Why Was The Battle Of Gettysburg A Turning Point

The Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

On July 21, 1861 the first battle of the civil war is fought near Manassas, Virginia. It’s known as The Battle of Bull Run. The union army is under the command of General Irwin McDowell. The confederate army is under the command of General Pierre Gustav Toutant Beauregard. At first it appears as though the union is going to easily win this battle. Then the arrival of confederate soldiers under the command of General Joseph E. Johnston turned the Battle of Bull Run into a Confederate victory. On September 20, 1861 Lexington, Missouri fell to confederate forces under the command of Sterling Price. On February 22, 1862 Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the President of the Confederate States of America.

The general public may ask. Well to me the battle of Gettysburg is a gigantic turning point in the United States history. Why? Well because if the union had lost the war who knows where we would be now. Slavery could still exist because the Emancipation Proclamation would have failed. What’s it going to do if nobody will enforce it? Plus it only applied to slaves in rebel states. Also the United States might not even be here today. If the union had lost who’s to say that the South wouldn’t have successfully seceded from the union. We would then be known as The Union States of America and The Confederate States of America If the union had lost moral among the soldiers would have basically been nonexistent their numbers would have been very low and they would have lost territory to the south. Because the south did win the battle of Gettysburg the union was able to take out a large majority of confederate soldiers, and they gained a lot of southern territory. After the union win at Gettysburg the confederates were mourning all of their casualties and their loss. Robert E. Lee asked to retire after his failure at Gettysburg. He was denied that

To begin Lee had just has his Greatest victory of his war career at The Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia. Sadly Lee lost his greatest partner in war Stone Wall Jackson. “He has lost his left arm, but I have lost my right…” Robert E. Lee. After Lee’s victory he and his troops were in Pennsylvania trying to restock on supplies they needed when General Lee found out that Union Soldiers would be there. When the union soldiers arrived Lee had his army surround them and attack. This would later become known as one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil war. The main thing that needed to be taken in this battle was the two hills and I do believe the cemetery. The Union victory in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania led the union victory in Vicksburg which allowed the unions Anaconda plan to work. The unions anaconda plan was to cut off the south from really anyway to get supplies like food and weaponry. The victory of Vicksburg gave the union complete control of the Mississippi