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 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
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
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 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
The Gettysburg Battle was known as the bloodiest battle during the Civil War, as millions of lives were lost on both sides of the nation. In 1863 the Confederate and Union armies, both with 75,000 men, marched to face each other. General Robert E. Lee was the General who commanded the Confederate Army, and George Meade was appointed on June 27 as the new Union army general. On June 30, the Union and the Confederate army readied themselves for the battle ahead.(Background Essay) Geography, casualties, and the morales aided to the belief that then Battle of Gettysburg was a time when the tide shifted in favor of the North.
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,
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 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 Battle of Gettysburg was the most important battle of the civil war. The Battle of Gettysburg would become the climatic conclusion for the Confederated that fought in the Civil War. What transpired in the three days of this battle has significantly influenced today’s society. Because of this battle, the Union gained their lead on the Confederate forces and won the civil war, which protected the county from falling apart and completing their ultimate goal. This goal was to preserve the Union. As Abe Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand”. What if the following events either did not happen or were twisted into different outcomes? Would our country be as it is today?
Americans had been engaged in a Civil War which had been begun in April of 1861 with shots fired on a fort in South Carolina. In the summer of 1863 in a small town called Gettysburg, there would be a fierce battle fought between the Union Army of the Potomac led by General George G. Meade and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia led by General Robert E. Lee. The events of the battle would overcome the losses suffered by the Union and put the Confederacy on the run. “Over 165,000 men would converge, and before the fighting ended, the ground would run red with blood. The battle was fierce, and the casualties proved it. But the casualties that resulted would not be in vain, at least for the Union; the formidable power
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.
bloody and costly years for both sides we come to the date of July 1,
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
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