Essay Sample on Civil War Ends With Robert E. Lee's Last Attempt at Gettysburg

On the 3rd day, Robert E. Lee, the confederate general, made a last attempt during the battle of Gettysburg to break the union lines, an event that ended in disastrous failure, thus bringing the American Civil war to an abrupt end. According to the government's national archives, the North had many advantages as well as the benefits of the South in the time of the Civil War(archives.gov, n.d.). For instance, the population of the North Was several times the population of the South and, therefore, a high potential for military enlistees as well as civilian Manpower coming from the North. On the other hand, the South did not have a substantial number of factories as well as industries like the North, which produced the required and necessary materials for war. There were many factors that placed the South at a disadvantage during the civil war. In order to establish why the confederates lost in this battle, this paper will look at some clues fetched from primary sources that existed at the time.

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The first clue that can help in establishing why the confederates lost is to look into Special order 191, which was lost, after being issued by Confederate general Robert E. Lee. The lost orders were recovered by Union soldiers belonging to 27th Indiana. The orders were given during the Maryland Campaign, and having been lost and recovered by the enemy troops, the battle strategies of the confederates might have been exposed. After receiving Lee's lost orders, George B. McClellan, the major general in charge of the Union Army of Potomac exclaimed that "Here is a paper with which, if I cannot whip Bobby Lee, I will be willing to go home (American Battle Field Trust, 1862).”The Union Army leader knew that he had found a document that would help him improvise a proper and elaborate attack on the confederates.

Based on an initial letter from a Union Soldier Samuel Hodgman to one of his brothers about his overall experience about the battle of Gettysburg, on July 16, 1863, it may help bring light on the intensity of the war between the Union soldiers and the confederates in the Civil War. Hodgman suggests that "Just the other day, we were under fire of approximately 2 hours from 120 guns. For protection, we only had a slight rails barricade, and there is no use for me trying to tell you a lot about the cannonades because words cannot begin to express it. We were lucky because somehow, we appeared to be out of range, and thus out of much danger (Hodgman, 1863).” The Union soldier continues to write, “With 21 killed as well as 40 wounded, we continue growing weaker, but we have to stand our ground. Our Lt. Col, as well as W. Smith and W.Tripp of Galesburg from Co. 1, were also killed. However, I didn’t get even a scratch.”

While looking into these events, it can be seen that the confederates had unleashed a ruthless attack on the Union Army, and therefore it is strange that they did not win in the battle of Gettysburg. However, as we have already established, the exposure of the confederate’s strategies to the Union Soldiers must have triggered a set of events that ultimately determined the fate of the war. Captain Nathaniel Rollins, another of the Union Army’s soldiers belonging to the Wisconsin Infantry, made a diary on the daily, through the course of the civil war and captured his encounters and experiences. The soldier also wrote a letter to his sister describing his capture as well as an encounter with the confederate General Robert E. Lee as well as the Confederate Army at Gettysburg. Rollins stayed as a captive at Gettysburg under the parole program, for the entirety of the remainder of the war. The parole program required a captured enemy soldier to remain under the care of his captives and to not fight against them until they can be used to bargain for the safe return of one of their own soldiers. Rollins, therefore, even though a Union soldiers, he captures his experience in a letter based on his experiences at war, and how he got captured.

Rollins states that “On this day, we came up first of the infantry, and thus, coming forward into the line, we engaged General Archer’s brigade back into the woods, losing heavily.” He continues to states that “I took into action with the 27 muskets, and had four killed, as well as 13, wounded.In addition,Lt. Winegar was also killed. We continued to hold our grounds all this time undisturbed until approximately 2:30 p.m. when more than fifty thousand rebels started advancing on us and thus entirely out-flanking us as well as the iron Brigade falling back because they were surrounded entirely, with the rebels destroying all the lines in our front” (Rollins, 1863). The letter continues to suggest that "in the second fight we lost heavily, but while going through the villages their surrounding Force cut us off, and many other of our Brigade as well as I, were captured.” The Experiences of Rollins, as well as Hodgman, both showcase a powerful and mighty Confederate Army. So how come they lost the battle at Gettysburg? One may wonder.

Evaluating the events that occurred on account of the lost orders as well as the experiences of the Union soldiers, it is evident that the principal cause of the confederates losing, apart from the exposure of their plans, was the fact that the southern army had not won enough victories especially in a row, and therefore could not be at a capacity to sustain the morale of the confederates behind their lines, as well as depress the morale of the Union behind their respective lines. It was due to this poor morale and disorganization in their army that significantlyaffected the South, and led to their loss in the civil war. In addition, even though the notion holds that South had all the best generals, in actuality, Lee was the only good army commander, as in the rest were leveled off as second-raters at best. Therefore, it is evident that the loss might also have been caused by poor leadership, which was the main cause of the few disorganizations within the army. Such disorganizations and poor leadership might have also been the cause of their loss at Gettysburg.

References

American Battle Field Trust. (1862, September 9). Hdqrs. Army of Northern Virginia. Retrieved from www.battlefields.org: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/general-robert-e-lees-lost-order-no-191

Archives.gov. (n.d.).Letters, Telegrams, and Photographs Illustrating Factors that Affected the Civil War. Retrieved from National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/civil-war-docs

Hodgman, S. (1863, July 16). A letter from Union soldier Samuel Hodgman to his brother about his experience during the Battle of Gettysburg, July 16, 1863. Retrieved from Letter: https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/battle-of-gettysburg/sources/1468

Rollins, N. (1863, June 30). Excerpts from the diary of Union soldier Nathaniel Rollins about being taken prisoner during the Battle of Gettysburg. Retrieved from Digital Public Library of America: https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/battle-of-gettysburg/sources/1470