The Battle of Gettysburg: Turning Point of the Civil War Essay

Grant found a chance to beat Lee which ended up having to wait for the next day. Waiting another day really hurt Grant’s chance to win, so Lee also got a night to prepare for Grant. Lee had his men dig many trenches that were quite long. The Union could get to the Confederate’s trenches only in a few places which led to losing a lot of men. The Union ended up losing 1,845 people while the Confederates lost 788 people.

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 Fredericksburg started on December 11th and ended on December 15th 1862. The two generals that were a part of this war was general Robert E. Lee and general Ambrose Burnside. Burnside had a plan to cross the Rappahannock river at Fredericksburg in mid-November and race to the confederate capital of Richmond before lees army could stop him. But before Burnside could do that they had a problem which were pontoon bridges which gave lee enough time to move his army. They finally had time to build the bridges while they were under fire. While all that was happening the Union troops prepared to assault Confederate defensive positions south of the city and on a strongly fortified ridge just west of the city known as Marye's Heights.

As the Army of the Potomac held off the Confederates from attempting to make their way through the North, it was Mclellan’s last major battle while he was the commander of the Army of the Potomac. On November 9th, 1862, the Union decided to appoint Major General Ambrose Burnside. He was not in command for long because he didn’t shine in his opportunity against the Confederates in the Battle of Fredericksburg. After a crushing defeat at the battle of Fredericksburg, the Union made a quick change of command by appointing Major General Joseph Hooker. They thought he could get the Union to get back on a roll, but they thought wrong. Against General Robert E. Lee, the Army of the Potomac didn’t fare so well. With another wrong choice of a strong commander who could not lead them to victory, they hand picked Major General George G. Meade. He was picked only days before the most important battle in the Civil War at Gettysburg. While the Army of the Potomac was holding off the final push of the confederates into the North, Meade got his first victory under his belt as the Commander of the Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg. With this victory, the Union knew that Meade had the skills required to lead the Army of the Potomac. Meade and his army cruised to victory while handing the Confederates losses left and right. He later witnessed the surrender of Robert E Lee and his Confederate Army at Appomattox

Before this time the Union Command of the Army of the Potomac was plagued with unsatisfactory commanders, General McClellan who was removed from command due to his inability to agree with the War Department. General Burnside was only in command for a few months and had been relieved due to his inability to control the battlefield and take ground. General Hooker, who commanded the army for a short period of approximately six months and would resign due to his differences with Washington about personnel and supplies, he also failed to out maneuver and defeat an army that was only half the size of his at the battle of Chancellorsville. “The Battle of Gettysburg was largest battle in the Western hemisphere. Here, more men died than any other place in North America. Gettysburg was the turning point of the war. The casualties were so great that never again did the Confederate Army possess the moral and physical strength to invade the Union. ” This is why the victory at Gettysburg changed the course of the Civil

By late 1864, Richmond records said that the South had just over 400,000 soldiers and of that total, only 196,000 were counted as present and ready for duty. The battle of Gettysburg and the battle of Vicksburg is what I consider the major turning point of the Civil War. Gen. Robert E. Lee's defeat by the Army of the Potomac forced his Confederate forces to retreat and they never recovered. The battle of Gettysburg was a decisive point; Lee lost thousands of soldiers and officers he could not replace. Union casualties in the battle numbered 23,000, while the Confederates had lost some 28,000 men–more than a third of Lee’s army. The North rejoiced while the South mourned, its’ hopes for foreign recognition of the Confederacy diminished. The loss of Vicksburg split the Confederacy. This resulted in the inability to control the Mississippi River and prevented passage of supplies. President Abraham Lincoln knew why the battle of Vicksburg was extremely important when he told his subordinate leaders: "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." The Civil War continued for two more years. The South would win some battles but General Ulysses S. Grant was much more willing to take risks against Lee, which was not done before.

Decisive battlefield defect of his opponent on Northern soil might finally end the battle (Gottlieb pg 49). A major objective of the invasion was the collection of the foodstuffs, forage and livestock, and as soon as the rebels crossed the Pennsylvania line plundering began (Gottlieb pg55). It was probably on the evening of June 30 when Longstreet gave Lee another piece of information Joseph Hooker no longer commanded the army of the potomatic (Gottlieb pg

It's August 31st and the aftermath for the second battle of Bull Run starts now. The confederacy wins a fair match against the union called the Second Battle of Bull Run (Second battle of Manassas). The confederacy wins by general Jackson’s brilliant method for holding the stressful lines until Major general Longstreet comes. Therefore, he was also called “Stonewall” Jackson that day. John Pope, the union general, loses because of his hesitation to attack. General Longstreet marches in along with 25,000 other men to reinforce their counterattack. John Pope doesn't even realize that general Longstreet has arrived until it was too late. The union gets pushed further and further back up against the border of Henry House Hill. The union strongly

The Battle of Fredericksburg took place between December 11-15, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia. General Robert E. Lee commanded the confederate Army of Northern Virginia, while the opposition forces of the Union Army of the Potomac, were commanded by Major General Ambrose Burnside. The battle stemmed from a need for the Union Army to demonstrate some success in the war effort. The Northern public was currently losing confidence in Lincoln and his ability to win the war. Lincoln had replaced several of his top Generals in order to thwart the recent advances of the Confederate Army, which made significant advances during the fall. The battle is remembered as one of the most one-sided battles in the history of the war, being that the Union casualties would amount to more than three times that of the Confederates. When looking at the methodology Major General Burnside used to stage his troops and prepare his attack, we can assess why the number of casualties far surpassed that of the Confederates. Preparation, equipment, time and execution were the main factors which attributed to the failed campaign, ending with the withdrawal of the Union troops on December 15, 1862. The plan initially went awry after Burnside and his troops arrived to the Rappahannock and there were no pontoon bridges to cross the river, which were only requisitioned for 10 days prior. The equipment would eventually arrive two weeks later, giving General Lee

The Battle of Gettysburg, within the writings of Michael Shaara, is written in a narrative form retelling the events of the battle giving the reader the ability to visualize each scene as it unfolded in the past. The Battle of Gettysburg can be defined as the turning event during the Civil War. One of the bloodiest battles fought on American soil, Shaara explains the Battle of Gettysburg through the brutality the war brought. The Confederates fought on the offensive side and the Union defended the high ground. The foretelling of these events is told through the eyes and minds of the Generals, Colonels, and soldiers. In The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara explains in detail the plans, the execution of those plans, and how the soldiers reacted during each day. Shaara explains the means to which men will justify their actions during war to use tactics that show glory and how the idea of winning leads to a blindness towards other possibilities. He justifies this claim by giving an insight into the feelings and justification for the actions between the Union and the Confederates, the emotions of the Generals and Colonels to emphasize the reality of war, and the impact an offensive assault from the Confederates had on the morale of the Confederate and Union armies.

On September 17, 1862, the Union army attacked the Confederacy, with Union soldiers outnumbering Confederate soldiers 87,000 to 35,000 (Davis, 1999). Lee knew he was outnumbered, so he ordered Jackson’s two divisions to support Hood’s command on the Union left flank, while Walker supported the right (Cannon, 1994). McClellan’s battle plan consisted of simultaneous attacks from the left and right side, with a final attack to the Confederate center. Union Regiment commander Major General Brunside was late in initiating his attack, which threw off McClellan’s entire battle plan. The Confederate forces managed to stabilize their positon, while McClellan reassessed his position. He sent troops to attack the center of the Confederate army, despite staggering small arms fire (Stevens, 1994). The battle ended with overwhelming loses on both sides, leaving the soldiers broken and unmotivated to finish the battle (Davis, 1999).

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 Battle of Gettysburg happened after Lee won Chancelorsville. Lee went to Pennsylvania hoping to capture a northern city and re-supply his men. Lee also hoped to draw the Union men from the Mississippi River. On July 1, 1863 Lee sent Confederate General “Harry” Heth to Gettysburg to get shoes for his troops. Union General John Buford’s force was dug in at Seminary Ridge in Gettysburg. Heth came in contact with Buford’s scouts. The Confederates went up an unfinished railroad and arrived outside of town at 8:00A.M. The Confederates line was at Cemetery Ridge. After two hours of fighting Reynold’s Union force arrived on the scene. Reynold was killed by a Confederate sharpshooter almost as soon as he entered the battle field so Abner Doubleday took his place of command. Later the

The Battle of Gettysburg's resulted in a total count of “51,000 soldiers either being killed, wounded, captured, or missing in the three-day battle” (“Gettysburg”). The battle took place in Pennsylvania because Confederate General Robert E. Lee was coming from a victory at Chancellorsville. After this win Lee wanted to invade the north in order to take pressure off of the south, threaten northern cities, and subsequently diminish the north's spirit. His invasion lead Union General George Gordon Meade to stay in between Lee and Washington thus setting the stage for the battle of Gettysburg. It was one of the biggest turning points for the Union in the Civil War because the Union managed to win due to military strategies, and inflict heavy casualties (“Gettysburg”).

What was supposed to last 90 days, now dragged on for more than two years. It was apparent, now more than ever, that little was being accomplished but the taking of hundreds of thousands of lives. The war between the Union and Confederacy had been in a sort of deadlock where each side could claim victories as easy as defeats. By this time the south had the upper hand "militarily wise," just coming off a magnificent tactical victory at Chancellorsville in May. General Lee headed the Confederacy's, Army of Northern Virginia, General Meade headed the Union's Army of the Potomac. Both sides saw the need to win that one, crucial victory to turn the tide completely in their favor. They would get their chances at a small town in Pennsylvania. The