Gettysburg was fought during which war?

Answer 1

It was a major battle fought between July 1 and July 3, 1863 with Lee commanding the South and Meade commanding the North, leading to Lee's abandonment of his invasion and retreat back to Virginia.

The battle was so major, that it is perhaps the most notable in the history of the war.

Answer 2

Entire books have been written about the US Civil War Battle of Gettysburg. Even elementary school children in the US know about this battle mostly because of US President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. The story of how Lincoln made a trip to the Gettysburg battle fields in November of 1863, to dedicate a cemetery there and address the crowds concerning the battle of the last Summer is well known to many American school students. To properly answer the question of "what was the Battle of Gettysburg", requires some background information.Robert E. Lee began thinking about Pennsylvania in February of 1863. He informed his staff engineer to prepare detailed maps leading to Harrisburg Pennsylvania.

Lee well understood that he needed to take away any Northern initiatives. To do this required an attempt to control the shape of the war by concentrating his forces against perceived weak points in the Union's army, attack and thus gain a good degree of parity against an army he knew would always be larger than any of his or other Southern generals.

His thinking was based on Napoleonic War Era strategies that gave an advantage to the offensive, even if they were outnumbered by the defense. And, as it turned out, he would face a large Army of the Potomac in Pennsylvania.

In the late Spring of 1863, he was sure of a major factor in the war up to that point, this was that to remain on the defensive in Virginia, would be less valuable then to take the risk of an offensive operation into the North.

In June, Lee asked for permission from the Confederate government to attack into the Union's territory and keep as few forces as necessary to defend Richmond against an assault from the North.

Confederate President Jefferson Davis gave Lee the approval to invade the North.

Lee was not going to undertake such an attack without first reconditioning his troops after the South's victory at Chancellorsville. He took care to reorganize his army in the best possible way to ensure it's strength. This meant dividing it into divisions that would be most responsive and have the finest maneuverability as possible.

Lee also reorganized his cavalry and artillery forces in preparation for the Northern invasion. It came to the point, that Lee had positioned the status of his Army of Northern Virginia, into the best shape it had been in some time. He also sought to speed up the coming march into the North by reorganizing his supply lines.

The significance of the Battle of Gettysburg is debated because historians cannot agree the exact motives of Lee for the campaign. This is no small matter in making statements about the battle's significance and what its purpose really was.

This question has been answered in different details by different historians.

Here however is one factor to consider that is rarely discussed.

Lee totally agreed with the idea first set forth by Napoleon. That factor revolved around his offensive strategy and the morale of his troops. According to Napoleon, troop morale can overcome as much as three times as much of the offensives actual physical power. Lee knew his troops had a high level of morale and that the Army of the Potomac, beaten once again in Virginia did not.

Lee was also emboldened by the fact that Union General George Meade had replaced General Joseph Hooker as commander of the Army of the Potomac. Lee believed that Meade was a better general then Hooker, however, once again, the Union's premier army had a new commander. Lee believed that it may well have caused confusion among the officer ranks.

With all this background provided, and the fact that the outcome of the Battle of Gettysburg was, its clear that Lee had made a huge and risky investment in the success of his invasion. The generally accepted goal of creating a groundswell of political and military objectives in favor of the South was not met.

The war, however, was far from over, and most historians do not consider the Battle of Gettysburg a turning point of the war. Events that followed the battle support this view.

The North, as in Shiloh was caught off guard, and President Lincoln was outraged as in Antietam, that Meade was unable to destroy the Army of Northern Virginia, even when it was miles away from its home in Virginia.

Answer 3

Yes, Gettysburg was one of the major Civil War battles.

Answer 4

The Civil War