What Was The Gettysburg Responsible For America's Downfall

All that was needed to dramatically turn around one of the bloodiest wars in American history were three days. The Confederate army led by Robert E. Lee was dominating Union forces and were headed to invade the North. Panic arose in the Northern states and people began to flee towns. Lincoln had to make a decision and be hasty. He appointed General George Meade to lead the Union army to the Battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The chaos which soon ensued on July 1863 would be a key factor to the Confederate States’ downfall. It is not very likely that the Union would be able to come out of the war victorious had it not been for their success at the Battle of Gettysburg. As mentioned previously, Lee’s army was an unstoppable force which was campaigning north. If they had prevailed in Gettysburg as well, they would only have a short distance left between them and the Union’s capital of Washington D.C. If the Confederacy were to invade the nation’s capital, the Union’s government would be unable to continue through the destruction and the seceded states would have won decisively. The Battle of Gettysburg promised a substantial reward for both …show more content…
This gave the Northern army a more heroic reputation, as they finally had a major battle victory to their credit. Up until this point, the Confederacy was emerging prosperous in nearly every fight that had broken out within the first two years of the war. Union troops retreated often and generals such as George McClellan were hesitant, perhaps even scared to pursue and directly confront enemies. However, the way the North valiantly triumphed at Gettysburg and proved that they were far from the cowards that people at the time might have thought of them to be. They were a respectable and efficient allegiance of persevering