The battle of Gettysburg was one of the most important battles in the Civil War. If I was a Union soldier on cemetery ridge or little round top, I would be scared. Imagine bullets tearing down your friends around you, blood spattering the ground and yourself. I would be thinking “imgoingtodieimgoingtodieimgoingtodie” over and over. However, I would grasp onto that little light at the end of tunnel, hope. I would feel tortured inside, but I’d have to kill fellow human beings to save my own life. I would wonder if this was the most ethical way to settle a problem. But I would have to kill other soldiers, and that would kill me inside. With the fear of getting killed, the adrenaline rushing through my veins, taking the shot to end one life, and save another. And I would have to face this internal conflict over and over until it was safe, or until another soldier decided to make that same decision and chose me as their target. This is what I would feel if I was a Union soldier in the battle of Gettysburg. …show more content…
A third day of blood, gore, and death and we still didn’t know who was going to win, what our families might learn in the next week. I would be hesitant to trust our leaders because something could go wrong statistic wise. What if they come up from behind, what if they trick us. Then we are all shoulder to shoulder in an advancing line towards the enemy. I would be frightened as my teammates fell down and we couldn’t stop to help them. But at the end of the day, when I was still alive we knew it was over and that, for now, we were
bloody and costly years for both sides we come to the date of July 1,
Today, the Battle of Gettysburg is considered one of the most important battles of the American Civil War. However, with 23,049 casualties on the Union side and 28,063 on the Confederate side, it can also be considered one of the bloodiest (Civil War Trust). Such heavy losses naturally rattled the entire nation and Americans on both sides began to question the war and what it stood for. As Americans gathered together at the consecration ceremony of the Gettysburg National Cemetery, the much acclaimed orator and politician Edward Everett delivered what was meant to be the Gettysburg Address. Yet, today, it is not Edward Everett’s Gettysburg Address that the world remembers, but Abraham Lincoln’s, who was invited to the ceremony almost as an afterthought. Lincoln’s 272 words helped remake America by giving hope to its citizens at a time when they were at their lowest.
The types of challenges that the Generals have faced during The Battle of Gettysburg are, location, following orders, and the weaponry. In a life or death situation, the position of where your men are stationed is crucial due to the fact if the opposite army crawls up behind or has the higher ground then there is a greater chance of getting murdered. General’s must accept the system that a more experienced General has stated and to not promote their individual procedures. Finally, the rifles, pistols, muskets, cannons and other artillery the Generals had to work with may have been difficult to shield or perform with. In conclusion, the Generals faced many complications when battling in the Battle of
The three-day Battle of Gettysburg, starting on July 1st in 1863, would be known to be one of the most memorable and important battles in history. It would become the major outcome of the Civil War. The day of the outburst of the Battle of Gettysburg was a hot humid day on the first of July. It was between two sides. One side was the Union, which was the Army of Potomac Commanded by General George G. Meade, along with other notable commanders such as John F Reynolds, Winfield Scott Hancock, Daniel E. Sickles, George Sykes, John Sedgwick, Oliver O. Howard, Henry W. Slocum, and Alfred Pleasonton (“Battle of Gettysburg,” 2016). The other side was the Confederate Soldiers called the Army of Northern Virginia who was commanded by General Robert E. Lee, along with other notable commanders as well, which were James Longstreet, Richard S. Ewell, A. P. Hill, and J.E.B. Stuart (“Battle of Gettysburg,” 2016). Between these two sides, the Army of Potomac had a great advantage with 93,700 men and 372 guns, while the Army of Northern Virginia were outmanned and outgunned with only 70,100 men and 280 guns. The Army of Potomac’s mission was to defeat the Army of Northern Virginia as well as to make sure Washington, D.C. remained safe. It may seem like the Army of Potomac would be the clear winner at the Battle of Gettysburg yet the Army of Northern Virginia had a strategy that would help to attempt to beat the Union which was to go on the aggression and confront them. This would
The Battle of Gettysburg was fought by the largest number of soldiers, totaling 172,000 young men (“American Civil War”). During the Civil War, our nation was divided by the North (Union Army) and the South (Confederate Army) for opposing viewpoints on slavery and states’ rights. The Battle of Gettysburg was fought over three long, arduous days. The soldiers struggled under their respected generals in a 25 mile battle zone (“American Civil War”). This battle was a triumphant victory and a heart-wrenching loss for the troops of the Yankee North and Rebel South. The complexity of the Battle of Gettysburg brought together two fronts whose decisions and commitment would determine its outcome.
Michael Shaara’s fictional novel, The Killer Angels, is based on the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War. The novel allows the reader to recognize the heart and courage of the more than two million men that fought in the war. Shaara focuses the reader to better understand the reason why these men fight and the meaning of the war. Ultimately, the reader observes that the war is fought on an individual level as much as a governmental level. These men are there to fight for what they believe is truly right. The Confederates fought for their rights to hold slaves, their freedom tyranny of the Federal Government, and their
Wars have been fought for many different reasons through the years, and that holds true for the American Civil War (1861-1865). In Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Killer Angels, the reasons for fighting the war are brought about through the officers and soldiers at a famous battle site of the Civil War, Gettysburg. Gettysburg was one of the most documented battles of the whole war. It took place over a span of three days and can be viewed as a turning point from Confederate prominence to Confederate demise. As in any conflict, there are two sides to the story. The Union and the Confederacy each had their own views as to why they were fighting the war. Victors write the history so too often only the Union side is
“Death created the modern American union, not just by ensuring national survival, but by shaping enduring national structures and commitments. The work of death was Civil War America 's most fundamental and most demanding undertaking”— Drew Gilpin Faust. Death in the Civil War was indeed a principle in creating the America we know and love today. This was the bloodiest war in United States military history. Within the war was the Battle of Gettysburg, a battle that was engulfed in massive suffering and loss of life. July first through the third 1863, A rural town in the eastern United States, Gettysburg Pennsylvania, is host to the largest, most fierce, battle ever to occur on American soil. At the start, Rumors were circulating that Lee was marching his army over the Potomac river and into southern Pennsylvania. Eventually, solid military intelligence confirmed this, and with an equally sized army, under the command of Gen. George G. Meade, the Union began on a collision course with the confederate army, and so began the Battle of Gettysburg. Gettysburg was a turning point because, the south’s morale declined while the north’s increased; northern casualties were lower than the south’s; and the north gained a geographical advantage from the battle.
Jim Murphy wrote a book called the Long Road To Gettysburg. It is a nonfiction book. It has 109 pages. The two main characters are General Robert E. Lee for the South and General Meade for the North. Other minor characters include General Joseph Hooker of the North and General John Dooley of the South. This book teaches you the Horrors of Gettysburg. The theme is violence is never the answer.
On September 16, 1862, Confederate forces attempted an invasion of the North with the intention of capturing our Union's garrison at Harper's Ferry in order to gain both the French and British's recognition of the Confederacy and put us in between a rock and a hard place. However, our Army of Potomac placed under the command of the new Major General George B. McClellan, placed by President Lincoln himself, clashed with the Army of Northern Virginia led by the South's General Robert E. Lee at Sharpsburg, Maryland for one of the bloodiest days of this war.
The Killer Angels is an historical novel about the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War. The book captures the human nature of many historical figures over three fateful days in rural Pennsylvania in 1863. North and South, Yankee and Confederate; The Killer Angels provides a glimpse into the hearts and souls of some of the men who fought in this infamous battle and their own reasons for being in a fight to the death against their fellow countrymen.
It is our duty, as soon to be Second Lieutenants in the Army, to learn from history. Learning from mistakes in the past is necessary to understand the responsibilities we will soon have. The Battle of Gettysburg shows prime examples of the nine principles of war: Objective, Offensive, Mass, Economy of Force, Maneuver, Unity of Command, Security, Surprise and Simplicity. In the military today, we are overwhelmingly blessed with every asset that we have including technology and monetary resources the list could go on forever but the most invaluable asset is history. Although all nine principles of war are pertinent to success on the battlefield, only five will be discussed in this analysis.
The United States has fought many battles in the civil war. However, the bloodiest battle of Gettysburg created history for the American nation. It was the destiny for the American to become united, despite the sacrifices and losses in the battle, it led to creating a great nation and a superpower. We cannot simply pass through the battle of Gettysburg; it drew a turning point in the history. In contrast, a lot of lessons learned from the battle set lasting principles and pillars, that can be used in dealing with the challenges of the 21st century and in the future. The Ethical decisions taken based on the shared values of the profession of arms in the battle of Gettysburg will be enduring over time, and will lead to victory.
A majority of civil war soldiers, (Union or confederate) were white, protestant, and between 18 and 29 years of age. The average height of a civil war soldier was 5,8’. The common confederates motive for joining the war was to defend his home or. When people think of the war the first thing that comes to their mind is a soldier or infantryman, but, there were many other roles in the war. There were over 300 different careers you could partake in if you wanted to join the Union Army, Including an accountant, locksmith, nurse, blacksmith, mechanic and etc. Although, there was more than just guns to worry about during the war, disease was one of the leading factors of death of a civil war soldier. About 2.75 million soldiers fought in the Civil
Blood, sweat, and tears will always be shed. Maybe you will find bone or even an actual bloody body part on the very land of Gettysburg if you went back in time to the very moment of the war. July 1 to July 3, 1863, will forever go down as the bloodiest moments during the Civil War. The Battle of Gettysburg was a turning point during the American Civil War. The American Civil War started because of the differences between the free and enslaved state. They fought over the power of the national governments to forbid slavery in the territories that have yet to become states. The South is also known as the Confederate were at war with the North also known as the Union. After the war Abraham Lincoln gave his famous speech, The Gettysburg Address. In his speech he mentioned that the dead who fought shall not die in vain. His speech also addresses the concept of equality and the struggle with equality.