Soon the Rebel army was torn apart but they still moved forward. Pickett’s charge was almost more after the once majestic army of 13,000 had its numbers of troops dwindle.. The Rebels still move forward, shooting then charging with bayonets. The battle lasted for about an hour mostly of hand-to-hand combat. Finally what was left of Pickett’s charge (5,500) retreated. Lee admitted this was his mistake and the tide of war now turned in the North’s favor. The Union lost (either dead, wounded, or missing) about 23,000, and the Confederates lost about

The battle of Gettysburg took place between July 1st - 3rd 1963. In the May of 1963 Lee had been given the go ahead for a north invasion. Lee hoped that a victory in the north would help increase the peace movement which was gathering some support there. This, along with the weakening of the Union army, may initiate talks of surrender by the Federal Army. On June 30th come of the Confederate army marched into the town of Gettysburg but wee driven back by a Union cavalry which was already there. So, the next day the Confederates attacked with more force, with troops from the wast, north and east. This drove the Union army back and up onto Cemetery Hill. This however, resulted in giving the Union a good position for defence. On July 2nd Lee ordered more attacks and an attempt to storm Cemetery Hill. This was unsuccessful, but resulted in 9,000 casualties. At 1.00pm on July 3rd Confederates opened fire on the Federal line and major duel continued for two hours. Then the infantry moved forward which is known as "Pickett 's Charge" . The Confederate army was driven back and the battle was considered a Union victory. The battle left the Confederates with around 28,000 casualties and the Union with

It is our duty, as soon to be Second Lieutenants in the Army, to learn from history. Learning from mistakes in the past is necessary to understand the responsibilities we will soon have. The Battle of Gettysburg shows prime examples of the nine principles of war: Objective, Offensive, Mass, Economy of Force, Maneuver, Unity of Command, Security, Surprise and Simplicity. In the military today, we are overwhelmingly blessed with every asset that we have including technology and monetary resources the list could go on forever but the most invaluable asset is history. Although all nine principles of war are pertinent to success on the battlefield, only five will be discussed in this analysis.

The movie Gettysburg begins on the notion of how the Army of Northern Virginia, led by General Lee and the Army of the Potomac led by General Mead converge onto Gettysburg to battle. Lee has the knowledge that a letter has been drafted by the Southern government; one that offers peace but only to be given to Lincoln once Lee destroys the Army of the Potomac. Gettysburg is where they shale meet, where the war will be decided. The filmmakers set this theme of the movie right out the gate when Colonel Chamberlain tell his regiment “I think if we lose this fight, we’ll lose this war”; even though not one bullet or shell has been fired. Another theme this movie portrays the test of manhood. For example, General Lee is described as an intelligent,

The first source, a website artice from History.com: “Battle of Gettysburg” was published in 2009. There is no specific author but it is generalized as the History.com staff. History.com was founded in 1951 and has been recording and providing information since then. It can be trusted because there are many historians who work and are constantly updating this website and they also allow you to contact them if you believe something is inaccurate. One limitation of the origin is that there is no direct author listed.The purpose of this source is to provide the reader with information on the Battle of Gettysburg and how it impacted the American Civil War. It also provides the war tactics that each side used in this Battle for the reader. This source’s content is focused around the facts and details on why it was the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War and how it lead to the Union victory. One limitation of the content used in this

In total, there were over 370 Union Army artillery units at Gettysburg during the battle on November 19th, 1863 (Newton, 2005). This gave the Union Army a stout advantage over the Confederate Army, who only had about 280 artillery unit’s available (Newton, 2005). Of the different pieces used, the 12 pound smooth bore Napoleon was the most common. With a range of 1,300 yards, this artillery piece was used for direct fire on enemy troops and advancing artillery (Newton, 2005). In most cases, the Napoleon used a canister shot, which consisted of one round and one charge (Newton, 2005).When massing artillery fires on enemy artillery, it was common for artillery sections to use a double canister, a canister with two rounds and one charge (Newton, 2005). This was done to increase the chance of critical damage to enemy pieces. Often times when engaging enemy artillery directly, Union artillery would focus the battery on one enemy piece at a time, using the double canister (Newton, 2005).