Explain Why Was The Gettysburg A Turning Point

Why was the battle of Gettysburg a turning point in the Civil War? The Civil War was on going its third year in 1863, when the battle of Gettysburg broke out in unfamiliar territory. General Robert E. Lee had staged his troops on higher ground and ready to go before nightfall of June 30th, 1863, just before the small town of Gettysburg became known as the famous battle site it is in the Civil War (BG). The small-town battle took place in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, which was a union state. Many battles during the Civil War took place on Confederate grounds, making it an advantage to the Confederates. After the battle took place, three long-lasting days later, the amount of damage done to the Confederates put them at a major setback for the

The geographic layout of the territories where the battles took place gave higher advantages to each side depending on where the campaign was. Prior to the beginning of the battle, Union troops were aware of Lee’s troops coming to invade the Union territory, so they set out to catch up with Lee’s armies. By nightfall of June 30th, the Union troops had already settled in their places on higher grounds nearby Gettysburg (BG). The Union was more offensive, while the Confederates had a strong defensive strategy, resulting in more Union campaigns. The battle of Gettysburg took place in Pennsylvania, a free Union state, and was the only BIG battle in the Union territory, this gave a big impression in the rest of the Civil War. Victory by General Robert E. Lee could have caused a longer lasting war, or for the rest of the war to have gone differently after this battle (A). The loss by Lee and his troops, ruined is plans of continuing to go up further north to battle. Due to the Confederate loss, many of the following battles in 1864 and 1865, took place in Confederate territory now that Lee no longer wanted to continue going further north. Along with the occurrence in the south, the campaigns were mainly led by the Union (A). Military campaigns and geography are not the only reasons behind the battle of Gettysburg’s big turning

Due to disproportionate troops, the Confederates had a larger number of casualties during the war. During the last two weeks of June 1863, the new commander of the Union army, George Meade, decided they needed to catch up to Lee’ army by size, numbering their army to seventy-five thousand which was about the same size as Lee’s army (BG). In the end, the Union had a total of 23,040 casualties, in comparison to the Confederates 20,650-25,000, which way outdid their total (B). Comparing the size of their armies and military age men, the Union had five times the amount of men than the Confederates. The estimated size of the Union army was 918,000, with 6,000,000 military age men, by December 1863. On the other hand, the Confederates had the small amount of 278,000, and 1,200,000 military age men (B). The grounds of Gettysburg took place on the Union state grounds, which means that they had easier access to more military help if it was needed at any time. The confederates were hurt the most in result of the battle of Gettysburg, which allowed Robert E. Lee to lose his confidence as a general, and change the way they fought turning the war a different