Gettsyburg essays

Gettsyburg essays During 1863, the Civil War continued to wage on between the two extremely divided factions. In the first two years of the Civil War, neither side had gained any real advantage. Thirty-three conflicts occurred leading up to the Battle of Gettysburg, some major and some minor, but none had the effect that Gettysburg had on the course of the Civil War. This decisive battle occurred during the first three days of July 1863, which changed the course of the Civil War and determined the fate of the United States. Gettysburg was a small market town of 2400 at this time, in southern Pennsylvania, located at a spot where a number of small roads converged. Although neither commander of the armies was prepared for, nor wanted to fight in this region, it proved to be a pivotal point in the Civil War. The Battle of Gettysburg was ultimately the turning point in the Civil War because it put the South on the defensive for the rest of the war and definitively ended in the defeat of the Confed erate States. Although the location and timing of the Battle of Gettysburg was almost an accident, the fact that a huge battle took place in Pennsylvania in July 1863 was certainly no accident. General Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, had chosen a course that meant a major battle was almost unavoidable. Two months earlier, General Lee found himself at a dilemma. He had recently defeated the federal Army of the Potomac, in a daring example of superior generalship at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Although Chancellorsville had been a decisive victory for the Confederacy, Lee himself knew that all he had really accomplished was buying a little more time. The battle had succeeded in repelling the Federals from much of Virginia, which contained the important capital of the Confederacy at Richmond. However, Lee knew it wold only be a matter of time before the powerful Federal host moved south again. Lee...