Gettysburg Address

Gettysburg Address By David, Terrance, Aliya, Victoria, and Kelsey

Generals • General Henry Heths is for the Confederate Army • General John Buford is for the Union Army • General Meade is a the Union Commander who defeated Commander Robert E. Lee • Commander Robert E. Lee was an incredible military strategist, and so when the North defeated him, it was thought of as a miracle

Robert E. Lee • Came from a Virginian rich family • Lived from 1807-1870 • When the Union was breaking apart Lee turned down the opportunity to command the entire Union army • Was part of the U.S Army but left to be part of a newly formed army for his state • After fighting for his state Lee became president of a Virginia college • He urged people to forget their “bitter feelings” and his dignity and example of service got him the admiration of many people in the North and the South

Vicksburg Battle • The Battle of Vicksburg and the Battle of Gettysburg were occurring around the same time. • May 18thto July 4th 1863 • Vicksburg located in Mississippi • Took place in South because of Agriculture

Picketts Charge • Happened on the last day of Gettysburg Battle • Gereral’s saw it coming and knew it was stoppable • General Lee was the one who commanded the Southern Army • General Lee completely lost against the North and the one who directed the Union troops was General Meade

Battle of Gettysburg • July 1st to the 3rd • The war only lasts for three day • Little Round Top, Big Round Top, and Devils Den, occurred on the second day • On the first day, a scout spotted large numbers of confederates moving toward Gettysburg. The battle on Macpherson’s ridge occurred on that day, and the Union forces retreated to Cemetery Ridge • Pickett’s Charge occurred on the last day • The battle resulted in a Union victory. In total, there were 51,000 casualties: 23,000 Union, 28,000

Devil’s Den • ‪Devil’s Den was a Rock Formation • That was part of the reason why the confederates sustained considerable losses when attacking it-- they could not aim their cannons and rifles correctly • West of the Round Tops • Devil's den was called Devil’s Den because of a kind of black snake that everyone thought of as a devil. • Devil-- meaning the snake‬ Den– meaning the habitat the snake lived in the rock

Little Round Top • A hill that the Union solders occupied • A Union General Dan Sickles guarded the territory • Little Round Top was a defensive position to keep away from Confederates • The Confederates wanted to kill the people who were on Little Round Top and most of the people who were on Little Round Top were solders

The South Army begins • Lee took his army west to go between the mountains • Then took the army North and went toward Pennsylvania • It took two weeks to get to Pennsylvania • The South went to Pennsylvania because the Mountains hid the army’s movement

First day of the Battle • The North and the South arrived at Gettysburg on June 30th on 1863 • The battle begins on July 1st • General Henry Heths was the General of Confederate Army • General John Buford was the General of the Union Army • When a Union scout saw the Confederates he alerted Buford. A cavalrydivision arrived at Mcpherson’s ridge • Union had a big advantage because they had better rifles- their carbines could fire almost three times as fast as the Confederate rifles • The Union Forces, however, were outnumbered • Buford expects danger • Heth’s troops get there on the scene • Heth (General for Confederate army) had about 7,500 men and Buford (General for Union army) had less than 2,100

McPherson Ridge • The Confederates attacked early in the morning around 9:30 am • McPherson Ridge would hold back the Confederates for about two hours • In a brave act of patriotism, a sixty nine year old man called John Burns volunteered to help fight the Confederates • He was shot a number of times, but kept firing even after most of the Union soldiers had left. Eventually, though, he was unable to get up • The Union forces retreated to Cemetery Ridge

Second day of the Battle • In the morning, most of Meade’s army arrived at Cemetery Ridge • Meade moved all troops to Culp’s Hill which lead them to occupying Little Round Top and Big Round Top • Fighting occurred at Devils Den, where the Union sharpshooters were • At Little Round Top, Lee tried ( and failed) to flank the Union soldiers. He never actually captured Little Round Top • At Big Round Top, Union forces were going to skirmish the Confederate on the third day

Final day of the Battle • On the Final day, Lee made a critical mistake • He decided to destroy the Union artillery with his cannons, and them order his men to charge • The commander of the division that would charge was Pickett • When he bombarded the Union artillery, they simply stopped firing. He thought that the cannons had been disabled, and ordered his men to charge • The Union artillery destroyed the charge, but some Confederates were able to reach the Union line

Final result of the Battle • The battle resulted in a southern defeat, and the end of their offensive • It lowered and raised Union morale at the same time • They were stunned that they had defeated Lee, but were also mourning for the 51,000 soldiers who had died as a result of the battle

Impact on America • Lincoln made the ugly reality into something positive • The ugly reality is: • The many deaths that happened during the battle • The losses during the battles • The positive reality is • All the ugly reality was transformed into a symbol of: • National purpose • Pride • Ideals

Gettysburg Address • The Battle was a turning point in America figuratively • The North defeated Robert E. Lee who the Union solders thought were invincible and that was a turning point on America • Another turning point in America was to get rid of Slavery and “Have a new birth of Freedom” • Lincoln believed that “all men are created Equal” including blacks after the Gettysburg Battle

Gettysburg Address