Battle Of Gettysburg :: essays research papers fc

Selected Views of the Battle of Gettysburg On July 1st of 1863 the battle of Gettysburg began. The battle was more less an unexpected disaster; neither side had planed the battle they ended up in the same place and the battle begun. There where many wounded and many casualties. Much like the final battle in The Red Badge of Courage when most of Henry’s regiment is wiped out by a daring charge. This charge leads to the downfall of the Confederacy as well as the fall of Henry’s regiment. 3 days before the battle of Gettysburg the Union replaced General Hooker with General George G. Meade. The Battle lasted for 3 long bloody days. The Confederate army took heavy casualties causing this fight to be a major turning point in the war. Although the union was losing the war up to this point and out number 75,000 to 97,000, they still managed to win this crucial fight. â€Å"This was the bloodiest battle in the American history, on American soil† (tqjunior.advanced.org). On the first day of the battle not much fighting took place, not all of the army was there from either side. It seemed the Confederacy had the upper hand at first because they had twice as many men as the union in the beginning of battle. But the Union had the new repeating rifles that reloaded much faster then the Confederacy’s single-load muskets. The Union army positioned it’s self along wood fences on McPherson’s Ridge. These men were one of the first units to enter the area. They where able to hold off Lee’s army until more Union troops could arrive. The Confederates where not prepared for this new rain of bullets and they were forced to start retreating. After a short retreat they regrouped and began a flanking attack. The union was forced to retreat and Gettysburg had fallen to the confederates for the day. The next day there would be hope for the union would have a new advantage. On day 2 the Union troops positioned themselves on top of Cemetery Hill and Cemetery Ridge. General Sickles of the union was ordered to fortify Little Round top but he saw no value in this and advanced to Devil’s Den. After heavy fighting in Devil’s Den General Sickles army was forced to retreat several times first to the Wheatfield, then the peach orchard and finally to Emmetsburg road. There where battles fought at each location as well as fighting on Culp’s hill that had a famous bayonet charge by Colonel Chamberlain. General Longstreet was order to attack Little Round Top, Devil’s Den, the wheat fields, and the peach orchard.