Imagine yourself on a plain field, covered in blood, dead people all around you, and one of them could be your best friend or even your brother. This was the Battle of Gettysburg. Americans were engaged in a Civil War which had begun in April of 1861 with shots fired at Fort Sumter by the Confederates. On July 1, 1863, three years into the war, in a small town called Gettysburg, there was 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. Which resulted in a major win for the Union Army after losing many battles. About 50,000 men were killed, wounded, or went missing in the three day long battle. After the fighting ended, the …show more content…
The map, Major Campaigns of the Civil War, shows that most of the military campaigns took place in Confederate territory. And, the arrows representing the Union campaigns tells us that the Union Army was attacking the Confederate Army. But, then the Confederates when on a campaign in the Union territory, as shown by the arrow representing Confederate campaigns. Therefore, the map helps to explain why the Battle of Gettysburg was a turning point in the war because Robert E. Lee attacked the Union Army in the North. They were first defending the Confederacy from the Union attacks meant to abolish slavery in the states that seceded from the Union. But, then Robert E. Lee attacked the Union Army at Gettysburg, since it was near Washington D.C., the capital of the …show more content…
The data provided in the table, Estimated Casualties at the Battle of Gettysburg, shows three groups that make up the total casualty numbers, killed, wounded and missing. The Union Army lost about a total of 23,040 troops and the Confederate Army lost about a total of 20,650-25,000 troops. Out of the total Union casualties about 3,155 men were killed, 14,530 men were wounded and 5,365 went missing. And, out of the total Confederate casualties about 2,600-4,500 troops were killed, 12,800 troops were wounded and 5,250 went missing. Adding on, the Union Army lost about 27% of their troops at the Battle of Gettysburg, while the Confederate Army lost 30%-34% of their troops. Furthermore, the data found in the table, Gettysburg Casualties Compared to Overall Troops and Men Available, shows that the total size of the Union Army on December, 1863, five months after the Battle of Gettysburg, was about 918,000 troops. While, the total size of the Confederate Army was about 278,000 troops. Also, the North had a total of about 6,000,000 men of military age to fight in the war if needed and the South had about 1,200,000 men of military age to fight to fight if required. Additionally, in Robert E. Lee’s July 4, 1863 letter to President Jefferson Davis, Lee writes, “our own loss has not been light.” He further goes on to state the generals that were casualties in
Quite a number of the Confederate’s generals were hurt, dead, or dying which made Lee one of the few generals who were capable of leading the army. In a letter to Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederates, Lee requested him to replace him as general. Document C explains that Lee felt like he not only failed the South, but he also failed himself when he lost The Battle of Gettysburg. Document C states, “I therefore, in all sincerity, request Your Excellency to take measures to supply my place. I do this with the more earnestness because no one is more aware than myself of my inability for the duties of my position” (277).
“On the afternoon of July 2,1863, the second day at Gettysburg, Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain led the 20th Regiment Maine Volunteers, fewer than 500 officers and men, up the steep slope of Little Round Top and into the pages of history.” ( Longacre ) . In May 1863, Gettysburg began with General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia's second invasion of the North. On its second day, Lee ordered an attack on the Union army just south of Gettysburg. By the third day, the Confederate army was forced to retreat back as a result of a failed Pickett’s Charge.
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On July 2, 1863, which was the second day of fighting at Gettysburg, we attacked Wilcox’s Alabama Brigade under General Winfield Hancock’s orders. There were 5 to 1 odds against us. We kept the Confederates off of Cemetery Ridge. About 215 people died, including our commander Colonel William Colvill, and our flag fell 5 times. We were reinforced by Company F the next day.
Gettysburg was the largest battle ever in North America; 165,000 troops fought there. A desperate frontal assault led by Major General George E. Pickett failed to break Union lines on July 3, and Lee, having regretted ordering
The number of casualties are based off of the amount of soldiers killed, wounded, and missing. The total number of casualties for the war is at least 43,040, But the total amount of soldiers total before the war was 7,200,000. This document goes to show that the Battle of Gettysburg was incredibly bloody and that this was one of the bloodiest battles in
The battle was fought from July 1 to July 3, 1863. Gettysburg Battle had happened because of General Robert E. Lee who began a second invasion of the North when he crossed into Pennsylvania. This was the second invasion because
Lee had the intention of drawing the Union’s men out into the open, and having his army attack them right then and there. As Lee and his army approached Gettysburg, Lee became aware that there was a shoe factory nearby, and that most of his army did not have shoes, so they started heading to the shoe factory. Little did they know, the factory was crawling with Union soldiers. The Union and Confederate fired shots at each other for three days, resulting in a rough estimate of 50,000
In the end the South lost about roughly twenty-one thousand men. While the North lost about roughly twenty-three thousand men. The Battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle in the Civil War because of multiple reasons. The first reason is because of all the casualties on both sides. In total they lost over forty-four thousand men in just one battle.
Without the happenings of this last day, the Union may not have ever won. Detail: Early on the morning of July 3, Union forces of the Twelfth Army Corps pushed back a Confederate threat against Culp’s Hill after a seven-hour firefight and regained their strong position. Believing his men had been on the brink of victory the day before, Lee decided to send three divisions (preceded by an artillery barrage) against the Union center on Cemetery Ridge. Fewer than 15,000 troops, led by a division under George Picket, would be tasked with marching some three-quarters of a mile across open fields to attack dug-in Union infantry positions. -(History.com)
Lee’s plan was to take 60,000 troops north and take out as many military targets as possible. As his troops traveled north they collected various supplies from every farm and town they came across which strengthened his cause. His main goal was to head to the largest cities in the North which would greatly decimate the northerner’s capability and spirits. While traveling Major General George Meade was positioning his troops between Lee’s troops and the Capital until General Lee learned of his in Pennsylvania. This quickly prompted his attack on Gettysburg where on the first day 50,000 soldiers clashed in battle killing or injuring over 15,000.
Losses because the South lost more soldiers than the north. For these reasons Gettysburg was a major turning point in the Civil
This battle took away many soldiers in different ways. Some were killed, some were wounded, and some even went missing. Around 43,000 casualties overall were at the Battle of Gettysburg. 23,000 for the Union and 20,000 for the Confederates according to (Doc. B). By the end of this battle a lot of both sides armies’ were decreased in size.
The Battle was fought on July 1-3, 1863 near and in the small Pennsylvanian town of Gettysburg. This Battle involved the most amount of casualties in the entire Civil War. The Union had both Generals George G. Meade and John F. Reynolds while the south only had Robert E. Lee as their commanding general. Small groups of both of the armies found each other at Gettysburg on July 1st. When news made it back to General Lee, in just a matter of hours, Lee moved a large sum of his troops to attack the Union head on.
The confederacy, led by Robert E. Lee, suffered more of a loss even though they had less casualties then the union, having 10,320. Oh those casualties, 1,550 died, 7,750 injured and 1,020 missing. just from 6 to 10 am, over 8,000 confederate soldiers had died. (education-portal.com) The north won and it was the bloodiest single day in American history.