The Battle of Gettysburg begins in July 1, 1863 which was the start of the American Civil War the Battle started by accident when General George Meade (leader of the Union Troops) was pursuing General Robert E Lee (leader of the Confederate Troops), so General Lee concentrated his Army. The Battle began on Pearson’s ridge in Gettysburg Pennsylvania until it reached north of town where the Union eleven Corps led by Richard Yule joined General Lee’s Troops. “Ben Neely emphasized that the most damaging aspect of the weather for this event occurred on July 4, the day after the battle had ended. Rain fell across the area for most of the day; a total of 1.39 inches. While the wounded still lay on the ground, some may have felt welcomed by the break in action. Some injured soldiers had still not been recovered from low-lying areas by the Plum Run Creek, which overflowed its banks. Those stranded near the flood waters, reported a lot of Confederates drowned. An even larger issue that was faced because of the rain was the retreat attempts made by the Confederate Army on July 4 (tuthill, 2014) Turning now to the principle of the offensive, we can see that it embodies the idea of seizing and retaining the initiative. That is, even though a clear objective might be assigned, it can only be attained through aggressive offensive operations …show more content…
On the evening of June 29, Meade’s Army of the Potomac was encamped in northern Maryland on a line extending roughly from Emmitsburg to Manchester. On the following day, Meade sent out various dispatches and orders that indicated his knowledge of the enemy’s location. Specifically, Meade knew that the Confederate infantry corps, commanded by generals James Longstreet and A. P. Hill, were at Chambersburg with, in the words of his assistant adjutant general, “evident disposition to advance from Chambersburg to Gettysburg.” He also indicated in the same correspondence that Richard Ewell’s corps was at Carlisle
However, there were assaults made on the defensive line and the casualties were high but no significant gains on the rebel positions were made. Over a few weeks of fighting bad weather eventually moved in and the rain virtually made the roads impossible to cross. The bad weather and muddy roads that slowed movement of troops and the losses that were sustained trying to take the high ground that the rebels occupied caused General Burnside to cease his operations and on January 26, 1863 he was relieved of his command.
On July 1, 1863, the biggest battle of the Civil War started. This most famous and most important Civil War Battle occurred over three hot summer days, July 1 to July 3, 1863, around the small market town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Before the battle, Union general Ulysses S. Grant started a siege of Vicksburg which would shut down the Mississippi River. Meanwhile, major cities in the North such as Philadelphia, Baltimore and even Washington were under threat of attack from General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia which had crossed the Potomac River and marched into Pennsylvania. The Union and Confederate army both had around 75,000 soldiers. With both armies on a collision course, the days leading up to the war were
The types of challenges that the Generals have faced during The Battle of Gettysburg are, location, following orders, and the weaponry. In a life or death situation, the position of where your men are stationed is crucial due to the fact if the opposite army crawls up behind or has the higher ground then there is a greater chance of getting murdered. General’s must accept the system that a more experienced General has stated and to not promote their individual procedures. Finally, the rifles, pistols, muskets, cannons and other artillery the Generals had to work with may have been difficult to shield or perform with. In conclusion, the Generals faced many complications when battling in the Battle of
Despite this, the Rebel’s morale remained optimistic as they initiated the fighting on the following morning (King 18). Union forces retaliated and saved their position until one of General Meade’s commanders staged his own offensive battle (Appleby, Joyce 486; King 22). This Union general was Dan Sickles. By moving his position without consulting General Meade, a “bulge” was created. This foolish mistake allowed 1,600 Confederate soldiers to rush the Union line to overtake Peach Orchard, capturing 1,000 Yankee prisoners (King 22). Another Union Army general, G.K. Warren, secured and protected a hill called Little Round Top before Confederates claimed it which helped combat the loss from Sickle’s blunder (“American Civil War”).
The three-day Battle of Gettysburg, starting on July 1st in 1863, would be known to be one of the most memorable and important battles in history. It would become the major outcome of the Civil War. The day of the outburst of the Battle of Gettysburg was a hot humid day on the first of July. It was between two sides. One side was the Union, which was the Army of Potomac Commanded by General George G. Meade, along with other notable commanders such as John F Reynolds, Winfield Scott Hancock, Daniel E. Sickles, George Sykes, John Sedgwick, Oliver O. Howard, Henry W. Slocum, and Alfred Pleasonton (“Battle of Gettysburg,” 2016). The other side was the Confederate Soldiers called the Army of Northern Virginia who was commanded by General Robert E. Lee, along with other notable commanders as well, which were James Longstreet, Richard S. Ewell, A. P. Hill, and J.E.B. Stuart (“Battle of Gettysburg,” 2016). Between these two sides, the Army of Potomac had a great advantage with 93,700 men and 372 guns, while the Army of Northern Virginia were outmanned and outgunned with only 70,100 men and 280 guns. The Army of Potomac’s mission was to defeat the Army of Northern Virginia as well as to make sure Washington, D.C. remained safe. It may seem like the Army of Potomac would be the clear winner at the Battle of Gettysburg yet the Army of Northern Virginia had a strategy that would help to attempt to beat the Union which was to go on the aggression and confront them. This would
Major Reynolds reached the point three miles south of Gettysburg. One of the staff officers told him that the Confederates advanced Chambersburg Pike. Major Reynolds hurried toward a town that was a half a mile on horseback, where a
In the beginning it all started with an idea that Robert E lee proposed. It stated that they spring a surprise attack in Pennsylvania. Everybody agreed to this idea because all the battles before had happened on southern soil. So, they started marching.THey marched about 10 miles each day. They did this for about 8 days. They marched From Virginia to Pennsylvania. The North found out about the planned attack and began to march towards the South. They eventually met up in a small farm town in Pennsylvania called Gettysburg. This would later be the same soil in which 40,000 Americans lay wounded or dead. Little did they know this would be the bloodiest battle in American history.
The Battle of Gettysburg was one of the most famous battles of the Civil War. The battle was fought from July 1 to July 3 near Gettysburg. The famous battle was between Robert Lee and his Northern Virginia Army and George Meade and the North's Army of the Potomac, The Union. The original leader of the Army of the Potomac was General Joseph Hooker, but President Lincoln relieved Hooker of his duties and named Meade the new General of the Army. Many soldiers died from both sides during this battle and that is the reason it is known as one of the bloodiest battles. The Battle of Gettysburg was General Robert Lee's second attempt at invading the North and there was a definite aftermath to this battle.
From a small town that held roughly 2,000 people to a bloodbath war zone, Gettysburg became a very well known battle from the Civil War. There is many contributing factors that made this battle a turning point in the war such as it being the northernmost attack that could of ended the Unions will to continue the war if it was won by Lee. Another reason it was a turning point was because the casualties that the South suffered from resulting in such a large setback. Along with this it also gave the nation an opportunity to banish slavery for good, preserve the union, and to prove to future generations that anything is possible if you rule under a democracy which is discussed in a speech brought from President Abraham Lincoln. The Battle of Gettysburg was the northernmost attack brought from the Confederates.
Gettysburg, the Devastating Battle Would you want to be fighting, hearing a shot, then a flesh ripping sound, then you're on the ground, blinking and losing vision while you slowly bleeding out? The year 1863 was now the start to the third year of the Civil War. President Davis and Robert E Lee add a plan, a plan to invade the north. By middle June, Lee's army will Crossing to Southern Pennsylvania.
The battle of Gettysburg was considered the turning point of the Civil War because it exposed many of the country’s flaws. The U.S. Civil War was a conflict between the Union(North) and the Confederacy(South). The Battle of Gettysburg was a specific conflict that happened when the two armies initially collided at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, as Lee urgently concentrated his forces there, his objective being to engage the Union army and destroy it. This battle ends with a Union victory, and causes shock to much of the South. This was the first time Confederate General Lee “lost” a battle.
This most important Civil War Battle occurred over three summer days, July 1 - July 3 1863, around the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It began as not that big of a deal but by the time it ended, there were 160,000 Americans. Before the battle, a lot major cities in the North such as Philadelphia, Baltimore and even Washington D.C, were under threat of attack from General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia which had crossed the Potomac River and marched into Pennsylvania. The Union Army of the Potomac under its new commander, General George G. Meade, marched to intercept Lee. ( Jeffry D. Wert)
It is our duty, as soon to be Second Lieutenants in the Army, to learn from history. Learning from mistakes in the past is necessary to understand the responsibilities we will soon have. The Battle of Gettysburg shows prime examples of the nine principles of war: Objective, Offensive, Mass, Economy of Force, Maneuver, Unity of Command, Security, Surprise and Simplicity. In the military today, we are overwhelmingly blessed with every asset that we have including technology and monetary resources the list could go on forever but the most invaluable asset is history. Although all nine principles of war are pertinent to success on the battlefield, only five will be discussed in this analysis.
The first battle of the Civil War occurred on April 10, 1861 when Brigadier General Beauregard demanded the surrender of Fort Sumter. The commander of the fort, Major Anderson, refused. Two days later Confederate artillery came crashing down on the fort. On
An interesting turn of events would soon favor the Federal Army as General J.E.B. Stuart and his cavalry were north and east of Gettysburg causing a lot of fear in the North but consequently were not performing adequate reconnaissance, the result was that General Lee did not know where General Meade and the Army of the Potomac were or what their strength was (Freeman, 147). When Confederate General Henry Heth moved into