The Battle Gettsyburg Essay, Research Paper

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By: carl hegney

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg was fought on July 3, 1863 and it was a

turning point in the American Civil War. The Battle of Gettysburg was fought between the

North and South over slavery. The whole war was because the North did not want slavery

and the South wanted slavery. Even one battle was fought because of a guy named John

Brown from the North and he wanted to give the slaves guns. Under the Union, General

George Gordon Meade, numbered about 85,000 troops and the Confederates army under

General Robert Edward Lee, numbered about 75,000 troops. Then after the Battle of

Chancellorsville on May 2-4, an important victory for the Confederates, General Lee

divided his army into three groups each commanded by three lieutenant generals. They

were James Longstreet, Richard Stoddert Ewell and Ambrose Powell Hill. Then on June

30, Confederate troops from General Hill s group were on their way to Gettysburg then

the heard that Meade troops had moved down to stop the Confederate army. The battle

began on July 1 outside of Gettysburg with a meeting between Hill s advance troops and

the federal calvary division commanded by Major General John Buford, supported by

infantry under Major General John Reynolds. Hill met tough opposition and unsure about

battle until Ewell arrived from the north in the afternoon. Then the Confederates States

pushed against General Oliver Howard s troops and forced the federal troops to retreat

from their forward positions to Culp s Hill and Cemetery Ridge which was southeast of

Gettysburg. The fighting had been heavy on both sides, but the Union troops suffered

more losses. More than 4,000 men were taken prisoner by the Confederates and John

Reynolds was killed in the battle. On the following day, July 2, Meade formed his forces in

the shape of a horseshoe, extending westward from Culp s Hill and southward along the

cemetery Ridge to the hills of Little Round Top and Round Top. On the other hand the

Confederates were sent in a long thin depressed line with Longstreet and Ewell on the

sides and Hill in the center. On the night of July 2, Meade held a council of war in which

the decision was made not to retreat. On the third day of battle, the federals had a good

fighting position and the Confederates had lost their good position. Lee decided to start an

attack despite opposition from other Confederate generals. This fight did not begin until

noon. Groups of the Confederate division, including the division led by General George E.

Pickett, totaling fewer than 15,000 men, took part in a important charge on Cemetery

Ridge against a devestating of federal artillery and musket fire. This attack was known as

Pickett s Charge. With Pickett s Charge, the Battle of Gettysburg was almost over. On the

night of July 4, Lee began his retreat to Virginia expecting another attack from the federal

army. Meade, however did not attack because of heavy rains which hurt the pursuit of the

retreating Confederates. During the three miserable days of battle, the federal army lost

3,070 killed, 14,497 wounded and 5,434 captured or missing. The Confederates lost about

3,500 killed, 1,800 wounded and 5,150 captured or missing.