Gettysburg & Vicksburg
The battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg were two of the ultimate and deciding events of the United States Civil War. The Gettysburg battle was far and away the bloodiest battle in the war and was a direct defeat for General Lee and his puruit of the North. Vicksburg was also a demoralizing defeat for the Confederates given that they held on for dear life for more than a month and finally had to surrender after a prolonged siege. Both battlefronts hit their climax in July of 1863 and, in concert, spelled the end for the Confederates in the Civil War.
Details of the Battles
The Gettysburg battle was significant because it emphatically and definitely cut off the incursion of the Confederate Army into the North in 1863. aging on for a couple of days in early July of 1863, both sides sustained more than 23,000 casualties with at least 3,000…...
mlaRiley, MB. "Top Ten Civil War History Highlights from Gettysburg and Vicksburg, July 4
Battles of 150 Years Ago." The University of Cincinnati, in Cincinnati, Ohio, is a public, research university founded in 1819., University of Cincinnati.
(accessed October 7, 2013).http://www.uc.edu/news/NR.aspx?id=17932
Gettysburg
In a long war of attrition, which the Civil War became after 1861, all of the economic, financial and population advantages would favor the North since the South was a mostly agrarian region that imported its manufactured goods. Initially, both sides had expected that the war would be short and decisive, although by 1862 it was clear that it might drag on indefinitely. Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and the other Southern leaders realized that their best chance would be to win a series of rapid military victories early in the war then appeal to Britain, France and other European nations for diplomatic recognition. They did not wish to conquer the North nor did they ever imagine that they had the capacity to do so. Their only goal was to gain independence and force the other side to end the war, but the longer it lasted, the more the Union's…...
mlaOn July 3rd, Lee ordered a final attack by Ewell on Culp's Hill, which was thrown back. After this failure, he ignored Longstreet's advice again and ordered an attack on the Union center at Cemetery Ridge. The Confederate artillery fired until they ran out of ammunition at about 3 PM, and then Gen. George Pickett advanced with 12,500 men. After the bombardment lifted, the Northern troops were surprised to see the enemy marching in rows across open ground, and began to chant "Fredericksburg, Fredericksburg!" As a reminder of the defeat the Union had suffered there after attacking a well-fortified opposing force. Then the Union artillery and infantry opened fire with devastating effect, killing or wounding half of the attackers. They reached the Union lines only at one point, known as the Bloody Angle or 'the High-water Mark of the Confederacy." This was where Gen. Louis Armistead started waving his hat on the end of a sword to urge the Confederates on, but was then shot down. In cavalry engagements on the same day, Gen. George Custer Michigan cavalry distinguished itself against Confederate cavalry under Jeb Stuart and Wade Hampton, preventing a flanking attack on Cemetery Hill.
Conclusion
Modern historians calculate that the total casualties of this three-day battle were about 57,000, with about 3,000 dead on the Union side and nearly 5,000 for the Confederates, making it the deadliest single engagement of the war. Nearly one-third of the Confederate generals were casualties. On July 4, 1863, one day after Lee retreated from Gettysburg, the fortress city of Vicksburg surrendered, effectively cutting the Confederacy in two. Although there would be two more years of very bloody fighting, the South remained on the defensive and was slowly ground down in a relentless war of attrition. Had Britain and France intervened militarily and diplomatically on the side of the South, it might well have tipped the balance in favor of Confederate independence. After the defeats at Gettysburg and Vicksburg in 1863, the South's hopes for foreign recognition and intervention faded, although they still hoped that Lincoln might lose the 1864 election to the conservative, pro-slavery Democrat George McClellan. When Union military victories like General William T. Sherman's capture of Atlanta in 1864 made Lincoln's reelection inevitable, the Confederate leaders realized they had no more cards to play, for Lincoln had always been determined to fight the war to the finish. At least some Confederate leaders probably began to turn to truly desperate ideas in the final months of the war like kidnapping or even assassinating Lincoln, but this was grasping at straws. Their only hope for independence had always been a decisive military victory in a short war, before all the structural advantages of labor, population, resources and antislavery, free labor ideology all came into play to the advantage of the North.
Gettysburg
The Civil War was a battle that tore the United States into two dividing loyalties and families across the states. That it is a scar that still rankles the North and South cannot be doubted and yet, one event during the war is remembered over all others -- the Battle of Gettysburg. The battle took place for three days and yet, even today we see almost 1.3 million people visit the same ground in hope of reliving the event that took place on July 1 and 3, 1863. 75,000 Confederate soldiers under the leadership of General obert E. Lee and almost 84,000 Union soldiers who came under the command of General George G. Meade fought the Battle of Gettysburg. With about 51,000 casualties and more than 10,000 soldiers dead Gettysburg was considered to be one of the most tragic battles of the American history and one that changed the course…...
mlaReferences
SCHENSUL, JILL Staff Writer, ECHOES OF GETTYSBURG., The Record (Bergen County, NJ), 06-20-1993, pp t01.
Cobb, Ron Post-Dispatch Travel Editor, BEHIND EVERY GOOD GETTYSBURG MONUMENT IS AN EVEN BETTER STORY., St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 12-16-2001, pp T1.
Shaara, Micheal The killer Angels. New York: Ballantine Books 1974.
Peters, John U, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address., The Explicator, 10-01-2001, pp 22.
However, Lee won out, and the solid line attacked. It was a fatal decision as Union forces literally mowed down Confederate troops by the thousands.
One historian later concluded, "Apparently it never occurred to him that the position [the Union line on Cemetery idge] could not be taken" (Wert 101). While the numbers vary, most people agree the South lost between 3,900 to 4,500 men, while the Union lost about 3,155 during the three days of battle. Clearly, not nearly as many men died at Gettysburg as did at Antietam. The turning point did not rely on the number of men killed or wounded in battle. Ultimately, it depended on the momentum of the army and its leader. Lee made some mistakes on the battlefield, such as demanding a long, united line. It cost him thousands of men, the battle, and ultimately the war. The South turned toward home after…...
mlaReferences
Editors. "Antietam National Battlefield." National Park Service. 2007. 2 May 2007. http://www.nps.gov/anti/battle.htm
Kinsel, Amy J. "9 From Turning Point to Peace Memorial: a Cultural Legacy." The Gettysburg Nobody Knows. Ed. Gabor S. Boritt. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. 203-222.
McPherson, James M. Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Nofi, Albert a. The Gettysburg Campaign, June-July 1863. Conshohocken, PA: Combined Publishing, 1997.
Both days featured fierce fighting and thousands of deaths. Doyle points out that the Union troops had an advantage by retreating to "Little Round Top" and "Big Round Top," hilly areas that had many boulders, some of which the Union troops had piled high enough to be walls.
On that second day while the Union troops were "firmly in place on the high ground," Lee made a decision to attack both Round Tops. Lee's trusted officer, General Longstreet, urged Lee to attacked the rear of the Union position, but Lee went for the hilly locations instead. Because the Union troops had built "breastwork fortifications of diabase boulders" on the hill, that made it tougher to penetrate. The boulders kept the Confederate troops back even though the Union soldiers on top of the hills were far fewer than their opponents trying to scale the hills, according to Doyle.
Day three (July 3)…...
mlaWorks Cited
Doyle, Peter. "Military Geology and the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1863." Geology Today,
22.4 (2006): 142-149.
eHistory. "Gettysburg (1863) American Civil War." Retrieved July 24, 2012, from 2008.http://ehistory.osu.edu/world/battleview.cfm?bid=42 .
National Parks Service. "History & Culture: The Battle of Gettysburg." Retrieved July 24,
Antietam and Gettysburg
While most of the battles of the American Civil War took place on Southern territory, there were two major battles which took place in the North: Antietam and Gettysburg. In both cases, the Union forces were fighting off a Confederate invasion aimed at forcing the North to accept Southern secession. In both instances, the North was victorious, and these victories had a significant impact in the outcome of the war.
The Battle of Antietam took place near the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland on September 17, 1862. Southern forces, under the command of General obert E. Lee, had invaded the North in hopes of capturing the capitol Washington D.C.. However, an Union army under the command of General George McClellan intercepted Lee's army and fought it to a standstill. Outnumbered two to one, Lee retreated back into Virginia, however, the meek McClellan did not pursue and Lee's army escaped to…...
mlaReferences
Goldfield, David, R. et al. (2008). The American Journey. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Instead, he writes to poem to discuss the essence of Douglass's work. Until true justice is achieved, and until there is true social equity, Douglass's narrative will remain just a work of history. Hayden dreams of a world in which freedom is second-nature and we no longer need to study slave narratives to know why.
A focal point of the poem is the term "freedom," which is "beautiful and terrible" and as "needful to man as air." Hayden repeats the word "needful" in the last line of the poem to emphasize the necessity of freedom for human life, thereby implying that a life led without freedom is no life at all. Hayden's poem is empowering, as he focuses on the "dream of the beautiful, needful thing" rather than on the bitterness of the enslavement that prompted the poem in the first place.
Hayden incorporates a number of poetic devices to convey…...
mlaWorks Cited
Hayden, Robert. "Frederick Douglass."
Lincoln, Abraham. The Gettysburg Address
Stars in Their Courses: The Gettysburg Campaign June-July 1863
About the Author
Shelby Foote was born in Mississippi. His father died when he was five leaving his mother to raise him alone, he was also an only child. He was a reader from his early years, mainly because he was so alone. He was a teenager during the Great Depression. At the age of thirteen he became friends with Walker Percy, who he would remain friends with for 60 years and whose friendship is recorded in a book of the letters between the two friends.
Foote was editor of his high school paper and after high school went on to the University of North Carolina, where he contributed to the literary magazine. He dropped out of college during the second world war and joined the National Guard. He began writing fiction while waiting to go to war and in 1946 decided to write…...
mlaReferences
American Academy of Achievement. Shelby Foote: Novelist & Historian Biography. American Academy of Achievement, 2002.
Killer Angels by Michael Shaara (1993) gives a detailed account of the attle of Gettysburg -- the war that lured the dueling North and South to the tiny town of Gettysburg and was the first step in splitting the Union. Shaara gives his readers a view of the attle of Gettysburg as seen by generals and men who were at the heart of the battle. "The Killer Angels" is a historical tale that goes beyond the factual accounts of history textbooks, adding a personal touch that makes its readers feel like they are a part of the story.
The story takes place in Gettysburg, a small town near the Pennsylvania-Maryland border. Shaara tells the story of the attle of Gettysburg from both Northern and Southern perspectives, which serves as an excellent way to make the reader listen to and sympathize with both sides. Neither side is completely antagonized.
The main characters on…...
mlaBibliography
Shaara, Michael. The Killer Angels. Ballantine Books, 1993.
The Killer Angels
Clearly General Lee is fed up with the lack of intelligence; "I know nothing," he is thinking; Lee believed he could depend on the troops but "…can you count on the generals?" (173). On July 1, when all this activity began Lee ordered General Ewell to "take" the Powell Hill. Lee did say in the novel that Ewell should take the hill if it is "practicable" to do so (181). Lee was committed to taking the two "rounded hills" above Gettysburg, but it was not to be.
Ewell's excuse to Lee (as to why he didn't take the hill) was that it wasn't "practical" to do so and that Ewell's forces were "…waiting, ah, for many reasons" (226). Ewell went on to admit that he was perhaps too cautious, too careful (236). And it turned out to be a big mistake that Ewell was too cautious, and failed to follow…...
mlaWorks Cited
Shaara, Michael. The Killer Angels. New York: Random House (Large Print), 1974.
War can be seen as a pillar of te American tradition. We are a nation born of war - our Revolution - and defined by war - our Civil War.
Tere were a number of circumstances tat led to te colonists' rebellion against England and te monarcy. Tensions began to rise wen King George III issued te Proclamation of 1763, banning Englis settlements west of te Appalacian mountains and ordering anyone in tose regions to return east.
In 1764, te Sugar Act was passed, increasing duties on imported good, and establised a court to deal wit custom matters.
Te Currency Act proibited colonists from issuing paper money as legal tender, tus, destabilizing te colonial economy, and colonists called for a boycott of Britis luxury goods.
Te Stamp Act of 1865 ordered colonists to pay tax directly to England and te Quartering Act ordered colonists to ouse and feed Britis troops.
Tat same year, te…...
mlahttp://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm
Prelude to Revolution -- Civil War. The History Place
The war and the years that preceded it led to the creation of social classes in our country. These classes consisted of the rich upper-class down to the poor immigrants; and each class had its own rules and regulations by which it lived. To this day, a large part of our society is based on classes. Socially, the war divided races and started what would lead to racism, bigotry, and the separation of black and whites. The war had served as a pathway to change but it would be several decades before the racial views of whites would change and allow for blacks to be treated fairly. Another thing that changed shortly after the war was women's rights. This movement paved the way for women to be considered equal and treated fairly (Ferland, 2009).
Ever since the Civil ar ended there has been great discussion over whether or not the crisis…...
mlaWorks Cited
"Civil War Overview." 2008. Son of the South. 26 April 2009
Ferland, R.W. 2009. AuthorsDen.com. 26 April 2009
Lincoln's Speech Compared
The Evolution of Lincoln's Thought in His Speeches
Abraham Lincoln is one of the most celebrated and popular Presidents in the history of the United States. Lincoln presided over the Presidency at a difficult time for the country, when the unity of the nation was at stake and the question of slavery deeply polarized the society into two. Lincoln was able to preserve the Union, but at a great cost which made him as controversial as he was popular. But it is uncontroversial among his contemporaries and the readers of his speeches today that the sixteenth President of the United States was a great orator, able to address a broad range of audience: rich and poor, literate and illiterate, freemen and slaves; and he possessed a rare skill of persuasion. Lincoln was able to address a divided nation with great care and measurement. He was reserved when he knew…...
mlaWorks Cited
All the references come from The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, edited by Roy P. Basler, and is available online at (Accessed: February 19, 2011).
It appeared almost as if the South might win, and many of Lincoln's advisers "said that there was no way to win the war and he might need to compromise on slavery," (Moreton, 2008). However, Lincoln would not budge. It would have certainly been the politically expedient thing to do for Lincoln to surrender and make a compromise that would result in the preservation of the union on the South's terms. Lincoln did not want to preserve the union at the expense of its moral integrity, though. For Lincoln, the emancipation of the slaves was integral to the creation of a "more perfect union." eferring to the tremendous loss of life that the Civil War caused, Lincoln (1863) stated in the Gettysburg Address, "It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced."…...
mlaReferences
Goodwin, D.K. (2005). Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Lincoln, a. (1863). Gettysburg address. Retrieved online: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/gettyb.asp
Moreton, C.L. (2008). 10 Qualities that Made Abraham Lincoln a Great Leader. HRBLR. Retrieved online: http://hr.blr.com/whitepapers/Staffing-Training/Leadership/10-Qualities-that-Made-Abraham-Lincoln-a-Great-Lea
Phillips, D.T. (1992). Lincoln on Leadership. New York: Warner.
" (p. 164) the army of Charles was defeated in this battle however, it was not destroyed. The total loss of life in this campaign for each side of the battle was astronomical.
Chancellorsville
The work of Lieutenant Colonel Herman L. Gilster entitled: "Robert E. Lee and Modern Decision Theory" published in the Air University Review (1972) states in the attle of Chancellorsville, in Virginia in May 1863 involved a battle between the Union Army of the Potomac, headed by Major General Joseph L. Hooker and the Army of Northern Virginia, led by General Robert E. Lee. Specifically stated is:
During the campaign, Lee, with a force approximately half the size of Hooker's, repulsed the North's advance into Virginia and achieved a strategic victory that has been studied by students of military art throughout the world. However, today's critics of the quantitative-oriented decision tools being used by our military services say that this…...
mlaBibliography
Alexander, Bevin (2007) How the South Could Have Won the Civil War. Online available at: www.bevinalexander.com/books/how-the-south-could-have-won.intro.htm.
Bell, Jason (2006) Lost Triumph: Lee's Real Plan at Gettysburg - and why it failed" Army Lawyer 1 Aug 2006. Online available at http://www.encyclopedia.com/printable.aspx?id=1G1:155294558
C.H. Lanza, ed., Napo/eon and Modern War. His Mi/itary Maxims (Harrisburg, PA: Military Service Publishing Co., 1949), Maxim 77. In Ross (1985)
Carhart, Tom (2005) Lost Triumph: Lee's Real Plan at Gettysburg and Why it Failed.
Abraham Lincoln: The President Who Guided the Nation Through the Civil War
The American Civil War, a brutal conflict fought from 1861 to 1865, witnessed the rise of one of the most consequential figures in American history: President Abraham Lincoln. His leadership during this pivotal era played a transformative role in shaping the nation's destiny and forever etched his name in the annals of greatness.
The Road to the Presidency
Born in a humble log cabin in Kentucky in 1809, Lincoln's early life was marked by poverty and self-education. Despite these challenges, he developed a keen intellect and a deep understanding of law....
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