Gettysburg Effects On The Civil War

The Civil War was fought between the Northern and Southern parts of the United States of America, since there were many disputes between the two regions. The war was fought from 1861 to 1865 to determine the survival of the Union or independence for the Confederacy. The Civil War was the deadliest war in American history. The north called themselves the union, and the south called themselves the Confederates. One of the deadliest battles of the Civil War was the Battle of Gettysburg.

The Battle of Gettysburg contributed to over 50 thousand soldiers either dead, wounded or missing. With the Battle of Gettysburg only lasting three days in duration that was around 16,500 soldiers a day losing their lives. The most casualties taken in any
battle in American history to date. The Battle of Gettysburg took place in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania from 1 July to 3 July 1863.

In June of 1863 General Robert E. Lee invaded the north. He and his 75,000 man unit started marching towards the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. General Lee had three subordinate commanders with in his unit, James Longstreet, Lieutenant General Richard Ewell and Lieutenant General Hill. Major General Joseph Hooker was the commander of the Union at Potomac at the time but was relieved of his duties by President Abraham Lincoln due to his lack of winning previous battles. He was replaced by Major General George Meade. Major General Meade commanded an army of over 97,000 men.

Leading up to the Battle in June the confederates entered into Maryland and Pennsylvania by crossing the Potomac River. General Lee formed his Army from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania to Harrisburg and Wrightsville along the Susquehanna River. General Hooker not being happy with the idea of using the army to defend the Harpers Ferry Garrison requested to resign. At that time President Abraham Lincoln was looking for any reason to replace General Hooker replaced him with General George Meade at that time on 28 June 1863. General Lee learned the union army had crossed the Potomac the same day. He then ordered General Hill’s army to Cashtown just west of Gettysburg.

General Hill ordered General Pettigrew to move towards the town of Gettysburg to gather information. He noticed that General Buford had a position west of Gettysburg. When General Pettigrew returned to Cashtown and informed General Hill of what he had seen, General Hill didn’t think that it was the Union Army. General Lee had ordered them to avoid any contact with the Union Army, disregarding the orders from General Lee, General Hill sent his army to gather more information on what General Pettigrew had seen.

On the 1st of July in 1863 General Hill's army advanced towards Gettysburg. General Buford noticed General Hill's army and realized that if they gained control, then General Meade's army would have a very hard time defeating the Confederate army. General Buford used Seminary ridge, Herr Ridge and McPherson, which was to the west of Gettysburg, to his advantage. The confederate army occupied positions at Culp’s hill, Cemetery Ridge and Cemetery hill, while General Hill’s army occupied two bridges. Generals James Archer and Joseph Davis were in charge of the bridges under General Hill’s command. Early that morning the two bridges occupied by the Confederate were attacked by the Union’s army. The Union’s army was pushed back towards McPherson ridge where reinforcements arrived. The fighting continued throughout the night.

On the 2nd of July, General George Pickett arrived. The Unions army took up positions from Cemetery Ridge, Cemetery Hill and Culp Hill. The Confederate army was in positions from Seminary Ridge to Culp Hill. General Lee emplaced General Longstreet’s unit on the left side of the Unions army, with the rest of his army attacking the middle of the Union’s Army. By doing this it prevented General Meade for sending reinforcements to his left flank. The unit that General Lee had sent to go around the Union Army was still missing. With the missing unit General Longstreet’s army was defeated.
On the 3rd day of the fighting General Lee continued to attack the union Army in the same manner as the day before and by attacking at Cemetery Ridge and sending General Ewell to attack Culp’s Hill.
General Longstreet was to attack the left flank of the union, however, that failed because the Union used cannons on them before General Longstreet could get his men ready. The Confederates attacked the Union with cannons as did the Union to the Confederates. In the early afternoon the fighting had stopped. Later the Confederates began to attack again by bombarding the Union with their cannons. Wanting to save on their ammunition for later battles the Union did not return fire. The Confederate attacks did not have the results on the Union they had hoped and unfortunately they had run out of ammunition. Once the Confederates ran out of cannon ammunition the Union started to fire and cause more damage than they had acquired. General Pickett made his last push at the Union army. It was call Pickett’s charge. 12,500 confederate soldiers started to advance towards Cemetery Ridge. He was trying to break through General Meade’s line. Pickett’s soldiers were charging through artillery and gun fire from the Union. When they finally reached the Union’s line, the Confederates had lost nearly half of their man power. With the lack of man power, they failed to break through General Meade’s line, and his attempt ended in disaster. By the end of the Battle of Gettysburg there was a considerable amount of lives lost on both sides. This battle has been credited for 28,000 Confederate and 23,000 Union
casualties.
On 19 November 1863 President Lincoln had given the Gettysburg Address. The Battle of Gettysburg was the biggest battle of American History and was the turning point of the Civil War. The Civil War ended in 1865 with many American lives lost but not wasted.