On July 1, 1863, the bloodiest, most gruesome war in American History began. The Battle of Gettysburg was fought in the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Union Army under the command of General George G. Meade faced the Confederate Army led by General Robert E. Lee. They clashed for a long, tragic, three days, but at a costly expense of human life. The American Civil War was one of the most significant battles that the United States has ever been engaged in. On the lines, there were brothers lined up across from one another, fighting against each other. Over the course of the five years of war, a total of 620,000 American lives was lost. This was one of the most tragic events that our nation has ever been involved in, that our own people were killing each other for what they believe in. On the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, isolated units of the Army of Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia began to engage. Union General, John Buford, was in command of two brigades of cavalry. These were the first troops to arrive at Gettysburg. Upon arriving, Buford dismounted his troops on foot and set them up in a defensive position on McPherson’s Ridge. He knew that his troops could not hold off an attack from the Confederates, so “his main goal was to buy some time until the rest of the Union Army could arrive.” (Foster 1). A few skirmishes erupted and quickly became more and more intense. The next day, battles emerged all over the Union’s lines. One of the most
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 most decisive battle for the North, and it lasted for a total of three days. It began on July 1 and ended on July 3, 1863. The Confederacy was going on the offensive and was beginning to venture into Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Washington D.C. They encountered Union troops as they advanced towards Harrisburg where they planned to cut off Union supply lines and to steal provisions that they needed. The Battle of Gettysburg became the bloodiest multi-day battle ever fought in United States history. At the end of the Battle of Gettysburg, the Union claimed victory, and they would use this psychological advantage throughout the rest of the Civil War.
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.
The Civil War, composed of the Union run by numerous generals replacing one another, and the Confederacy lead by Robert E. Lee, was and still is one of the most gruesome wars in American History, and the Battle of Gettysburg is considered by most as an incredible turning point of the war. This is due to how the Union brought down the Confederacy’s winning streak, and gave the Confederacy a huge blow to their manpower, supplies, and overall strength to win (Battle of Gettysburg, 1). Robert E. Lee, though a great general throughout the Civil War, was a failure during the Battle Gettysburg because he was not able to get his men to their jobs done in time. Another reason he was a failure was because of his plan to attack again on July 3rd which
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, Pennsylvania was a major battle of the American Civil War. The Battle of Gettysburg was fought from July 1 to July 3, 1863 and is studied to be the most important commitment of the American Civil War. A hamlet, whose claim to fame was the convergence of several Pennsylvania roads, was about to become the most recognized battle site in the entire world. The Battle of Gettysburg was one of the turning points in the War Between the States. This battle was very tragic and had an impact on a lot of folk’s lives. There were many confederate and union soldiers that fought in the Battle of Gettysburg and many lives were put at risk. The southern states wanted to break away from the northern states but the north did not want them to. Robert E. Lee, a Confederate general, is widely respected for being a Civil War commander. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern
The first three days of July, 1863, the bloodiest battle of the Civil War was fought. During these three days, around 51,00 soldiers were killed, wounded, missing or captured between the Union and the Confederates troops. This battle was fought because 150,000 men fought for the rights and beliefs they stood for. For the first three days of July, the town of Gettysburg would change from a small town to the most famous ballet site during the Civil War. (Background Essay) Many people classify the battle as the turning point of the Civil War. Three main reasons that people call the Battle of Gettysburg the “turning point” in the Civil War were casualties, geography, and morale.
The Battle of Gettysburg was a short lived battle with tremendously tragic amounts of bloodshed and casualties. The physical battle, lasting the short span from July 1st to July 3rd 1863, is considered by many, the most significant and important battle of the American Civil War. Unfortunately what many consider the most significant battle of the American War was also indeed the bloodiest battle fought on American soil. Confidence can be to blame for the outset of this battle and how it began. In May of 1863, the Confederate army leader, Robert E. Lee was fortunate enough in Chancellorsville, Virginia when he and his army claimed the victory against the Army of the Potomac. Lee experienced a high of confidence from the victory, which ultimately
The bloody Battle in Gettysburg rages on with Robert E. Lee leading the Confederates to a loss. The key war was at Gettysburg it was good because it was not a capital and it was the turning point in the war for the Union. It was good for the North because they had the mountains, and we had the ground which made it ultra hard for the South to run uphill, shoot, reload, and do all that at the same time. The Union had the advantage at the war because they could rest most of the time and shoot when they saw the Confederates. The Confederates tried the cut the Union in half, through the mountain, then work one way destroying everything then the next way, but it failed to work out.
The Battle of Gettysburg took place in the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. John Buford led Union troops to Gettysburg and when he arrived him and his men were informed that the Southern troops that they were looking for had just left the town. This was the beginning of one of the bloodiest battles in all of history.
The Battle of Gettysburg first began as a “gentle” time period, where the marching soldiers from both armies would stop to peacefully gather cherries from the trees they would pass. These “peaceful” events didn’t last for a long period of time before the battle let loose. This battle was between two different types of people. In Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on July 3, 1863, the battle between North and South, Union and Confederates, had began. The South was going against the North, believing the government had too much power, which led them to secede. The Battle of Gettysburg was a major turning point during the American Civil War due to the numbers of casualties, the Gettysburg Address, and the geography of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
The Battle of Gettysburg is the most recognizable battle throughout the every other battle in all of the Civil War. It had the most casualties out of any battle within the Civil War with 46,000 to 51,100 people between both armies together. The Battle of Gettysburg took place on the third of the Civil War (Background Essay) and both sides of the war , The Union and The Confederacy, were in a deadly stalemate at the time. The Civil War was going on because the country was divided because of slavery and sectionalism. The South was pro-slavery because most of their economy depended on their slaves and the work they did on the plantations in the South. The election of Abraham
bloody and costly years for both sides we come to the date of July 1,
The conflict regarding the continuance of slavery, was the major cause of the Civil War. Lincoln stated the fact that we were in a “great civil war, testing whether this nation can endure”. One of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War occurred at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where approximately 8,000 Confederate and Union soldiers lost their lives. The nation was divided between the North and the South, this division had the potential to tear the nation apart. Fathers, sons, brothers, neighbors were fighting other fathers, sons,
The Battle of Gettysburg was a turning point in the American Civil War because the Confederate morale declined while the Union’s dramatically increased. “I have seen and heard