What was the Battle of Gettysberg?

Answer 1

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I'm not and nor are many other people.
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The Battle Of Gettysburg
July 1-3 1863

In July of 1863, General Robert E. Lee's Army Of Northern Virginia of 75,000 men and the 97,000 man Union Army Of The Potomac under General George G. Meade met, by chance, when a Confederate brigade sent forward for supplies observed a forward column of Meade's cavalry.
Of the more than 2,000 land engagements of the Civil War, Gettysburg ranks supreme. Although the Battle of Gettysburg did not end the war, nor did it attain any major war aim for the North or the South, it remains the great battle of the war.

Here at Gettysburg on July 1, 2, and 3, 1863, more men actually fought and more men died than in any other battle before or since on North American soil.

The war was to rage for two more terrible and tormenting years but the Confederacy never recovered from the losses of Gettysburg. And through the deepening twilight of Confederate military might, all who had been to Gettysburg would remember.

Answer 2

The Gettysburg Battle was an accident of two armies bumping into each other. Lee was invading the north without his eyes (Jeb Stuart's Cavalry) and heard from a spy that the Union army was getting close. His orders were to come together near Cashtown or the crossroads of Gettysburg. At the time, the Army of N. Virginia was spreadout from Harrisburg to south of Chambersburg. He had explicit orders not to engage the enemy until the whole army was in the field.

In the fog of war, however, Heth's Rebel Division moved toward Gettysburg looking for shoes. They ran into a cavalry pickett line under Gen. Buford. Heth brought up his whole division and buford held on until the Union Ist Corp came up.

Both sides brought up their armies piecemeal. On July 1, 1863, the Confederates beat back the Union and took control of Gettysburg and Semetary Ridge. Inexplicably, Gen. Ewell did not follow-up the victory with a charge up Culps Hill and Cemetery Hill. The high ground was therefore left in Union hands and the battle may as well have been decided on the 1st day.

Gen Lee was blamed for not giving specific orders to take the high ground ("if at all practicable" he said). Ewell was no Stonewall Jackson, and it showed.

The second day was almost won by the Rebs, with an assault on the Union left up Little Round top and Devil's Den. Two saviors of the day were Governor Warren who rushed troops to the undefended flank at the last moment and Col Chamberlains famous "fix bayonet" charge that stopped Gen. Hoods Texans from taking the flank. For his day at Little Round Top, (Chamberlain won the Cong. Med. of Honor)

The third day was a total blunder on Lee's part for ordering the sure death of proud Viriginians and North Carolinians, as 12,000 rebs attacked over open ground against entrenched infantry and massed artillery (AKA: Pickett's Charge).

The battle was the South's high water mark in the war, from then on they lost the strategic initiative in the war and were henceforth on the retreat.

Answer 3

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 battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War and is frequently cited as the war's turning point.
For more info go to - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gettysburg

Answer 4

You must be kidding me? Did you not pay attention in school?
Fought over the first three days of July 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg was one of the most critical battles of the Civil War having occurred at a time when the fate of the nation hung in the balance- the summer of 1863. Often referred to as the "High Water Mark of the Confederacy", it was the culmination of the second and most abitious invasion of the North by General Robert E. Lee and the "Army of Northern Virginia". The "Army of the Potomac", the Union army that had long been the nemesis of Lee, met the Confederate invasion at the crossroads town of Gettysburg and though it was under a new commander, General George Gordon Meade, the northerners fought with a desperation born of defending their home territory. The Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg resulted in Lee's retreat to Virginia and an end to the hopes of the Confederacy for independence.






(Library of Congress)
An open air operation at Camp Letterman.

In the aftermath of the battle, every farm field was a graveyard and every church, public building and even private homes were hospitals. Medical staff were strained to treat so many wounded scattered about the county. To meet the demand, Camp Letterman General Hospital was established east of Gettysburg where all of the wounded were eventually taken to before transport to permanent hospitals in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington. Union surgeons worked with members of the U.S Sanitary Commission and Christian Commission to treat and care for the over 20,000 injured Union and Confederate soldiers that passed through the hospital's wards, housed under large tents. By January 1864, the last few remaining patients were gone and so were the surgeons, guards, nurses, tents and cookhouses. Only a temporary cemetery on the hillside remained as a testament to the courageous battle to save lives that took place at Camp Letterman.




(National Park Service)
The Soldiers' Monument in the center of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg.

Prominent Gettysburg residents became concerned with the poor conditions of soldiers' graves scattered over the battlefield and at hospital sites, and pleaded with Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin for state support to purchase a portion of the battlefield to be set aside as a final resting place for the defenders of the Union cause. Gettysburg lawyer David Wills was appointed the state agent to coordinate the establishment of the new "Soldiers' National Cemetery", which was designed by noted landscape architect William Saunders. Removal of the Union dead to the cemetery began in the fall of 1863, but would not be completed until long after the cemetery grounds were dedicated on November 19, 1863. The dedication ceremony featured orator Edward Everett and included solemn prayers, songs, dirges to honor the men who died at Gettysburg. Yet, it was President Abraham Lincoln who provided the most notable words in his two-minute long address, eulogizing the Union soldiers buried at Gettysburg and reminding those in attendance of their sacrifice for the Union cause, that they should renew their devotion "to the cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion.."




(National Park Service)
Ranger E. Rubalcava provides information during a battlefield program.

Established by concerned citizens in 1864, the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association set out to preserve portions of the battlefield as a memorial to the Union troops that fought the battle. In 1895, the lands were transferred to the Federal government and Gettysburg National Military Park was established. Administered by a commission of Civil War veterans, the park's primary purpose was to be a memorial to the two armies that fought this pivtol battle, and to mark and preserve the battle lines of each army. Administration of the park was transferred to the Department of the Interior- National Park Service in 1933, which continues in its mission to presevre and interpret the Battle of Gettysburg and the Gettysburg Address to park visitors.

And its spelled Gettysburg.

Answer 5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gettysburg
copy and paste this is all you need to know