The Battle Of Gettysburg

The Battle of Gettysburg The Civil war began on April 12th, 1861, only a month after Abraham Lincoln became the 16th president of the United States. The war began with a confederate attack on Fort Sumter in South Carolina. After the secession of seven southern states, the state demanded that the U.S. Army abandon all of its bases contained within the Charleston Harbor. This was just the beginning of the bloodiest war in American history. The war comprised of approximately fifty major battles, along with ten thousand minor skirmishes or battles. (“Civil War Battles” 2016) The Union, compromising of the states who were opposed to slavery, had over two million soldiers in their army, while the Confederation had a little over one million troops. The number of combined casualties between the two sides grew to be over half a million. This war is still the worst war in American history. At least one fifth of the people who fought perished in battle. One in every five men, from either side, died on the battlefield. Of these soldiers, over fifty thousand died in the Battle of Gettysburg. This battle is the bloodiest battle on record for America. To put this in a better perspective, the total casualties from the Vietnam War comes to approximately 58,000 troops, while the Battle of …show more content…
It was the bloodiest battle to ever occur on American soil with the casualties reaching to over 51,000 men from both sides. After the Confederate forces and General Lee retreated, it would become the biggest lost for that side of the war. They could not rebound from such a huge hit to their morale. Also, General Lee did not attempt another attack on that scale believing that he would not be able to outmaneuver or defeat the Union forces lead by General Meade. Furthermore, the Confederates believed they were unable to threaten any Northern territory like they did with the attack of Gettysburg. (Brinkley