Introduction
The American Civil war was fought between the years 1861 -1865. The war was sparked by the enslavement of black people, with the North proposing the liberty of black people while the south fought for the maintenance of the status quo. History has documented incredible battles that define the American civil war. Among the battles, is The Battle of Gettysburg. The battle proved pivotal in shaping the history of the war in multiple ways. At the height of the battle, with thousands of casualties both civilians and soldiers, mammoth destruction of properties, thousands of orphans, widows, and a devastated nation, tension eased and the war slowed. Two years later, the Civil war came to halt (Rable, 2018). This paper will discuss the Battle of Gettysburg as documented in a myriad of historical literature. In the process, the paper will attempt to detail vividly every item, every element, every event and every battle that made constituted the Battle of Gettysburg.
The famous battle was fought for three days. The first to 3 rd July 1863. As documented, the battle proved to , vital engagement of the American civil war. , . The General fought and defeated the Unions Forces in the Chancellorsville and matched into , Pennsylvania at the end of July 1863. The general led his army through the Northern fields of Virginia as he descended on Pennsylvania. General George G. Meade commanded the Unions Potomac army. The Potomac army had a crash with the Confederates army in the town of Gettysburg. The battle escalated the next day as the federals were attacked from all sides by the confederates. On the 3 rd of July 1863, General Lee, commander General of the confederates, ordered a troop of fifteen thousand armies to attack the Union's troop at Cemetery ridge (Bartlett, 2016).
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The general had projected to penetrate the enemies’ defensive lines but failed. Consequently, he lost the battle, lost a lot of men and left numerous casualties. The general withdrew towards Virginia on 4 th July.
The Exodus of General Lee Invasion of the North.
In May, the northern army of Potomac had suffered a defeat at Chancellorsville by the General Lee confederates army. The victory motivated General Lee to the extent of planning a second invasion of the North. The first invasion had taken place in the immediate fall. The general had schemed a comprehensive battle strategy as his army was under siege. (Rable, 2018). He planned to divert the Northern army from Vicksburg and drive the conflict from Virginia. President Abraham Lincoln appointed General George Gordon Meade as the new Union General. General Joseph Hooker, his predecessors, was deemed unfit after the Chancellorsville defeat and was unreluctant to pursue General Lee troops. After his appointment, General Meade pursued the Lee army that had a total of 75000 troops (Bartlett, 2016). The lee army had by then crossed Potomac River, through Maryland and put on halt in southern Pennsylvania.
The battle began on the first of July 1863. General Lee realized Meade's army was on hot pursuit. The general assembled his army in Gettysburg, the town in Pennsylvania (Rable, 2018). General Meade had sent two brigades cavalry to Gettysburg town as defenders. However, General Lee’s men drove them back from the town. The presence of North’s brigade in Gettysburg town prompted General Lee to attack the Cemetery hill where the Northern Brigades had sort refuge. With General Thomas J. “Stonewall” severely injured during the Chancellorsville battle, General Lee had appointed General Ewell to command the Northern Virginia Second corps. Ewell received discrete instruction to attack General Meade's troops in Cemetery Hill. General Lee hoped to take advantage of the northern army before reinforcement could arrive. However, General Ewell turned down the order from General Lee to attack the Cemetery Hill. Ewell argued that the North had a strong defensive line, and he never intended to risk his men. By sunset, Winfield Scott corps from the north arrived at cemetery hill to reinforce the Northern brigades (Bartlett, 2016). Overnight, the little Round Top hill of the expansive cemetery Hill received two more troops and extensively extended the defensive lines against General Lee’s troops.
. The second of July marked day two of Gettysburg Battle. After assessing his enemies’ position, General Lee ordered General Ewell to attack the Union army from the left while Ewell's troops would attack the Union army from the Culps Hill, the right of the Union Army (Rable, 2018). However, General Longstreet’s took too long before launching an attack On Daniels Sickles Men.
The next several hours witnessed fierce battles between the two warring factions. General Sickles held a defensive line that stretched from Little Round Top, through wheat filed to Devils Den nest of borders. After several hours, General Sickles was severely wounded. His men lost the wheat filed, devils-den, and orchard but managed to retain little round top. The unions’ troops were under massive attack on the right at the Culp's Hill and in the East Cemetry hill. By dusk, the Union troops had stalled their attacks. (Rable, 2018). The 2 nd July had the two armies losing more than thirty-five thousand men. The history of the war had never recorded such scary figures before for the same span of time. The third of July marked the third day in the Battle of Gettysburg. The Union Army managed to regain its Culps Hill after reinforcement from the Twelfth Army corps (Rable, 2018). The Confederate threat by General Ewell was pushed back. General Lee was highly motivated by his near victory battle the previous day (Bartlett, 2016). Consequently, he ordered more attacks — the general sents three divisions with an artillery barrage on cemetery hill. George Pickett was tasked with the responsibility to lead the attack against union troop. The general lee men matched more than half a mile in pursuit of General Meade's troops in cemetery hill dug –ins.
However, General Longstreet’s protested and was adamant to send his troops. However, Lee went ahead to launch an attack at 3 pm on the same day. The attack was branded “Picketts’s Charge”.The advancing Lee’s men met their match. General Meade's men surrounded the attacking army with infantry on one side, reinforcement from Vermont, New York, and Ohio all on the hot pursuit of the enemy from all franks (Rable, 2018). General Lee men were outnumbered, outpowered and more than one-third went down. With the assault failed, the Confederates army scrambled back led by Lee and Longstreet.
Conclusion
The hopes of a victorious invasion of the North had failed. General Lee anticipated a counter-attack from the north. However, it never came. The night of the fourth July had heavy rains, and in the heavy rains, General Lee withdrew his already decimated troops and matched to Virginia. Meade never pursued the enemy beyond Gettysburg and was later tongue-lashed for the same. However, the confederacy had suffered a gruesome defeat at the hands of the Northerners. The general lee lost more than a third of his army totaling to 28000. General Meade of the North lost 23000 men. The north had enough reasons for celebration as the south mourned. General Lee attempt to resign was put down by President Jefferson. The General went on to conquer and win more battles afterward. However, the Gettysburg battle, irrevocably altered the civil war.
References
Bartlett, M. (2016). Gettysburg: The Story of the Battle with Maps ed. by Stackpole Books.
Gettysburg Magazine , 54 (54), 101-101.
Rable, G. C. (2018). Index to Pickett’s Charge: Eyewitness Accounts at the Battle of Gettysburg.
