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War Turning Point

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The American Civil War has the greatest death toll over any other war in the United State’s history. The Civil War had over 750,000 causalities during four bloody years, with the Battle of Gettysburg, a three-day battle, contributing 50,000 of those fatalities (Gugliotta 2012, p. D1). These battles were bloody, dirty, uncompassionate, and unforgiving. The Union fought the Confederacy for four years, trying to restore the country back to one piece, and diminish slavery from the United States (Rugemer 2009, p.58). One of the most well known pieces of the war, The Battle of Gettysburg, was one of these arduous battles. It was considered the turning point of the Civil War, not only because of the amount of militia that was killed, but because it …show more content…

President Lincoln held a national conference (Rugemer 2009, p, 68). This refusal set off a fuse of anger in the North. Historian, Allan Nevins (1953), says that the South’s refusal to surrender Fort Sumter had the Union feeling passionately angry, feeling, “Anger that swept the land. From every side came news of mass meetings, speeches, resolutions, tenders of business support, the muster of companies and regiments, the determined action of governors and legislatures.” This anger and discontent that the Union felt, ultimately lead Lincoln to send troops below the Mason-Dixon line to take back Fort Sumter, as well as other forts. Once the Union arrived down in Charleston, where Fort Sumter is located, the battle commenced. The Confederacy ended up winning and keeping the fort, but this battle was the official start of the American Civil War (Rugemer 2009, …show more content…

The Confederacy has won battles, as well as the Union, but both have made minimal progress. It is May 1863 and the Confederacy does have an upper hand in the fact that they just beat the Union in Chancellorsville. The Union had failed to take over Chancellorsville and decided to retreat back up north (Norton 2001, p.15). Meantime, General Lee began heading up to the north. They headed up to Virginia and through Western Pennsylvania. Western Pennsylvania was mostly farmland, and General Lee saw that to his advantage. General Lee purposefully went through that area because he wanted to collect supplies from the farms there. General Lee’s goal, as well as the Confederacy’s goal, was to weaken the Union, not only in numbers, but emotionally as well. Stealing supplies was just another tactic of the Rebels. On the other side of things, the Union was recovering from their loss in Chancellorsville (p16). They retreated back above the Mason-Dixon line; they soon heard that General Lee and his army were heading up to Pennsylvania. In order to protect Washington D.C., General Meade, a Union general, set his army between the Confederates and the capitol. General Lee marched up to and surrounded Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on July 1st, 1863, just one month after the battle of Chancellorsville (Gettysburg

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It all started when the Confederate Supreme Commander Robert E. Lee launched an assault that brought his army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania (Kagan and Hyslop 140). It is because of this movement of troops that the war shifted from Virginia to Pennsylvania after the Union Army followed them and left Pennsylvania. Lee proved that the Confederate army is capable of winning the war by making a bold move. This changed the Union strategy from defensive to offensive and trying to end the war quickly. On June 9th forces from Jeb Stuart's Cavalry division defeated opposition at Brandy Station and is able to guard the main Confederate army from raids as they marched to Pennsylvania (Kagan and Hyslop 140).

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What led to this battle, was General Robert. E. Lee, was leading his army to Pennsylvania, to try to gain a food advantage over the North. Unbeknownst to both sides, this would be the first battle in the North. Lee had hoped that with a northern victory, external countries would view the south as an organized country, and not a group of “rag tag bandits”, as some northerner’s called the south. He also hoped that a northern victory would finally make the Union allow the South to become its own country.

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But with the union retreating Lee still thought he was in good shape to win the battle. But he was mistaken because the first day of fighting had cost him too much and he drove the Union forces onto some excellent defensive to rain outside of Gettysburg. With these great positions the union soldiers were able to defend successive confederate attacks. The union 's position had great natural barriers that made it hard for the Confederates to

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The Confederate victory of Fort Sumter was the beginning of the Civil War. In the beginning of the war, 1861-1863, the Confederates were winning most of the battles. The Confederacy of the United States had advantages of military strategic plans and the majority of the battles took place in the south. The first battle occured on July 21st, 1861 known as the First Battle of Bull Run.

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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

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The Battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War, lasting four years and had over 50,000 soldiers dead on both sides. (Reardon & Vossler, 2013) The entire Civil War had lost between 620,000 and 630,000 soldiers, today this translates into 6 million American troops. The battle had more casualties due to invention of mini balls, used with Springfield 1861 musket. The bullet had a hallow base and groves, which stabilized it, allowing the bullet to reach the target with better range and accuracy. The wounds were deeper, and shattered bones.

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Lee needed to take pressure off the constant attacks to his army. He thought that if he took his army to the North, then the Union forces might become too spread out. So he took his army northward toward Pennsylvania. Union General McClellan pursued Lee. McClellan’s Union was twice the size of Lee’s army.

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Since the battle took place in Sharpsburg, Maryland it would be the first attack by the Confederates on Union territory. The Confederates were very hopeful that they would be victorious because this would definitely have a big impact on how the war would turn out because it would give General Robert E. Lee the knowledge that he can attack the Union on their home soil and have a chance of winning. “The action of the army against the rebels has not been quite what I should have best liked. But they have been driven out of Maryland, and Pennsylvania is no longer in danger of invasion.” This quote is by Abraham Lincoln explaining that he was not proud of the battle because of the number of casualties, but regardless they still came out with a victory.

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In this essay we will discuss how decision making turned the tide from the Confederates to the Union, pushing back Gen. Lee's army that would never fight again on Northern ground and bringing back confidence, pride and hope to the Union army. Battle of Gettysburg happened in Adams County Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Generals were George G. Meade the Union General and Robert E. Lee the Confederate General. The three day battle was on July

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The Battle of Antietam, (also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg), at the time was just another battle in the War Between the States. Some seasoned and experienced generals could see the seriousness of the situation from the beginning. However, many soldiers did not realize that this battle would be a major turning point in the war. It would be known as the bloodiest single day battle of the war with both sides sustaining thousands of deaths and injuries. The Union lost 12,400 men, while 75,300 were engaged in total.

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598 Words | 3 Pages

The Civil War was a very long and tiresome war that spanned over four years. The Civil War had an immense impact on the freedom of America. In the middle of the Civil War is the Battle of Chancellorsville, one of the most imperative battles of the Civil War. The name of the battle I chose for my research report is the Battle of Chancellorsville.

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The reason why the battle was such a defining moment for them is because it shifted the war in favor of the Union. The battle was a breakthrough for the Union while it was a major step back for the Confederate Army. The impact of the Union’s victory affects the nation as a

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585 Words | 3 Pages

The Battle of Gettysburg The Civil War was a war fought between the Confederate States of America (South) and the United States of America (North). Some states in the South seceded and wanted to keep slavery, but President Lincoln and the North would not allow secession and wanted to abolish slavery. The Battle of Gettysburg is commonly considered the turning point of the war, in which the Union (northern) army took a stand and drove the Confederate army out of Pennsylvania and back to the South. After a brutal three-day battle, the Confederate army, led by Robert E, Lee, knew they were defeated. This battle turned the tide of the war towards the Union, who was led by George Meade.

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1297 Words | 6 Pages

When the Civil War started in America, slavery was a controversial issue throughout the entire nation. Due to big plantations in the south, many African Americans were forced to work early mornings and late nights just to finish one day’s work, without pay. When the Union started to disagree with the act of slavery, the South revolted on April 12th of 1861, and thus began the Civil War, the bloodiest war the United States has ever fought. The events at Gettysburg were turning points for the Union and gave them motivation to go on and win the Civil War. The Battle of Gettysburg and the Gettysburg Address were monumental acts that created a new meaning of America, as they bind together the ideal that America was founded on, equality, with African Americans’ yearning for liberty.

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564 Words | 3 Pages

In conclusion, this battle was the turning point of the war. With this Confederate loss, it forced the British to not help them in the war, leaving them with no other help. This battle also took the lives of half of General lees army. Although both sides took major casualties, the south took the worse of the two.

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