Gettysburg


 * The Battle of Gettysburg**

//Introduction 1. Generals in Battle 2. Day One 3. Day Two 4. Day Three 5. Picketts Charge 6. Events Following Gettysburg 7. The Gettysburg Adress//
 * //Table of Contents://**

In the middle of 1863, head Confederate general Robert E. Lee decided to move the Civil War to the North, after most of the war had been fought in the Confederate States of America (CSA). On July 1, in the small town of Gettysburg, PA, (population just over 2,000), Lee encountered a Northern brigade, and decided to attack them, then and there. It lasted three long, bloody days, but without a victory in Gettysburg, the North would have never won the war. At the time, neither the Northern or Southern men knew it, but when the battle that had just started was over, it would form into one of the bloodiest, but most pivotal battles in United States history.


 * GENERALS IN BATTLE: For the South, their leader throughout the second half of the war, Robert E. Lee, was the [[image:http://www.freeinfosociety.com/media/images/2273.jpg width="211" height="300" align="right" caption="George Meade"]]head of the army. Lee was certainly the best general that either side could have possibly had, as Lincoln asked him to lead the Union army before he decided to remain with his home roots and the Confederates. On the other side, the Northern head was general George Meade. The North had some major trouble finding a general that would win them battles, and it lost them valuable time to find Ulysses S. Grant to lead their army, as he was chosen behind many other Union leaders who did not win battles for the North. Meade, however, was the leader of the army of the Potomac for the North. He was never the General-in-chief of the Union army. **


 * DAY ONE**: On day one of Gettysburg, the Northern troops were simply outnumbered by the Southern ones. As shown in the picture of day one (North in blue, South in red), the North was pushed back through the town of Gettysburg. The army regrouped on Cemetery Hill, which proved to be a key spot for the North as it was the higher ground in the battlefield. Lee noticed this would make for trouble later, and thus ordered Confederate general Ewell to take the high ground while they had the advantage in manpower. Despite the order, Ewell hesitated long enough for the Northern side to regroup, and the golden opportunity was wasted as the North held position. When night arrived, Meade arrived with a huge number of reinforcements for the North. The night had come and strategies were being constructed. Meade chose to keep his high ground and wait for the Confederate's to attack them. On the other side of things, despite a statement from another Southern general, Longstreet, who said that the South should not fight in Gettysburg due to the disadvantage in elevation, Lee chose to stay as he thought that his army was invincible.

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 * DAY TWO:** Overnight, Lee chose to attack the Southern part of Cemetary Hill first. At 10am, he ordered Longstreet to attack the ridge. At first, however, similar to Ewell, Longstreet was hesitant. His attacks came at only 4pm, again strengthening the Union army. However, when Longstreet began his assault, some of the bloodiest fighting of the Civil War took place. Longstreet managed to take the Peach Orchard, but was then pushed back at Little Round Top. Later, at 6:30, Ewell attacked from the Northern part of the Cemetary Ridge again. He managed to take some of Culps hill, however after battling far into[[image:http://wpcontent.answers.com/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/Gettysburg_Battle_Map_Day2.png/350px-Gettysburg_Battle_Map_Day2.png width="245" height="374" align="right" caption="Day Two of Battle"]] the night, he failed again at Meade's base on the ridge. Fighting ceased at 10:30pm, and the South had made some progress, despite the North maintaining their position on the high ground. The Northern and Southern generals talked it over amongst themselves into the night. Longstreet //again// tried to convince Lee out of fighting any longer, but the head of the Southern army took the chance. The Confederates would go for a shot at winning the battle, and thus the Civil War at Gettysburg.


 * DAY THREE:** Lee decided to take one last charge at the middle of Cemetary Ridge. Overnight, it was planned, and general George Pickett would try lead a pack of Confederates to the epicenter of the Northern base. At dawn, however, Lee's plans were interrupted. The Union assaulted rebel troops from the northern part of the battlefield. Later, at 8am, the Confederates counter attacked the Union forces, but were fought off time and time again. Finally, the Federals pushed the Confederates back off Culp's Hill, and thus the Rebels regrouped at Rock Creek, in the southern half of the battle field. The Rebels then moved into position in the woods across from Meade and the North. Although Meade was expecting another Southern attack, he did not presume it to be from where it was. Most of the Union's men were in the southern area of the battlefield, where they thought the attack would come from. In the later part of the morning, Lee attempted to create a diversion which failed as Union General Cluster blocked it from going anywhere.


 * PICKETT'S CHARGE:** At 1:00 in the afternoon, Confederate cannons opened fire on Cemetery Ridge to clear the way for their soldiers. Then, at 2:30, the Union forces tricked the Confederates into thinking the Northern cannons had been shot out by Southern ones. However, the Yankees were using the trick to gather ammunition, and the South was drawn in . After an emotionally struck Longstreet told Pickett to advance, the leader of the charge shouted "Charge the enemy and remember old Virginia!", and it had begun. 15,000 strong, Rebels charged Cemetery Ridge, their desired destination. The climax of the battle was happening then and there, and their efforts would be known after as Pickett's Charge. The cannons the Southerner's thought were down destroyed the Confederate lines, ruining momentum, but Pickett continued to battle through[[image:http://www.usrarecoininvestments.com/images/coin_info/Commemorative/Gettysburg_Battle_Map_Day3.png width="280" height="427" align="right" caption="Day Three of Battle"]] the losses. They continued for a solid one mile before being pushed back at last by Federal forces. For a split second, the South had almost gained Cemetery ridge, but were soon pushed back by countless Northern reinforcements. The South retreated. The North won Gettysburg, and thus grasped momentum in the Civil War. Lee took the blame for the Northern loss, as 2,600 Confederates were left dead on the battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. In total, 51,000 people were down for both sides, around 32% of men for the Confederacy, and 27% of soldiers for the Union.


 * EVENTS FOLLOWING GETTYSBURG:** With the victory at Gettysburg, the North almost permanently grasped momentum in the Civil War. Lincoln was disappointed with Meade as he did not take the chance to win the Civil War right then and there, as it was possible that Lee would have surrendered directly after the battle. On July 5th, troops permanently left Gettysburg, as Lee's men finished crossing the Potomac River, moving back into Virginia. In November 1863, President Lincoln delivered his infamous Gettysburg Address. His speech lasted all but two minutes, and as time went on, his inspiring words went down into history books as one of the more famous speeches of all time. On April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered to the Northern army, and the Union finally took the war that most thought would be over in a matter of hours. Although the battle of Gettysburg was almost two years before this day, it goes down in history as being the battle that brought the North up the most in the war. If the Rebels had made some minor changes, no one knows what would have happened. The Civil War may very well have ended there on July 3, 1863 in Gettysburg.

It is important to keep in mind that these numbers are from the actual battle itself. They do not take into effect the missing, or deaths after the battle was over. Thus, when all was set and done, the number of killed, wounded, or missing was over 50,000 men.
 * CHART OF GETTYSBURG CASUALTIES:**
 * || North || South || Total ||
 * Day One || 5,500 || 5,250 || 10,750 ||
 * Day Two || 8,750 || 6,500 || 15,250 ||
 * Day Three || 3,450 || 7,000 || 10,450 ||
 * Combined || 17,700 || 18,750 || 30,150 ||

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. **  Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met here on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
 * THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS:

But in a larger sense we can not dedicate - we can not consecrate - we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled, here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but can never forget what they did here.

It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they have, thus far, so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." -Taken from www.americancivilwar.com

Bibliography: "Battle of Gettysburg." // The History Place //. The History Place, 1996. Web. 20 May 2010. .

"The Battle of Gettysburg Timeline." //Visit-Gettysburg//. Visit-Gettysburg.com, 1997. Web. 21 May 2010. .