Warm-up
 Why might Lee decide to take the war to the
North?
 Why abandon a Southern strategy that had
thus far succeeded?
 What did he hope to gain?
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG
MOST FAMOUS & IMPORTANT
BATTLE OF THE WAR
JULY 1-3 1863
Before the Battle
 Confederates inflict bloody defeat
on Union at Fredericksburg, VA.
(12/13/62)
 North defeated again in the Battle
of Chancellorsville, VA (April 30-May 6,
1863)
 General Stonewall Jackson is shot
by his own men in an accident and
dies of Pneumonia (May 1863)
 Lee decides to invade North in
Spring-Early Summer ‘63:
 to gain supplies
 pull Union forces away from Vicksburg,
MS
 invasion in North would hurt Lincoln’s
political power.
General
George Meade
Was given
command of the
UNION Army of
the Potomac 3
days before
Gettysburg
Why was this a
problem??
He planned to
fight further
north than
Gettysburg
Union Troops
Confederate Troops
Day 1
 Confederate soldiers led
by A.P. Hill went on a
search for shoes in
Gettysburg, attacked by
Union troops
 90,000 Union troops took
the field against 75,000
Confederates
 Confederates take control
over the town of
Gettysburg
Day 2
 Lee orders General James
Longstreet to attack at Cemetery
Ridge
 Confederate soldiers attack at an
unprotected Union hill known as
Little Round Top
 Union leaders send Colonel Joshua
L. Chamberlain and his men to
defend Little Round Top
 Because Chamberlain was running
low on fuel, he ordered his men to
attack the Confederates with fixed
bayonets. This surprise attack left
Confederates surrendering in
droves.
Battle of Gettysburg
 Generals from each side gathered in war councils
during the night
 They were planning their strategy for the next day
 General Meade decided to stay put and let Lee
come to him
 Longstreet tried to talk Lee out of attacking
again
 Felt the position was too strongly defended
 Lee didn’t listen--Felt the Union army was
battered and would collapse
 He believed one final assault would do this
Battle of Gettysburg
 Friday, July 3rd: Day 3
 The Union army opened fire with heavy artillery
around 4:30 am---the break of dawn
 Lee and his army was surprised
 They were pushed back off of Culp’s Hill and from their
trenches
 Lee regrouped and attacked around 8am.
 This led to a vicious 3 hour fight
 Time and time again the Rebels charged the hill--
time and time again they were pushed back
 Union troops counter attacked and moved the rebels
back from the hill
Battle of Gettysburg
 Around 11am an eerie quiet arose from the field--the
battle stopped for a while
 Lee regrouped
 Lee planned to charge the hill with 15,000 soldiers
 Again, Longstreet opposed this plan
 The rebels moved into position into the woods opposite
of Cemetery Ridge
 Poised for their charge
 Meade moved part of his army off the hill
 Trying to anticipate what Lee would do
 He was correct earlier, but guessed wrong this time
 He left 5,750 men to face 15,000
Day 3
 Lee felt could break Union defenses,





because Union weakened
Lee ordered an artillery barrage at the
middle of Union lines mid afternoon
PICKETT’S CHARGE - Longstreet,
confident the barrage had silenced
Union guns, ordered Confederate troops
to attack the center of the Union lines.
Northern artillery resumed its fire and
crippled the Confederate attackers.
Lee sent General Jeb Stuart’s forces to
surprise attack Union General Meade’s
forces.
Stuart’s forces were stalled due to a
conflict with Union forces led by Robert
Gregg.
Battle of Gettysburg
 1pm: 170 Confederate canons opened fire to
pave the way for the charge
 Heaviest artillery barrage of the war-BUT…
 Many of the shells missed their targets and flew
harmlessly over the Union lines
 The Union returned artillery fire, but at 2:30 they
slowed their rate of fire
 Tried to fool the Rebels into thinking their canons
were destroyed
 It worked!!! Brilliant!!!
Devil’s Den
Battle of Gettysburg
 Lee was forced to abandon his dead, and
retreated that night and the next morning back
to Virginia
 Loaded the wounded onto wagons
 Meade, allowed Lee to retreat--did not pursue
 Out of fatigue and caution
 Lincoln was furious!!!
 “Meade missed a golden opportunity to end the war
right there!!!”
After the Battle
 More than 23,000 Union casualties
and 28,000 Confederate Casualties
 Lee gave up hopes of invading the
North and retreated back to Virginia
 Lee turned in his resignation which
Jefferson Davis did not accept
 The North won the Battle of
Vicksburg (May 18-July 4th, 1863)
Result of Gettysburg
 The tide of the war was now permanently





against the South
They would never fully recover from this
battle
Casualties
Union: 23,049
Confederate: 28,063
Over 52,000 men lost in the 3 day battle
Result of Gettysburg
 The North celebrated the 4th of July with the




victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg.
Aftermath – The citizens of Gettysburg were faced
with the daunting task of burying all of the bodies
Over 50,000 men were left dead or wounded
Most of the Confederate dead were left on the field
in their shallow graves for eight to ten years until
southern charity groups had most of the bodies
taken away to cemeteries in the South.
Lincoln agreed to come and say something for the
soldiers
Gettysburg Address – name of the speech Lincoln
delivered talking about the war and equality
With a partner…
be prepared to share your answer
 The Battle of Gettysburg Most historians believe that the Civil War
hinged on the battle at Gettysburg. And many of question Confederate
General Robert E. Lee's decision to abandon Virginia, where he had
been so successful, to embark on a more risky invasion of the North.
What do you think? Did Lee make a costly and foolish blunder by taking
his army to the North? Or was this a reasonable decision that just
happened not to work out in the end?
Siege at Vicksburg, MS
May 18 - July 4, 1863
 The Confederates were in high spirits because of
victories at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville
 The Union needed to change the tide
 Soon, they captured New Orleans and Memphis
 Battle of Vicksburg, MS – Grant tried several
times to overtake it
 Came up with a new plan:
 Attacked Jackson, Mississippi and then turned west and
attacked Vicksburg from behind enemy lines (South)
 Meanwhile, Sherman confused Confederates by attacking from
the North
Map of Vicksburg

A loss at Vicksburg would mean that the
Confederate territory would be cut in half.
The Siege
 For 6 weeks laid a siege – a military encirclement
of an enemy position in order to force it to
surrender.
 On July 4, 1863, the Confederates surrendered at
Vicksburg  this split the Confederacy into 2
parts!
After Vicksburg and Gettysburg,
the situation looked like this:
Date
Battle Name
Causalities
Winner
April 12-13, 1861
Attack on Fort Sumter, SC
None
CSA
July 21, 1861
First Manassas a.k.a. Bull Run, VA
4,700
CSA
Feb. 11-16 1862
Fort Henry/Fort Donelson, TN
17,655
USA
April 6-7, 1862
Shiloh a.k.a. Pittsburg Landing, TN
34,445
USA
August 28-30, 1862
Second Manassas aka Second Bull Run, VA
22,180
CSA
Sept. 17, 1862
Antietam a.k.a. Sharpsburg, MD
23,100
USA
Dec. 13, 1862
Fredericksburg, VA
17,929
CSA
April 30-May 6, 1863
Chancellorsville, VA
24,000
CSA
July 1-3, 1863
Gettysburg, PA
51,000
USA
May 18 – July 4 1863
Siege of Vicksburg, MS
19,233
USA
The Aftermath
In the United States
In the Confederate States
The victories at Gettysburg
and Vicksburg increased
the morale of the United States
and its armies. Many people now
felt that the war
might be won.
The losses at Vicksburg and
Gettysburg decreased the morale
of the Confederate States and its
armies.
For most of the remainder
of the war the Confederates
would be fighting on
the defensive.