Gettysburg A Turning Point Dbq

Gettysburg: A Turning Point in the Civil War The Battle of Gettysburg was well-known as the bloodiest battle in the Civil War. In July 1863, 75,000 Confederate troops with Robert E. Lee faced off against 75,000 Union troops with George Meade and Abraham Lincoln. The Confederates were fighting to maintain their way of life and keep slavery, whereas the Union was trying to bring back the Southern states and end slavery. The Battle of Gettysburg proved to be decisive in the end result of the Civil War, which begs the question: Why was the Battle of Gettysburg a turning point in the Civil War - the point at which we see the Union starting to clearly win? The Battle of Gettysburg was a turning point in the Civil War because it was Lee’s northernmost

In Document B, the Union had estimated 23,040 casualties and the Confederates estimated 20,650 - 25,000 casualties, the total made up of killed, wounded, and missing. The overall size of the Union army of December 1863 was 918,000 troops, Confederates had 278,000 troops. Although there were troops out on the field, both sides also had extra men available, the Union had 6,000,000 men while the Confederates had 1,200,000. In terms of casualties, as a proportion of troops available, Gettysburg was a big setback for the South. The loss was proportionally greater for the Confederates and they had more irrecoverable losses. If the South had more troops available and less casualties they would have had a greater chance at winning the Civil

In Document C, excerpts from two letters written by Robert E. Lee to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, General Lee wrote about his loss and asked to replace him because he failed to win the Battle of Gettysburg. After losing, public newspapers wrote about his loss against the North which discouraged him even more. General Lee was someone many troops looked up to and he inspired many, seeing that he was so discouraged after one loss may have lost some motivation from the rest of the troops which can cause the turning point. In President Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address”, he spoke about the dead soldiers and told the troops to give “the last full measure of devotion” which means to fight to ‘till you die to honor them. This speech no doubt highly lifted the Union troop’s spirits for the future battles in the Civil War which may potentially have caused the turning