The Civil War is arguably the bloodiest war to happen on United States soil; there were approximately 620,000 casualties, which was 2% of the population in 1860. Of the 50 major battles that occurred in the Civil War, the battle at Gettysburg was undoubtedly one of the most important. The battle at Gettysburg turned the tables of the entire war because the Confederacy lost their winning streak, suffered many casualties, and were forced to move the fighting back to southern soil. Despite being outnumbered by the Union, General Robert E. Lee and the Confederates managed to come out on top of every battle. This definitely boosted the confidence that the Confederate soldiers had; they felt unbeatable. The Confederacy won the First and Second Battles at Bull Run, and the battles at Shiloh and Chancellorsville. …show more content…
Because of this, Lee wanted to use Gettysburg to bring the fighting up to northern soil to prove that the Confederacy could win in the north. While this was a good thought, this backfired because he gave the Union home court advantage; they were more familiar with the land. Gettysburg was the farthest north battle fought in the Civil War (Document A). This showed that the Confederate loss was detrimental enough to send them back to the south with their tails between their legs. After the Battle of Gettysburg, in a letter to the president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, Lee attempted to resign: “I therefore, in all sincerity, request Your Excellency to take measures to supply my place” (Document C). Lee was discouraged by the loss to the point that he no longer wished to lead the Confederate soldiers. Although President Davis did not accept Lee’s request to resign, this was an amazing example of how the battle chipped away at the South’s confidence. How was the Confederate army supposed to keep their morale if their general’s faith in himself was in
In the battle of Gettysburg, strategies were an important factor. Both of the sides had very good strategies. The union’s plan was to attack the confederates out of nowhere. The south’s plan was to defend using their land. There were many advantages and disadvantages for both the union and the confederacy. The unions advantages were that they had better leadership, access to supplies because of their factories, and a bigger population. Their disadvantages were that they in unknown territory, and high pressure. The confederates advantages were home court advantage, they had a skilled army, and they had good terrain to help them. Their disadvantages were that they had a smaller population and they had lots of land to cover. In this battle the union won.
Lee was a large presence in the war, and he is arguably what held the Confederacy together. Robert E. Lee never started out in field command, but in the battle of Fair Oaks, Joseph E. Johnston was wounded and Robert E. Lee was finally given field command (Dowdey 2017). As Dowdey (2017) stated, “In three weeks he organized Confederate troops into what became the famed Army of Northern Virginia; he tightened command and discipline, improved morale, and convinced the soldiers that headquarters was in full command.” (Dowdey 2017). This is just an example of one of the simple things Robert E. Lee did to turn the tide of the war to benefit the Confederacy. With Robert E. Lee’s experience, he started to get results for the confederacy, even with his small army he still defeated forces that were much larger than his. As best said by Dowdey (2017) the best example of this is the battle of Chancellorsville (May 1–4, 1863), with his army outnumbered two to one, he defeated the enemies and achieved a momentous victory. He did this by breaking up his army and encompassing the enemy troops, this is considered one of the most audacious moves in military history (Dowdey
But the believed to be true story is that the south wanted to invade Gettysburg to scare large cities such as Harrisburg, Philadelphia or the capitol. The main objective for gettysburg was to stop forward momentum. If they stopped the forward momentum the attack would be impossible after pickett's charge. Lee was unsuccessful at gaining the upper hand at Gettysburg. They were to low on morale. The deaths that the North had to deal with was less traumatizing for the soldiers they lost more men and they had a bigger army. This would require confederate soldiers to retreat putting them on the defensive end of the war. Since there armies are now crippled from losing so many men this gave the union the ability to
In the last two sentences of the Gettysburg address was meant to inspire both sides to agree to build a new nation, where all men should be equal. Moreover, it honors the fallen soldiers and their sacrifice was not in vain. Therefore, it calls for a new beginning with no slavery, inequality, and prejudice. The unfinished work for the generations to come, and they would fight for liberty to preserve the Union. A nation where no liberty exist shall soon perish from the earth.
Words matter, they make a difference, they leave a mark. The words that left a mark, made a difference, mattered the most, was the Gettysburg Address. A two-minute, two hundred and seventy-two-word speech, a hundred and fifty years ago. Our fathers wanted everyone to be created equal. President Lincoln followed that vision.
The Battle of Gettysburg is considered a turning point. For the rest of the war Lee was on the strategic defensive, forced into the war of attrition he feared and eventually cornered in an unwinnable siege around Richmond. The Battle of Gettysburg was a decisive victory for the Union. Tactically it may have seemed about even. Both armies lost about the same number of men, and Lee kept his army on the field until the evening of the day after the battle, waiting for a counterattack by Meade which never came. But Meade's larger army could better afford the losses. All eight of Lee's Infantry Divisions lost about a third of their strength, while Meade's largest Army Corps was virtually untouched. Lee was almost out of Artillery ammunition, while Meade had enough for another battle. Also Meade had no need to throw himself into a dangerous counterattack; time was on his side as Union reinforcements moved to surround Lee, deep in enemy territory with no hope of
What was so important about the Battle of Gettysburg was that during the Civil War General Lee attempt to penetrate northern boundaries so he could draw the attention away from the Union defenses. He wanted to manipulate his way around the Yankees so he could have a final battle on s ground of his choosing on Northern territory. Lee's Army as well trained as he believed they were could not outdo the Union Army and their numbers.
Three hot summer days in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania filled with blood, death, and strategy that would never be forgotten. That’s what took place on a battlefield between two sides known as the Confederates and the Union. Not only was there many casualties for both the Confederates and the Union but this is a battle that would go down as the bloodiest battle in American History. The Battle of Gettysburg, fought in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was crucial in shaping the future of the United States and is widely considered the most important battle of the Civil War because it paved the way to the defeat of the Confederacy.
Lee's armed force, subsequently, solidly trusted that on the off chance that they experienced the Federals on generally parallel terms they would win. The Battle of Gettysburg, which brought about fundamentally the same setbacks on both sides, demonstrated to Lee and his armed force that the Federal armed force was willing to cause any level of misfortunes so as to stop the Confederates, and this acknowledgment gave a mental stun to the Confederates, a critical defining moment in their confidence in their power.
The Battle of Gettysburg is considered to be the turning point of the Civil War. Sadly, the Battle of Gettysburg was the battle that involved the highest amount of casualties in the entire war. The battle was fought from July 1-July 3, 1863. The Union force that was at Gettysburg was Army of the Potomac, and was lead by General George Meade. General Meade had never led an Army and had just received this position right before the battle began. Leading the Confederate Army of Virginia was General Robert E. Lee, who lead his Army to multiple victories before the Battle of Gettysburg. This critical battle resulted in an Union victory, but at a very severe cost, as both sides suffered a total of 46,281 casualties. The victory
bloody and costly years for both sides we come to the date of July 1,
The Battle of Gettysburg was clearly one of the biggest battles in the Civil War. General Robert Lee led his Northern Virginia Army to victory at Chancellorsville and was feeling a great deal of confidence ("Battle of Gettysburg"). He then decided with this confidence he would try a second attempt at invading the North. The reason Lee took his troops north was because he wanted to take the pressure off of the Virginia farms. Lee also thought that if he won any battles on northern territory, that it could possibly put pressure on President Lincoln to settle the war ("History Place - Battle of Gettysburg").
The beginning of the campaign of Gettysburg began after Lee won in Chancellorsville. He knew that if the South were to win a decisive battle in the North then European powers might shift in favor of the South and they might begin helping them. Lee also needed supplies and food for his army which the North had plenty of.
To start with, The Civil War lasted from 1861 until 1865 and became the deadliest war in United States’s history. This war was one composed of an enormous amount of battles fought all over the United States. The majority of the battles were fought in the Confederate States in the South. The most famous battles of the Civil War were the battles of Antietam, Vicksburg, Bull Run and Gettysburg. All the battles of the Civil war caused roughly 620,000 soldiers to die and 644,000 soldiers have died in all other conflicts of the nation. Therefore, the Civil War is by far the deadliest war in U.S. history.
E Lee’s first major victory in the northern states, meant as a sign of strength. And if he would have had his victory, it is theorised that the southern states would have gained confidence and would have therefore become a stronger army, while the northern states would have probably lost strength and the standing of the war would be much different . Instead the exact opposite occurred as the northern states became stronger and began pushing the confederate army further south and in April 1865 in a battle at Appomattox Lee was finally brought down by the northern forces and the war was considered