The Battle of Gettysburg Essay Example

Introduction and Rival Forces

There have been other battles in the past, but the battle of Gettysburg has been acknowledged as one of the most significant battles in the history of American Civil Wars. Tentatively, the Confederate army general, Lee E Robert had the courage to assault the Union zone. After a conclusive win at Chancellorsville over the Union Militaries in 1863 June, the Confederate army moved to Pennsylvania all through from the Northern parts of Virginia. In their process of moving to the north, the Confederate army was under constant attack from the Union Troops. As such, they conducted a thorough mobilization of the army in response to risk management. The army of around sixty thousand individuals was put in place at around Cashtown. This battle was extensively fought and it lasted a period of three days but involved many casualties. As such, it was a battle of essential union victory and a major revolution point to American Civil War history.

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General Robert who was the Confederate leader was victorious over a decision to attack the territory of the Union and with an attempt to extinguish Northerners urges to fight in June 1863. Through Maryland, they went to the northern region. In the meantime, General Meade led Potomac army moved in the response of the Confederate army. Robert Lee was interested in moving forth and destroying multiple army posts in Pennsylvania as well as Maryland. This he attempted while between Washington and Confederates. It was a challenging task because the Union army had their defense geared for Washington where the largest camp Curtin was located hosting immense military supply warehouse in the northern region. As per Lee, this would presumably discourage the Northerners from engaging in the battle and probably bring the war to an end.

Day One of the Battle

On July 1st Buford, of Union forces, was in the environs of Gettysburg assessing strategies of accessing the western parts and establishing army on raised grounds. The same day, General Heth, from Confederate forces, decided to move the army to Gettysburg from Cashtown for the army to get more shoes. They left in the morning without the knowledge of the status of the Union forces. Correspondingly, at around 9 am Heth and the forces arrived at Gettysburg. Later on, meeting with scouts of Buford's troops in the ridges of McPherson the Northwestern areas of Gettysburg. A sudden clash between the two groups was recorded which later on escalated into a much more serious battle. Buford's men succumbed to the pressure and the Confederate forces managed to push them down the ridges. However, they fought on to maintain their position as reinforcement came from General Reynold Corps which was guided by Abner Doubleday. Regardless of the reinforcement, the Union troops moved back and withdrew towards higher grounds which was south of the town. The Union Army had to create posts on Culp's Hill, Cemetery Ridge, and Hill which formed a U shape to build an impenetrable line. General Lee came in and issued staunch orders to General Ewell to proceed and destroy Cemetry hill which he did not proceed and waited for reinforcements. Upon the arrival of the Confederate troops, Union forces had already conquered Cemetery and Culp's Hill. Ewell decided not to attack till the following day. Apparently, Confederate would have won if Ewell had taken an action to attack that day. The confederates sojourned to delays and comfort while the Union troops prepared their resources in the night which made them stronger for the battle the following day.

Day Two of the Battle

On July 2nd improvements and reorganizations of communication channels were made by General Lee because of standoff from his generals that happened in the previous day. He devised to attack the two Union troops with the help of Ewell's men to conquer the Culp's hill while the Longstreet army to destroy the south sides and eliminate the supply of resources to the Union team. Lee was certain that Meade would withdraw from the battle upon the destruction of their sole supplier which offered reinforcements to the army. Ewell's large force was quite monumental in this process as Robert Lee planned and integrated with weaponry barrage on the Union and Longstreet had an advantage of a sneak assault. Most of his leaders were unsure about his strategy and failed to take exact orders into positioning.

Using approximately three-quarters of the entire army on the war field, General Meade required just sustaining the fight with the Confederates until in the midday when his full force would be at Gettysburg location. He commanded the army to uphold their stands on high grounds. Along Cemetery Ridge his forces moved while Union General Sickles was commanded to take posts at the Round Top along the left edges. He did not follow the order because he assumed his troops were capable of overtaking the Peach Orchard and Devils Den. Sickles moved almost a mile fast of Round Top and to the Western side of the Union which left his army exposed and vulnerable to attacks because Meade was not aware of the move. In response, Meade tried to move to the south which caused the Confederate troops of Longstreet to face Sickle reinforced Devils Den group.

At around evening, Sickle's team had a challenge in defending the fortified grounds from Confederate men. In an attempt to find reinforcements, Longstreet moves to the Devils Den on the west flank. Ewell had to retreat backward to conceal the exposed flanks. By then, Sickles men were overpowered and Union tremendously restructured its lines. The Union was beginning to win on day two.

Day Three of the Battle

Early in the morning of day three, the Union troops recuperated their strength after an assertive push on Confederates which threatened Culp's Hill for close to eight hours. Lee had noticed his troops were close to winning the battler previous day and thusly, he sent three sections to make a primary attack on the center of the Union at Cemetery Ridge. Some groups such as the one led George Picket would proceed across the fields to overpower the Union posts.

Longstreet was opposed to the strategies laid forth by Lee, but the group later termed as Picket's Charge moved in aggression at 3 PM after an artillery clash but the Confederate weaponry. The Union soldiers started a gunfire battle with the advancing rivals from their hideouts; meanwhile, the brigade from Ohio, Vermont, and New York attacked all the rebels' edges putting them in hard positions. They could not sustain the attacks from all sides, the Confederates barely survived and the Pickett's force lost close to two-thirds of the troops. As the survivors tried to retreat backward to opening grounds, Longstreet and Lee moved to their defensive lines but still, the attack had failed.

The withdrawal of the Confederate Forces back into Virginia was a major setback to the northern crusaders established from the southern regions. This great battle was the changing point of the era of civil war and the Union Military was stronger than the Confederate brigade. The atrocities would now be led from the Northern parts into the Southern regions.

However, on 19th 1863 Abraham Lincoln, the then president of the US highlighted key elements about the fight against the Confederate States of America. His address to the nation was quite monumental and he became so passionate about the Battle of Gettysburg and its adverse implications.

The Consequences

Lee's strongly believed in victory, but his hopes were quashed during the invasion of North. He expected a counterattack on the next day but it never materialized. On that night, the rains became heavy and the ground became unbearable. The Confederate forces terminated the mission of attacks. The annihilated troops moved towards North Virginia. In as much as he would be a point of ridicule for not attacking after the Gettysburg, Meade knew that it was a tremendous loss for the Confederacy. The casualties for the Union team were close to twenty-four thousand. On the other hand, Confederates had lost close to thirty thousand men which were more than the third of Lee's troops. The North celebrated while the South did not find pleasure amidst mourning since they felt belittled. Lee presented his resignation to the president which was not successful.

Bibliography

"Battlefield Lessons." Rural Cooperatives 80, no. 4 (2013): 28-30.

Boardman, Sue. "War on the Doorstep." Civil War Times 56, no. 5 (2017): 38-45.

Felten, Eric. "Gettysburg in The Round." Humanities 37, No. 3 (2016): 24-27.

Hartwig, D. Scott. "Fault Lines." America's Civil War 31, no. 1 (2018): 12-14.

Huntington, Tom, and S. D. B. "I Felt a Sharp Sting." Civil War Times 56, no. 4 (2017): 52-58.

O'connell, Kim. "A New Charge." Civil War Times 57, no. 2 (2018): 48-51.