Battle of Gettysburg Essay Example

Selected Views of the Battle of Gettysburg On July 1st of

1863 the battle of Gettysburg began. The battle was more

less an unexpected disaster; neither side had planned the

battle they ended up in the same place and the battle

begun. There where many wounded and many casualties.

Much like the final battle in The Red Badge of Courage

when most of Henry's regiment is wiped out by a daring

charge. This charge leads to the downfall of the

Confederacy as well as the fall of Henry's regiment. 3 days

before the battle of Gettysburg the Union replaced General

Hooker with General George G. Meade. The Battle lasted

for 3 long bloody days. The Confederate army took heavy

casualties causing this fight to be a major turning point in the

war. Although the union was losing the war up to this point

and out number 75,000 to 97,000, they still managed to

win this crucial fight. "This was the bloodiest battle in the

American history, on American soil"

(tqjunior.advanced.org). On the first day of the battle not

much fighting took place, not all of the army was there from

either side. It seemed the Confederacy had the upper hand

at first because they had twice as many men as the union in

the beginning of battle. But the Union had the new

repeating rifles that reloaded much faster then the

Confederacy's single-load muskets. The Union army

positioned it's self along wood fences on McPherson's

Ridge. These men were one of the first units to enter the

area. They where able to hold off Lee's army until more

Union troops could arrive. The Confederates where not

prepared for this new rain of bullets and they were forced

to start retreating. After a short retreat they regrouped and

began a flanking attack. The union was forced to retreat

and Gettysburg had fallen to the confederates for the day.

The next day there would be hope for the union would

have a new advantage. On day 2 the Union troops

positioned themselves on top of Cemetery Hill and

Cemetery