Battle of Gettysburg

Union victory and many historians say was the turning point in the War Between the States.

During Lee's invasion of the North, his army, many marching barefoot, badly needed shoes. They learned of a shoe warehouse at the railroad junction of Gettysburg and went there to commandeer the shoes. There, they stumbled upon a small band of Union soldiers, who sent word to the main body that they had found Lee. A Battle of Encounter ensued that neither side had planned on.

John Burns, a 69 year old non combat veteran of the War of 1812 fought with men of the famed Iron Brigade on July 1, 1863. There is a monument standing on the Gettysburg National Battlefield in his honor. See the link below.

armistead and Hancock

Lee was around five eleven, and weighed around 200 pounds.

At the very start of the Battle, on the first day, the Confederates probably had overall the best strategic position. The fighting on this day was mostly on the west and northwest side of town. The Rebels were coming in from the west, on the Cashtown Pike, which crossed several ridges as it neared the town. Union troops used these ridges to full advantage as defensive positions. But to begin with there were only Union cavalry on the field, and cavalry generally could not contend for very long with infantry. Though there were not a large number of these Union cavalry troopers, they were armed with repeating rifles, and so were able to give a good account of themselves, and slow down the numerically superior Rebels, who were forced to deploy into long lines, overlapping the ends of the shorter line the available Union men could form. But Union infantry was hastening to the scene, and just as their cavalry was about to have to give way they arrived, so more and bitter fighting ensued on the ridges west of Gettysburg. Though the Union infantry was eventually dislodged from these ridges the Rebels paid a terrific price to move them. At this juncture the strategic edge the Rebels enjoyed became factor. One entire corps of Lee's army had been on the banks of the Susquehanna River that morning, looking across at Harrisburg, the capital city of Pennsylvania. Summoned back to Gettysburg they marched by the direct route from where they were, and this brought them into Gettysburg from the northeast, or on the right flank and right rear of the Yankee force stubbornly contesting passage of the Cashtown Pike on the western edge of town. The Yankee front collapsed and the men fled through the town, ending up on Cemetery Ridge just south of the town. This became the Union position for the second and third day of the battle, and was definitely a strong position. The Rebels ended up holding the town and facing the Yankees south of town from Seminary Ridge, about a mile west of Cemetery Ridge. This was also a strong position, but that really was not helpful because the Rebels were constrained to continue to attack, situated as they were deep in enemy territory. They had to win the battle quickly, if they were to win it at all, so they had to take the initiative, which meant they had to attack the strong Union lines on the second and third days, and so got no advantage from possessing Seminary Ridge.

Taking place in the summer of 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg featured a number of famous generals and other officers from both sides of the Civil War. One of the most famous of all, General Ulysses S. Grant, was not present, as he was at that time in command of the Union forces besieging the Confederate fortress of Vicksburg in the Western Theater of the conflict.

{| |- | There are no major rivers in the area. There are a couple of small streams, but nothing that couldn't be waded through quickly. And there was at least one spring that was important in the battle. |}

The National Civil War Wax Museum was opened April 19, 1962. In 2004 its name was changed to The American Civil War Museum.

Jefferson Davis commanded, as a President, the Confederacy

Little bighorn & wounded knee

General Robert E. Lee,

Major General John Fulton Reynolds, the commander of the First Corps of the Army of the Potomac who was killed in the first days battles at Gettysburg.

The Confederate attack on the Union center on Cemetery Ridge resulted in nearly 10,000 Confederate casualties on the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg. This force, made up of elements from Ewell's and Longstreet's Corps' was led by General George Pickett whose own division would be decimated in the attack. This sad episode would be known to future generations as Pickett's Charge.

MITCH AND ROCCO LIKE PIE!!!

With the fall of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, the Federals gained full control of the Mississippi River and thus cut the Western Confederacy (Trans Mississippi District) off from the eastern two thirds of the Confederacy. Control of the Mississippi was vital to the Union's Anaconda Plan which was intended to strangle the Confederate supply lines both foreign and domestic.

So he could get his freedmen/Independence, and make the building historical!!~!!

The basic theme of the Gettysburg Address is twofold. First, it declares the need to recognize the accomplishments of the courageous soldiers who fought and died for the Union cause during the battle. Second, it inspires the listeners to carry on that fight to its proper end: preservation of the Union and achievement of greater freedom, and true democracy, in America.

Most historians and scholars believe the turning point of the American Civil War was the Battle of Gettysburg fought in July 1863.

If a person was shot in the arm, his wound was cleaned by water, sealed, and bandaged. However, if the musket round hit the bone, the arm was sawed off. Did you know that you are more likely to save a limb from a bullet wound than from a musket wound?

The brave men, living and dead, who struggled on the battlefield.

Operation Dynamo, carried out by volunteers at Dunkirk in 1940, rescued 350,000 British and French soldiers and transported them to England.

They were very important. The whole reason the war occurred was due to their policies. In the quest for empire, European nations formed alliances. The combination of these alliances, and the mishandling of them by the European statesmen caused the war to start, and drag on despite the obvious stalemate and mass slaughter.

If you mean military personnel dead, then there's no question that it's WWII, no where or when were the armies larger and more equipped to kill than during the Second World War. I would estimate around 15-25 million military deaths. WWI would be second to follow: 10-15 million. The Napoleonic wars were also pretty terrible, probably 2-3 million military deaths.

If you're talking about simple fatalities caused by the war, there have got to be others. Probably the worst was the European subjugation of the American Continent. Accepted estimates go up to 100 million people, mostly from smallpox and other old world diseases World War Two estimates range from 45-75 million deaths total. Mongol Conquests are close behind, maybe even more than WWII, because of the prolific use of biological warfare. An Lushan Rebellion in China was probably the worst in terms of time and population. 8th century BC, around 2/3's of the population died, or 30 some million. A series of other wars in China match these casualty rates, Mongol invasion, Manchu succession, Taiping rebellion, and so on. The classic western wars can no way match up to these.

Uncle Tom's Cabin By Harriet Beecher Stowe was definatley a cause of the Civil War. It stirred up some people and told the truth behind slavery. Abraham Licoln Later referred to harriet as the 'Little Lady Who Started the Great Big War' It's about a slave named Uncle Tom who lead a pretty ease life. His wife loves him very much, he has lovely children, and his owner and himself grew up together. One day the owner runs out of money and gets a morgage from a friend. Well, not exactly a friend. Any way, the owner is not able to pay it back. The owner gives Tom to the friend, who is mean and Cruel to his slaves. But while the slaves are going to their new home on a ship, a little girl sees Tom, and she goes to play with him. They become good friends and she begs her daddy to buy him. He does, and Tom begins a new job. He has a very easy life again, until the little girl falls deathly ill. She dies, but before that, she requests that Tom be set free. The father agrees, and needs to contact his lawyer. The father goes into town and dies as well. Then the wife, who has been sick , and despit the housekeepers plea to follow the request of the little girl, sells Tom to a very rich, mean man. Meanwhile Tom's wife Chloe is working to make the money to buy Tom back. All is awful, but worse goes to worse when a couple runs away, and Tom knows where they are. He refuses to tell, and gets lashed harshly. He is then left to die. Chloe raised the money and the son is sent to fetch him. However, it is to late and Tom is beyond curing. He dies in the Son's arms. Slavery Slavery itself was a major cause of the Civil War. The Drett Scott case, John Brown's raid, and the mighty increase in slavery also started the War. The Drett Scott case was where Drett Scott had been to a free state, and thought that this meant he was free. The Supreme Court rued 7 to 2 that slaves are not Americans thus don't have the right to sue. John Brown was an Abolistionist who believed in voilence. He attacked towns and stole weapons that he was going to give to the slaves to shoot themselves free. He killed many innocent people in doing so. Before he could make his major raid, he was stopped. He was tried with treason and was in the gallows the next day. The Fugitive Slave Law Act The Fugitive Slave Law Act states that any runaway slave in the North may be taken down to the South. It also said that if and Northerners were to help the slaves, the Northerners would face fines, jail time, and possible execution if it continued.