Transcript The Battle of Gettysburg

The Battle of Gettysburg
July 1st –3rd, 1863
Before the Battle
• Confederates inflicted bloody
defeat on Union at
Fredericksburg, VA. (12/13/62)
• North defeated again in the
Battle of Chancellorsville, VA
(April 30-May 6, 1863)
• General Stonewall Jackson is
shot by his own men in an
accident and dies of
Pneumonia (May 1863)
Stonewall Jackson
Called Stonewall because he and his troops stood strong
(like a stone wall) at the 1st Battle of Bull Run.
His death was a blow to the Confederacy.
Reasons for the Battle
• Lee (Confed) decided to
invade the North
– pull Union forces away from
the battered South
– invasion in North would hurt
Lincoln’s political power.
–Meade (Union) ordered his
men to stop Lee’s advance.
Day 1
• Confederate soldiers
went on a search for
shoes in Gettysburg, got
attacked by Union cavalry
• More began to arrive
• Eventually 93,000 Union
and 73,000 Confederate
soldiers confronted each
other.
• Skirmishes and battles all
day
Day 2
• The Union had taken the
high ground
• Meade put the troops into
a fish hook formation.
• Union leaders sent
Colonel Joshua L.
Chamberlain and his men
to defend the flank at
Little Round Top.
• Because Chamberlain was
running low on ammo, he
ordered his men to attack
the Confederates with
fixed bayonets. This
surprise attack left
Confederates
surrendering in droves.
Day 3
• Lee still felt they could
break the Union at the
center.
• Lee ordered an artillery
bombardment.
• PICKETT’S CHARGE -
Longstreet, confident the
bombardment had silenced
Union guns, ordered
Confederate troops to
attack the center of the
Union lines. 7500 men
under Gen. Pickett
marched a mile through
open farm field….
Almost 3,000 men (about 50% of his infantry) were killed or
went missing
An avoidable mistake from which the Southern war effort
never fully recovered psychologically.
After the Battle
• More than 23,000 Union casualties and
28,000 Confederate Casualties
• Lee gave up hopes of invading the
North and retreated back to Virginia
• Lee turned in his resignation which
Jefferson Davis did not accept
Reasons
the CSA
Lost
• Lee was too
overconfident
• The miscalculated
attempt at
breaking the
Union centerline
with Pickett’s
Charge.
Significance
• Bloodiest battle of
Civil War.
• Turning point in the
war.
• South was
demoralized.
• Crippled Southern
armies so badly, Lee
never
invaded North again
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ALyq3se
K2g
• Good 4 minute video from Civilwar Trust