Download usnotesapr23The Battle of Gettysburg

CQ: Describe the battle of Gettysburg. What impact did this battle have on the Civil
War? What is “Picket’s Charge”? Despite being often romanticized, why did some
Confederate leaders criticize Gen. Lee and the charge? What impact did the results of
Gettysburg have on the remainder of the war effort? Why?
Identify and locate in relation to the town of Gettysburg…
 Little Round Top
 Big Round Top
 Culp’s Hill
 Seminary Ridge
 Cemetery Hill
 Devil’s Den
 The Peach Orchard
The Battle of Gettysburg, Penn.
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Extremely critical in the development of the Civil War.
It is probably accurate to say that Gettysburg was a (seminal) turning point in the
War.
Before, the war was a tie, or Maybe the Union had a slight upper hand
After the battle at Gettysburg, the Union prevailed!
Largest battle fought on American soil….(bigger than Shiloh)
Gettysburg was a three-day battle
July 1 – July 3, 1863
It was brutally hot! Soldiers collapsed from heat exhaustion.
Massive Size!
 At Gettysburg Union Army – close to 100,000 soldiers, Commander George
Meade of the Army of the Potomac
 Confederate Army – over 75,000 soldiers, Commander Robert E. Lee
Significance of Gettysburg
The town of Gettysburg is a central point where there are a few rivers and several
railroads meeting. It is a connecting point for transportation and communication.
Day 1….. July 1st 1863
 The battle began over shoes & food
 Both sides needed supplies
 James Johnston Pettigrew’s men were looking for supplies and stumbled across
Gettysburg.
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While there they noticed Union troops across a bridge under the command of
Buford.
Pettigrew and Buford’s divisions clash and start the Battle of Gettysburg.
The Confederacy starts to win and starts to push the Union out.
Nightfall…
Day 2…July 2nd 1863
 General Lee (C) arrives with his troops
 Remember the general style of fighting was the phalynx..line up and shoot each
other
 The one side had to out flank the other…meaning as the troops faced each
other…lined up, the goal was to push the other back…and to surround them as
well.
 General Lee ordered an assault on both Flanks of the Union line.
 James Longstreet- a Confederate General with Lee. He was put in charge of
attacking the Southern Flank.
 R.S. Ewell, General in charge of attacking the Northern Flank.
 Lee knew that if he (Confederacy) could win at Gettysburg, they could continue
to push north into the Union.
 Lee wanted to break the Union’s will to fight! He wanted the Union to eventually
feel that there was no point…they forgot!!!!! Lincoln’s goal was to preserve the
UNION!!! Lincoln will never waiver!!!!
 Longstreet was somewhat successful in breaking the Southern Flank.
 Ewell was unsuccessful in breaking the Northern Flank.
 Confederacy was able to gain a few areas such as Little Round Top & Culp’s Hill.
 Day 2 was a major missed opportunity for the Confederacy primarily because
they did not have good communication between the troops.
 There was a Confederate General, Robert Rodes, an engineer; he never brought
his troops from Gettysburg to Cemetery Hill, to gain an advantage. But because
he did not get the order to advance his troops he never took Cemetery Hill, which
would have been a huge advantage.
Day 3…July 3,
You win the battles, I win the war!
 Day 1 & Day 2 the Confederacy, by small margin, prevailed…but day 3 was
different!
 The Confederacy wants to build upon the successes they had the day before.
 Lee wants to put pressure on the Union’s center, the center, between the two
Flanks. This is at Cemetery Hill.
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Midday, the Confederacy opens with an artillery barrage! Not successful
The Confederacy has less men and can’t afford to lose too many more soldiers.
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Pickett’s Charge – towards the end of the day. The Confederacy wasn’t able to
break the Union’s line. General Lee tells General Longstreet to make one more
push at the Union line.
 Longstreet and Pickett and their company (made up of Virginians, “For the
manhood of Virginia”)…charges …and was unsuccessful in breaking the Union
line.
 It was much like a suicide mission.
 Longstreet blamed Lee for making a poor decision, he knew the push/charge
wouldn’t work. They just kept losing men.
Day 3 was a slaughter!
 Over the 3-day battle about 51,000 soldiers killed or mortally wounded.
 The Confederacy lost over 15,000 in day 3, a blood bath.
 The Confederacy will never recover from Gettysburg. They were a broken army
from this point on.
 Longstreet wrote a book, he was critical of Lee.
 End of 1863- 1864, Confederacy is weakened,