Gettysburg Turning Point

The battle of Gettysburg took place over a period of three days, that is, from July first to the third, 1863. The battle is named after Gettysburg, Pennsylvania where it took place. What began as meeting engagement soon exploded into an all-out war fought by over 170, 000 soldiers (Drake, 1892). The battle is a significant part of American history as it marked a turning point in the long fought civil war and the fate of the United States. Also, the war resulted in one of the largest casualties in the entire civil war, as two of the most respected generals of the civil war era faced off, that is, Maj. Gen. George Meade who led the Union’s Army of the Potomac, against Gen. Robert E. Lee of the Confederate’s Army of Northern Virginia. Given the
Lee with his Army of Northern Virginia launched his second major invasion into a Northern State. Buoyed by his previous victory over the Union Army of the Northern territories, Lee hoped to capitalize on this momentum by launching another attack (Drake, 1892). His main agenda was to force the Lincoln administration to enter into a peace treaty. The Confederate States knew that they would not be able to get a decisive victory over the Union territory and a peaceful negotiation was the only way out; however, the Lincoln administration was not willing to negotiate in any way, although they were starting to get worried by the Confederate resistance especially after the attacks on the Northern
Henry Heth, sent over 7,000 soldiers down the Chambersburg pike en route to Gettysburg. They encountered fierce resistance and initially thought that it was the weaker Pennsylvania militia. In reality the resistance was coming from the Union forces that had been deployed as skirmisher in the outskirts of the town. Together with their new breech-loading carbines that had a fast loading capability, it created the impression that they were a much larger force slowing down their enemies’ march (Christensen, 2016). The confederate army, however, did not back down and followed the skirmishers along the river only to meet the Potomac Union forces. Only then did the Confederate Army realize that they were going to face a much tougher