Something has to change, or the South is going to win the war…

Something has to change, or the South is going to win the war…

As a result of the battle of Chancellorsville, the Union is about as low as they could be. The Union was shocked by the defeat. President Abraham Lincoln was quoted as saying,

"My God! My God! What will the country say?"

After Chancellorsville, Lincoln turns to George Meade to run the Union forces.

Meade was told to find and fight Lee’s forces all the while protecting Washington D.C. (Meade’s statue at Gettysburg)

Cavalry delaying action, 7:00–10:00 a.m.

John Buford’s cavalry holds the confederate off ahead of town!

John Reynolds died on the first day of battle, but not before his men are able to hold off the confederacy north of town allowing them to retreat after defeat to the high ground south of town where they can gain reinforcements and hopefully have more success the second day.

Abner Doubleday was also in command of heroic union troops who retreated through the town of Gettysburg with gunfire raining down on them!

Gettysburg made Doubleday a hero, but his heroism was exaggerated when he was erroneously given credit for inventing baseball.

John L. Burns, a civilian of Gettysburg, picked up his rifle and headed out to fight on the first day of battle to aid the Union cause. He is known as the “old hero of Gettysburg”.

Day – 1 - A Summary…

- Accidental meeting (not aware of each other’s location

- Confederate wins

-Buford’s cavalry holds high ground for the Union

- Many more come to fight

Gettysburg - Day 2Gettysburg - Day 2

Arriving late into day 1 at Gettysburg, General Lee takes over this civilian home as his headquarters for the plan for day 2 of fighting!

"Lee has arrived, and our hopes are high that we will wipe them clean out this time. Lee has an army great in numbers and spirit, and I believe he will wield it greatly. He is silent, inscrutable, strong, like a god."-Lt. John H. Chamberlayne, Virginia Artillery, CSA, Aug. 15, 1862

"It is well war is so terrible, else we should grow too fond of it.“

-General Robert E. Lee, commanding the Army of Northern Virginia at Fredericksburg

Some of the most vicious fighting that took place at Gettysburg happened at Devil’s Den. You can see how hard it would have been to maneuver around at this location.

As Day 2 continued, this is the view, or perspective, that the 15th of Alabama, who had been marching for quite sometime to get to Gettysburg to fight, would have had as they began to attack marching up the area known as little round top. Their hope was to outflank the Union Army by coming in behind their lines and attacking them from a second direction.

Col. Strong Vincent of V Corps had a precarious hold on Little Round Top, an important hill at the extreme left of the Union line. Brig. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren, had realized the importance of this position, and dispatched Vincent's brigade, an artillery battery, and the 140th New York to occupy Little Round Top mere minutes before Hood's troops arrived. The defense of Little Round Top with a bayonet charge by the 20th Maine was one of the most fabled episodes in the Civil War and propelled Col. Joshua L. Chamberlain into prominence after the war.

A portion of his brigade detached and moved up and over Big Round Top. Lead by the determined Confederate Colonel William Calvin Oates, their orders were to attack and turn the far left of the Union line on Little Round Top.

As Day 2 continued, Confederate General Evander Law's men strove to take the positions held by the men in blue on Houck's Ridge and the Devil's Den.

Colonel Strong Vincent charged the 20th Maine with holding this ground on Little Round Top "at all hazards." To give up this ground meant risking the surging Confederates gaining this hill and threatening the rest of the long blue line.

Joshua

Lawrence

Chamberlain

Some historians

have cited

claims by

Lieutenant

Holman S.

Melcher that he

led or initiated

the bayonet

charge, although

most credit

Joshua Lawrence

Chamberlain for

the maneuver.

At times I saw around me more of the enemy than of my own men; gaps opening, swallowing, closing again with sharp convulsive energy. All around, a strange,

mingled roar.“ -Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, 20th Maine, at Little Round Top

The unsung hero of Gettysburg! Colonel Patrick O’Rourke

Patrick O'Rourke (March 25,

1837 – July 2, 1863) was an Irish-American immigrant who

became a colonel in the Union Army during the

American Civil War and was killed at the

Battle of Gettysburg. He was a huge loss

for the Union army as he

graduated first in his class in June 1861 at

West Point. He had a promising military career ahead of him

until his unfortunate

death at Gettysburg.

Day – 2 - A Summary…

- Rebels try to out flank Union

- 20th Maine runs out of ammo

-Bayonet charge helps the 20th of Maine defeat the 15th of Alabama

- Holding high ground = Union win!

Gettysburg - Day 3Gettysburg - Day 3

As Day 3 began, Lee felt that the Union was spread thin along their lines over Cemetery Ridge and Cemetery Hill, so he felt to attack the Union hard in the center of their lines would give them the element of surprise, and also would allow them to break the center and attack each end from two directions, giving them the high ground and ultimate victory!

The view across the field of Pickett's Charge from the Virginia State Monument where General Lee watched the charge.

The nine brigades of men stretched over a mile-long (1,600 m) front. The Confederates encountered heavy artillery fire while advancing across open fields nearly a mile to reach the Union line. The ground between Seminary Ridge and Cemetery Ridge is slightly undulating, and the advancing troops periodically disappeared from the view of the Union cannoneers. As the three Confederate divisions advanced, awaiting Union soldiers began shouting "Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!" in reference to the disastrous Union advance on the Confederate line during the 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg.

Up men to your posts Don't forget today that you are from old Virginia! -George Pickett

"Come on boys! Give them the cold steel! Who will follow me?"

-Brigadier General Lewis Armistead, CSA, July 3, 1863

"It is all over now. Many of us are prisoners, many are dead, many wounded, bleeding and dying. Your soldier lives and mourns and but for you, my darling, he would rather be back there with his dead, to sleep for all time in an unknown grave.“ -Major General George Pickett, CSA, to his fiancée, July 4, 1863

Pickett's Charge was a bloodbath. While the Union lost about 1,500 killed and wounded, the Confederate casualty rate was over 50%. Pickett's division suffered 2,655 casualties (498 killed, 643 wounded, 833 wounded and captured, and 681 captured, unwounded). Pettigrew's losses were worse, and are estimated to be about 2,700. The total confederate losses during the attack were 6,555,

The high-water mark of the Confederacy refers to a location on Cemetery Ridge, outside Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. A high water mark denotes the highest level reached by a body of water. Here it refers to the deepest penetration by the Confederate States Army of the Union Army lines during Pickett's Charge of the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. The term does not imply that Gettysburg was the farthest north that Robert E. Lee's army had advanced geographically, but is a symbolic reference to the arguably best chance the Confederate Army had of achieving victory in the war.

”General, I have no

division..."

-Major General George

Edward Pickett to General Lee at GettysburgJuly 3, 1863

Day – 3 - A Summary… - Rebels try to hit center of union

- Pickett’s men make a mile charge

-Rebels lose thousands; retreat

-Rebel casualties 28,000 (75,000 fight)

Union 23,000 (85,000 fight)

Why is Gettysburg the turning point?- A rebel win would have threatened North, D.C. possibly ending war

- The rebel losses prevent further north attacks (NEVER THIS FAR NORTH AGAIN!)

-Rebel losses will force them to play defense for the rest of the war!

Even when captured, these confederate soldiers showed their southern pride as they posed for this very famous Civil War photo. This was a snapshot of the problem the confederates now have…

Rebels don’t have the manpower to make major offensive attacks anymore!

While momentum has shifted, the war is nowhere close to over, and fighting wages on!