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Gettysburg
Gettysburg, Battle of, a large battle in the American Civil War (1861-1865), took place in
southern Pennsylvania from July 1 to July 3, 1863. The battle is named after the town on
the battlefield. Union General George G. Meade led an army of about 90,000 men to victory
against General Robert E. Lee's Confederate army of about 75,000. Gettysburg is the war’s
most famous battle because of its large size, high cost in lives, location in a northern state,
and for President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
The Battle of Gettysburg started with Union armies taking up defensive positions south of
Gettysburg. Confederate forces attacked both ends of those positions, then failed to break
the Union center, turning the battle into a Union victory.
The battle begins. On July 1, a Confederate division, searching for badly needed shoes,
encountered a Union cavalry northwest of Gettysburg. Although the Confederate troops
outnumbered the Union cavalry, the Union soldiers were able to delay the Confederates while
both sides sent for reinforcements. About two hours after the fighting began, Union General John
Reynolds arrived with his infantry. Reynolds—a highly regarded general whom Lincoln had
earlier considered as a candidate to replace Hooker—was killed shortly after arriving on the
battlefield.
The Confederate army pushed the Union army south and east through the town of Gettysburg,
and the Union troops took a defensive position south of the town. The Union line ran about 3
miles (5 kilometers) along a stretch of high ground known as Cemetery Ridge. At the northern
end of the Union position were Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill. At the southern end were two
more hills, Little Round Top and Round Top. Confederate forces occupied Seminary Ridge, an
area of high ground to the west of the Union position, and the town of Gettysburg.
Lee ordered Confederate General Richard S. Ewell to attack Cemetery Hill if Ewell thought he
could take it. However, Ewell decided the Union position was too strong and did not attack.
Many of Ewell’s subordinate officers questioned this decision. During the night, reinforcements
for both sides arrived. By the following morning, both armies were mostly at full strength.
Little Round Top. On July 2, the battle’s second day, Lee hoped to crush the Union position on
Cemetery Ridge by striking at both ends of the ridge at the same time. Lee's main attack focused
on the southern end of the Union position, around Little Round Top. Ewell's troops remained at
the battlefield’s northern end to keep Meade from sending reinforcements to the southern end.
Ewell had instructions to attack if Union troops moved to the southern end. At about 6:30 p.m.,
Ewell's army attacked Culp's Hill. His attack was initially successful, but Union troops
counterattacked and forced Ewell to withdraw.
At the southern end of the Union position, Union General Daniel Sickles moved his troops ahead
of the Union lines. Sickles's advance made his troops vulnerable to attack and left Little Round
Top undefended. Little Round Top was an important position because, if the Confederates took it,
they would be able to use their cannons to destabilize the Union position.
At that point, Confederate General James Longstreet began the attack that Lee had ordered for
the southern end of the battlefield—straight toward Little Round Top and Sickles's troops. Meade
rushed additional Union troops to support Sickles and hold Little Round Top. Fierce fighting
raged throughout the southern part of the battlefield for five hours. The Confederates drove back
Sickles's troops, but other Union troops succeeded in stopping the Confederates on the slopes of
Little Round Top.
Pickett’s charge. On July 3, Lee tried one more time to crack the Union position. He planned to
attack the center of the position, based on the assumption that the previous day’s attacks would
cause Meade to focus his defenses on the ends. However, Meade guessed Lee's plans and
strengthened the center.
At about 1 p.m., the Confederates began firing artillery at the Union position on Cemetery Hill.
However, the Confederates generally aimed too high and did little damage to the Union army.
The Union officers suspected that the Confederate bombardment would be followed by an attack.
In an effort to trick the Confederates into thinking the Union artillery had been wrecked, the
Union troops slowed down their rate of fire. The strategy also allowed the Union army to
conserve ammunition for the impending Confederate attack.
At about 3 p.m., the Confederates launched their attack at Cemetery Hill. About 12,000 troops,
including a division commanded by Confederate General George E. Pickett, marched in battle
formation, advancing across an open field and up the slopes of Cemetery Ridge. The advance,
known as "Pickett's charge," faced impossible odds. When the Confederates came within range,
Union artillery, and later infantry, erupted and began firing into the Confederate line. Only a few
Confederate soldiers reached the top of Cemetery Ridge, where they were quickly shot or
captured. Lee took responsibility for the attack's failure.
A separate Confederate attack, led by General Jeb Stuart’s cavalry and targeting the back of the
Union position, also failed.
Aftermath. Lee remained on the battlefield on July 4, but Meade did not attack. That night, Lee
began his retreat back to Virginia. Meade followed cautiously, much to President Lincoln's
disappointment. Meade had received additional reinforcements, and Lincoln hoped Meade would
trap and destroy Lee’s army before it could return to Virginia.
Over the course of the three days of the Battle of Gettysburg, the Confederates suffered about
28,000 casualties, and the Union about 23,000. On July 4, the day after the battle ended, Union
troops captured the fortified city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Union victory at Vicksburg was
an even more severe blow to the Confederacy.
At a special ceremony on Nov. 19, 1863, part of the Gettysburg battlefield was dedicated as a
cemetery for those who had lost their lives in the battle. It was at this ceremony that Lincoln
delivered his famous Gettysburg Address. This speech was short and beautifully worded. It made
clear that the Union was fighting for freedom and for the survival of the American system of selfgovernment.
Source: http://www.worldbookonline.com/student/article?id=ar222960&st=battle+of+gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg by Currier and Ives
http://cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?videoId=jsszvmuZBR4
Click the link above to watch an 8 minute video on the Battle of Gettysburg.
http://history.howstuffworks.com/american-civil-war/battle-of-gettysburgpictures.htm
Click the link above to watch the Battle of Gettysburg slide show from “How Stuff
Works”
http://www.gettysbg.com/battle.shtml
Click the link above to see a day by day account of the battle.
http://cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?videoId=qCXUbQ4JjXI
Click the link above to watch a video about the Gettysburg Address.
The Gettysburg Address
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation,
conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived
and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come
to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that
that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate - we cannot consecrate - we cannot hallow - this ground.
The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor
power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it
can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the
unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us
to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we may
take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that
we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God,
shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the
people, shall not perish from the earth.
Abraham Lincoln - November 19, 1863