Lee Turning Point

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’s background supported his view of the United States. In the text Grant and Lee A Study In Contrasts by Bruce Catton it states on page 96 ”Lee was born privileged and and believed the upper class had strength and virtue.”He maybe thought full and high of himself. Lee was from Virginia and had old aristocratic concepts and was born privileged which gave him a better start in life in the beginning. Also in the text it states “Lee saw himself in relation to his own region.” Lee might’ve agreed to all the rules and all of his region because men were willing to die for Lee's beliefs. Lee's background supported his view of the United States because he was born

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).

Robert Edward Lee was born in Stratford, Virginia on January 19, 1807 to an aristocratic family. His parents both played a major role in Lee’s success. His mother Ann Hill Carter descended from a wealthy family while his father Colonel Henry Lee, served as a cavalry leader during the Revolutionary War. At a young age his father passed away, and his leadership roles were challenged. He was one of the six men in his family and had to help support the household. At eighteen he attended West Point MIlitary Academy, where he excelled in artillery, infantry and cavalry. Shortly after his mother’s passing in 1829, Lee was appointed to second lieutenant in the U.S. Military Corps of Engineers. He began courting Mary Curtis who is a member of the Virginia’s aristocracy. After getting Mr. Curtis’s approval they get married and have seven children together.

When Lee headed North and started invading he had been checked again at Gettysburg. The assault was called Pickett's Charge that had a wide spread which cost the South badly. The musket was replaced by the rifle which made attacks much more hopeless. Lee had failed to notice how well the effect was. Lee fought again to try and regain power back but could not succeed. President Davis wanted Lee to become general in chief in the confederate armies. By that time had come around the Confederates had lost the war. Many people had thought that Lee was to bloody minded for wanting to keep fighting and keep putting his army on the line. Lee did not want to accept that he had lost. People say what the mind knows the heart might not except. He was not alone when he was fighting, his crew was fully ready to fight with him until they ended up having to surrender. After the war was all over he became president of Washington College. “He applied to have his application restored but his application was [lost]” (History www.history.com). Lee had died in 1870 of heart disease. His last words were “strike the

In life we all want to see things as black and white, cut and dry, and easy to understand. This is not the case with Robert E. Lee. He was smart, loyal and above all, complicated. We like to make him out as some old general guy who fought for the South in the Civil War. Eventually lost at Gettysburg and because it was the turning point of the Civil War; he became famous for losing. He is a lot more than just that. He was an actual person who, from his birth up to his death, dealt with real life situations.

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

The battle of Gettysburg gave the Union the upper hand because the Confederates retreated from Gettysburg. When the south retreated to Vicksburg this presented another opportunity to the north to take that as well. Lincoln says, see what a lot of land these fellows hold, of which Vicksburg is the key! The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket...We can take all the northern ports of the Confederacy, and they can defy us from Vicksburg.

Despite the mistakes his father and brother made, Lee managed to grow learning the ways of a true Southern gentleman. The departure of his father and two older half-brothers made Lee the man of the house at an early age. His mother, Ann Carter, raised Lee in modest circumstances and helped him to learn standard of conduct. Lee grew up in modest conditions, and though he received the normal education for someone of his class, he had to earn his own living and didn’t live the easy-going plantation life that most members of his family did. Since his mother did not have sufficient cash to send Lee to go to college, he chose instead to enter West Point military and academy. He entered in 1825 at the age of 18. At West Point Lee excelled tremendously. He finished second in his class and didn’t receive one demerit during his four years there (A feat that has yet to be repeated since then). Lee entered Engineer Corps after graduation where he was employed to build and maintain military installations and assist the Federal Government in the enormous work of providing internal improvements in order to settle border disputes on the frontier lands.

In 1859 Lee, accepted a position at a cavalry outpost in Texas. In October of that year, Lee was summoned to put a revolt led by John Brown at Harper's Ferry. Lee's attack took just a single hour to end the uproar. His quick and easy victory at Harper's Ferry brought him much attention from displaying the leadership and the strategic mind he possessed. This made him a good candidate to lead the Union. Lee's character showed when he turned down an offer from Abraham Lincoln to command the Union forces. He said no because he was committed to his home, Virginia. Lee resigned from the military and returned home. Lee also was not a big fan of focusing the war on the slavery issue. When Virginia seceded from the nation, Lee did along with it. Lee took control of the Army of Northern Virginia where he drove back the Union Army in the Seven Days Battle. Later that year, he gave the Confederacy yet another victory at Second Manassas. Lee and his men did face defeat and loses referring back to the battle of Antietam. There they tried to cross the Potomac, barley escaping from one of the bloodiest battles in the war. Nearly 14,000 of his men were captured, wounded or killed. Lee's forces had another crushing defeat at the Battle of Gettysburg. This battle almost completely destroyed his army. Ulysses S. Grant had gained the upper hand when he won over the majority of Richmond. A reluctant Lee surrendered to Grant at in

A major aspect of the lives of both Lee and Grant was their education and training. Both men grew up with difficult childhoods that developed the course of the rest of their lives. Lee was from the first family to settle in Virginia and lived on a wealthy tobacco farm, until his father carelessly blew the family fortune on minor

Robert Edward Lee was born on January 19, 1807 in Stratford, Virginia. When he joined West Point, he graduated second in his class and had a demerit free record (Pryor). After he graduated from West Point, he enrolled into the Army in the Mexican American War. Once the Civil War came across America, Lee took the position as a general for the Confederacy. He proved to be a worthy general by winning the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Seven Days Battle, and was almost victorious in the battle of Gettysburg (Emery 94-100). Because of Robert E. Lee’s military accomplishments in the Civil War, he became one of America’s most outstanding generals.

The battle of Gettysburg was fought from July 1 to July 3 in 1863. The army was a tough time for soldiers and a bloody war. Robert E.Lee was the general of the northern Virginia Army. The general had a huge victory in resent war between him and Potomac. Because of this win the general was feeling confident he could win the war of Gettysburg.

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

Lee. Lee was a confederate general fighting for Virginia(Crawley 1). Lee Didn’t even like slavery, in fact he thought it was un moral(Woodsworth 1). He only fought for his duty to Virginia(Woodworth 1). Lee was born January 19, 1807 in Stratford Hall, VA, and died in 1870 from a heart attack(Crawley 1). The north was scared of Lee, Even though he was outnumbered he won many battles.