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The Battle Of Gettysburg: Why Was It A Turning Point?

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Gettysburg: Why was it a turning point?

The battle of Gettysburg was fought in and around the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on July 1-3, 1863. The military leaders were George Meade on the Union side and Robert E. Lee on the Confederate side. There were around 160,000 troops involved, with ~85,000 troops on the Union side and ~75,000 troops on the Confederate side. The reason this particular battle was quite bloody was because the sheer amount of people fighting made it quite difficult to give everyone medical care. It was likely not enough. The outcome, after a long, bloody, battle was a Union victory. The Battle of Gettysburg was the turning point of the Civil War because of 4 reasons: military decisions, casualty numbers, soldier morale, and public opinion.

One reason Gettysburg was so important was because it decided who would get the upper hand …show more content…

A map of major campaigns of the Civil War shows that the Southern military campaign leading up to Gettysburg was an attempt to break into Union territory. If the Confederacy won at Gettysburg, they would've had a good position, able to march towards the Union capital. This could've led to an ultimate Confederate victory. The military decisions made here were make-or-break. Another reason Gettysburg was so vital was the amount of casualties it inflicted on both sides. This weakened both armies for the rest of the war. Both sides had a similar amount of casualties, with around 20,000 casualties for each side. However, since the South had a smaller army, they lost a bigger chunk of their army (32 percent loss as opposed to the Union's 27 percent loss). The South would once again be at a disadvantage, as they have even less soldiers than they had before. Gettysburg also heavily lowered Southern morale. It got rid of one of their only advantages- their passion to fight. A letter written by General Robert E. Lee to

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