Battle of Gettysburg Essay -- History Civil War USA Historic Essays

Battle of Gettysburg This most famous and most important polished War Battle occurred over three hot summer days, July 1 to July 3, 1863, around the small market town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It began as a coppice but by its end involved 160,000 Americans. Before the battle, major cities in the North such as Philadelphia, Baltimore and even Washington were under threat of attack from full general Robert E. Lees cooperator Army of Northern Virginia which had crossed the Potomac River and marched into Pennsylvania. The nub Army of the Potomac under its very new and untried commander, General George G. Meade, marched to rap Lee. On Tuesday morning, June 30, an infantry brigade of accomplice soldiers searching for shoes headed toward Gettysburg (population 2,400). The Confederate commander looked through his field glasses and spotted a prospicient column of Federal cavalry heading toward the town. He withdrew his brigade and certain his superior, Gen. Henry Heth, who in turn told his superior, A.P. Hill, he would go back the pastime morning and get those shoes. Wednesday morning, July 1, twain divisions of Confederates headed back to Gettysburg. They ran into Federal cavalry air jacket of the town at Willoughby Run and the skirmish began. Events would quickly escalate. Lee step on it 25,000 men to the scene. The Union had less than 20,000. After much fierce engagement and heavy casualties on both sides, the Federals were pushed back through the town of Gettysburg and regrouped sec of the town along the high ground near the cemetery. Lee order Confederate General R.S. Ewell to seize the high ground from the battle don Federals if practicable. Gen. Ewell hesitated to attack thereby giving the Union troops a come up to dig in along Cemetery Ridge and bring in reinforcements with artillery. By the time Lee realized Ewell had non attacked, the luck had vanished. Meade arrived at the scene and thought it was an ideal place to do battle with Lees Arm y. Meade evaluate reinforcements totaling up to 100,000 men to arrive and strengthen his defensive position. Confederate General James Longstreet saw the Union position as nearly inviolate and told Lee it should be left alone. He argued that Lees Army should instead race east between the Union Army and Washington and build a defensive position thus forcing the Federals to attack ... ...h. Confederate causalities in dead, injure and missing were 28,000 out of 75,000. Union casualties were 23,000 out of 88,000. That night and into the next day, Saturday, July 4, Confederate wounded were loaded aboard wagons that began the journey back toward the South. Lee was laboured to abandon his dead and begin a long slow breakup of his army back to Virginia. Union commander Meade, out of fatigue and caution, did not immediately pursue Lee, infuriating President Lincoln who wrote a tart letter to Meade (never delivered) saying he missed a golden opportunity to end the war right there. On November 19, President Lincoln went to the champaign to dedicate it as a military cemetery. The main orator, Edward Everett of Massachusetts, delivered a devil hour formal address. The president then had his turn. He spoke in his high, penetrating voice and in a little over two minutes delivered the Gettysburg Address, surprising many in the audience by its precipitance and leaving others quite unimpressed. Over time, however, the speech and its words - government of the People, by the People, for the People - have come to symbolize the definition of democracy itself.