battle of gettysburg?

Question

what was the histrorical signifance?

Answer 1

Historically the battle of Gettysburg was the high water mark for the Army of Northern Virginia, Lee would never invade the North again after the battle. Also it was a victory well earned by the battered Army of the Potomac, who for the first two and a half years was always on the losing end of many of Lee's and Jackson's campaigns. But here is the most important issue of all, it finally shot down all hopes of European intervention on the side of the Confederates. Brittian and France at that time were waiting for a major victory by Lee's invasion as proof that the Confederate Government could indeed invade and damage the Army of Potamac. This being the second attempt to invade foreign soil it was hoped by Lee that despite the slavery issue, that a major Confederate Victory would at least bring Brittian and France into the war as possible negotiators to end hostilities between North and South. Thus the failure at Gettysburg and the retreat of the Confederate Army back into Virginia assured that both of these countries would no longer see the Confederate States as a independant nation.

Answer 2

The Battle of Gettysburg (July 1 – July 3, 1863), fought in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign, was the bloodiest[1] battle of the American Civil War and is frequently cited as the war's turning point.[2] Union Major General George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac defeated attacks by Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, ending Lee's invasion of the North.

Following his brilliant success at Chancellorsville in May 1863, Lee led his army through the Shenandoah Valley for his second invasion of the North, hoping to reach as far as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, or even Philadelphia, and to influence Northern politicians to give up their prosecution of the war. Prodded by President Abraham Lincoln, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker moved his army in pursuit, but was relieved almost on the eve of battle and replaced by Meade.

The two armies began to collide at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, as Lee urgently concentrated his forces there. Low ridges to the northwest of town were defended initially by a Union cavalry division, which was soon reinforced with two corps of Union infantry. However, two large Confederate corps assaulted them from the northwest and north, collapsing the hastily developed Union lines, sending the defenders retreating through the streets of town to the hills just to the south.

On the second day of battle, most of both armies had assembled. The Union line was laid out resembling a fishhook. Lee launched a heavy assault on the Union left flank and fierce fighting raged at Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, Devil's Den, and the Peach Orchard. On the Union right, demonstrations escalated into full-scale assaults on Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill. Across the battlefield, despite significant losses, the Union defenders held their lines.

On the third day of battle, July 3, fighting resumed on Culp's Hill and cavalry battles raged to the east and south, but the main event was a dramatic infantry assault by 12,500 Confederates against the center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. Pickett's Charge was repulsed by Union rifle and artillery fire at great losses to the Confederate army. Lee led his army on a torturous retreat back to Virginia. Between 46,000 and 51,000 Americans were casualties in the three-day battle. That November President Lincoln used the dedication ceremony for the Gettysburg National Cemetery to honor the Union dead and redefine the purpose of the war in his historic Gettysburg Address.

Answer 3

Abe Lincoln gave his most famous speach, "The Gettysburg Address" right after the battle. Fun fact is that the speach was the shortest of his career. He wrote it on the train to PA

Answer 4

it was the turning point of the Civil war. The south lost more men than they could replace, and was forced to start fighting a defensive war, which is impossible to win

Answer 5

It was the turning point of the Civil War, and the North eventually won.

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