The Role Of Gettysburg In The Civil War

The Civil War was a large milestone in the history of the United States of America. It was a clash of two armies that changed that country forever. The war may have transpired differently if a certain battle had a different outcome. The battle of Gettysburg was pivotal to the Civil War because it was the turning point and led to the defeat of the Confederacy, who had no possible way to recover from this massive defeat and loss of soldiers. The Civil War was moving north; General Robert E. Lee was on a victory spree. Lee wanted to push north to put a strain on Northern moral. He thought if they moved the war to the north that the Union would forfeit and let the south have independence. The south did not want to take the north; they just wanted

Lee already held many areas, such as Chambersburg and York. As Lee was pushing north, but Meade stayed between Lee and the capital to protect it (The Battle of Gettysburg, Web; Sandburg, 334-335). The first day of the battle of Gettysburg started with one of the Lee’s corps scouting the area near Gettysburg and they discovered Heth’s corps. The two engaged in battle and Heth was forced to retreat. Heth was reinforced with more troops from Buford’s corps and Lee took notice. Lee sent troops to pursue him and finish the job. Buford reinforcements and Heth’s division and battled a portion of Lee’s army. The Confederates generally won. They pushed the Union soldiers back to Cemetery Ridge. The confederates stopped attacking because the territory they were getting into was unfamiliar. Buford elected to stay in the area to see Lee’s next attack. Meade moved a majority of his forces to Gettysburg after the skirmish between Buford and Lee’s scouting group. Lee thought if the north is reinforcing this area then it must be very important. He decided to relocate all of his forces to this area. Meade took notice of Lee centralizing his troops. He amassed his forces and moved his troops to Gettysburg (The Battle of Gettysburg, Web; Dupuy,

The reconnaissance team informed Lee that the Federal line was not completely extended past the little round top. Longstreet, who was positioned down towards that end of the Union line where the Union line was thought to be exposed, was told to attack that flank. Lee also commanded Ewell to attack the northern flank. When Longstreet received his orders he said, "The truth will be known in time, and I leave that to show how much of the responsibility of Gettysburg rests on my shoulders.” Longstreet thought his attack would be the most important assault in the war; he treated it as such, but that was yet to come. (The Battle of Gettysburg, Web; the Public Square, Web).

G. K. Warren, a General on the Union defense was one of the main influences of the base of the fish-hook on the Union left flank. He noticed Confederate troops gathering near Little Round Top. He saw the critical role of this hill. He knew that if the Confederates took this hill that the Union defense would have had a very big problem. The Confederates would have a large advantage over the Union. He conferred with General Sickles and Sickles thought it best to defend the hill, then push forward (Dupuy,