Gettysburg A Turning Point Essay

Great Essays
The Civil War is to be one of the worst times in American History, with two sides of America battling over American rights and different views from the the Union (North) and the Confederacy (South). During this war there was countless American lives taken and countless battles, but one battle that probably stands out more than others is The Battle of Gettysburg for many reasons. Why do historians and many others consider The Battle of Gettysburg to be the bloodiest of all battles in the Civil War and turning point for the Union in the War. The Battle of Gettysburg lasted three days ,with over ten thousand Union and Confederated soldiers dead and around three times that amount wounded its hard to believe that this many americans could be dead …show more content…
Well many would say yes, but there was still many battles and historic moments that went on into 1864, but it was a huge win for the Union as it was there first major win against General Lee and his confederates army. To put on top of all that the Battle of Gettysburg did heavy damage to General Lee’s forces between enlisted and officers. With all that I would have to agree that it was a major turning point in the war first win against General Lee’s boosted morale and put a dent in the confederates and shortly after that grant had taken back Vicksburg to split the confederate army in …show more content…
Losing over 50,000 Americans lives and blood and dead bodies stretching miles long through Gettysburg. Lack of doctor’s and nurses did not help the wounded basically if you had severe injuries you were more than likely going to die. With this battle being a turning point for the Union Army and being the first major victory against Robert E. Lee and the confederates pushed the true heart of this country and only pride and courage could have gotten us and Americans through these hard times when our country was probably at there weakest. As these times were tough and brutal, we as Americans have grave in improvements in military tactics and technology since that time with causing less tragic loss of American

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The casualties in the North and South were bad. The union army started out with 75,000 soldiers, and of that, there were 4,835 casualties. The confederate started out with 34,000 soldiers, and of that they had 3,300 with nearly 30,000 captured by the union. When Pemberton surrendered to Grant, President Lincoln wrote that the Mississippi River “again goes unvexed to the sea” (Warren 61). After the battle, the town of Vicksburg didn’t celebrate the 4th of July for nearly 81 years.…

    • 209 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Over 600,000 casualties was the devastating result of the Civil War, America’s bloodiest military conflict. The South’s decision to secede from the Union is what prompted the onset of the Civil War, which started April 12, 1861- May 9,1865. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was a Colonel for the Union army. Although he was in multiple battles in the Civil War, he is most remembered for his role in the Battle of Gettysburg. Of all battles fought during the Civil War, it was argued that the Battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest and deadliest battle because it resulted in roughly 50,000 casualties.…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Our once decimated army rose up to 70,000 men. Grant decided that we would siege Vicksburg, cutting it off from all supply. For weeks we were forced to dig trenches that brought us closer to John Pemberton’s defense positions. It was incredibly difficult and physically demanding. All of us worked our blood, sweat, and tears into it.…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On July 3, 1863, Pemberton sent word to Grant that he needed to examine surrender. The next day, July 4, 1863, Union forces acknowledged the surrender of Vicksburg. More than 30,000 Confederates were paroled, as they were starving and in poor condition. Grant came to lament this, the same number of rejoined the Confederate armed force, abusing the terms of their parole. This is one motivation behind why in 1864 the Union armed force halted all detainee trades with the Confederacy.…

    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What comes to mind when you hear the Battle of Gettysburg? Some might say Pickett’s Charge, Buford’s defense, or Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. However, one of the more important events was Joshua Chamberlain’s defense and bayonet charge on Little Round Top. On July 2nd, 1863, on the far left Union flank, stood Joshua Chamberlain and his 20th Maine. Had the Confederate broke through, they would have outflanked the Union, ultimately winning Gettysburg.…

    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “How was Gettysburg Turning Point in The Civil War?” The civil war, fought from 1861 to 1865, was an extremely bloody war fought by two sides of the same coin. America was fighting itself over two opposing views in government over slavery. The northerner’s popular opinion was against slavery even though they profited from slavery just as much as the south, who wholeheartedly supported slavery mostly for the clear economic benefits.…

    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Up until that point it was hard to say who was “winning the war” but Union victory tipped the scale in their favor and it stayed that way for the remainder of the war. Had Robert E. Lee not lost the Battle of Gettysburg it would have been very likely for the Confederacy to have completed their invasion of the North and won the war. The Battle of Appomattox set up a chain reaction of surrenders in the South and ultimately the defeat of the Confederacy. Lee’s army was one of the first to surrender themselves to Union forces. A lot of the other regiments had not lost to the Union yet but with the defeat of their leader all hope was lost for the…

    • 1374 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Battle of Gettysburg was a very bloody battle that changed America. But was the Battle of Gettysburg the turning point of the Civil War? The Civil War started in the spring of 1861 and ended in 1865. It began mainly because of the differences between the North and the South. The South wanted slavery to expand, while the North wanted to abolish slavery.…

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gettysburg Dbq

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The small market town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, with a population of 2,400, recently hosted the latest battle of the Civil War. This battle was fought July 1-3, 1863. The Battle of Gettysburg is thought of as the most important clash of the Civil War. The Confederate’s casualties totalled to 28,000 out of 75,000 and the Union’s casualties totalled to 23,000/88,000. 160,000 people were involved.…

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Second Bull Run Analysis

    • 237 Words
    • 1 Pages

    These two battles would be the turning point in the war, though the South still had fight left in it. Gettysburgis an attentiveness encounter. After, his victory at Chancellorsville, Lee became persuade of his army's invincibility and set in movement what would turn into his following invasion of the North. There's a lot of disapproval of Lee's move. After, Second Bull Run, numerous historians were convinced that he should've continued on the tactical defending after Chancellorsville.…

    • 237 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    This event is very important to us Americans because it was the last battle of the Civil War. If this event hadn't happened, the Civil War may have gone on for many months or maybe even years after that. This would have resulted in many more deaths of the Union and Confederacy.…

    • 207 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Cold Harbor Turning Point

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The battle was his final major win for the Confederate States. The war was very deadly because of the use of technology and tactics. It is remembered as one of the bloodiest battles in American History. It was one of the final battles of the union.…

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    There was 23000 Americans killed, wounded, or missing that day; Just one day. With the large amount of mistakes made by the generals of both sides, primarily by General McClellan, the body count just added up with each mistake. This first push into the north by General Lee’s army was a failure. This drastically killed the momentum created by the past few wins by the Confederacy. Et al…

    • 1733 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    All in all, the victories for the Union at the Battle of Gettysburg and Vicksburg reassured a turning point of the American Civil War. The Battle of Gettysburg took away all the possibilities of the Confederates acquiring help from Britain and France. After the loss for the Confederates, being able to invade the Northern soil become a very vague and rare thought. After having the ability to siege Vicksburg, the Union led it 's way to winning the Civil War. The moral boost that was received along small and large battles, led to the fact that the Union had a better chance of unifying the…

    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Battle Of Gettysburg Essay

    • 1044 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The war of Gettysburg started on July 1, 1863 and ended on July 3, 1863. The battle of Gettysburg lasted a small three days, but the war was perhaps one of the most deadliest wars ever fought out on American soil. Before the war of Gettysburg started, Robert E. Lee had won a tremendous battle at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, in May 1863. After the battle Robert Lee had already came up with a plan to strike the North again. This time he would strike Virginia again, but this time at Gettysburg.…

    • 1044 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays