The Battle of Gettysburg

1. The Battle of Gettysburg Black Soldiers, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and the Gettysburg Address

2. African-American Soldiers • South – • Refused to let Blacks be soldiers • Slaves • Dug Fortifications • Cooked • Drove Wagons • Labored • Would not arm Black Americans

3. African-American Soldiers • Emancipation Proclamation – • Permitted Blacks to join the Union Army • 20,000 joined the Union navy • 180,000 + joined the Union Army • 166 All-African regiments • 100 Black Officers • Often used as Laborers rather than fighting in combat

4. On the Battle Field • Eventually African-Americans fought in all major battles • 23 African Americans earned the military’s Medal of Honor • 54th Massachusetts Volunteers became the best-known regiment • Led the assault on Ft Wagner on July 18, 1863 • Forced their way into the fort • Robert Gould Shaw and many of his troops died in the attack. • The 54th‘s bravery inspired other African-Americans to enlist

5. Fredericksburg • After Antietam – • McClellan hesitates to attack Lee • Lincoln replaces McClellan with General Ambrose Burnside • Burnside attacks Lee at the Rappahannock River • Confederates defeat Burnside • Burnside resigns • Burnside replaced by General Joseph Hooker

6. Fredricksburg

7. Chancellorsville • May 4, 1863 • Confederates defeat Hooker at Chancellorsville, Virginia • Confederates win Chancellorsville but suffer a huge loss • During the night, a confederate shot “Stonewall” Jackson • His arm was amputated • Lee said – • “He has lost his left arm; but I have lost my right arm.” • “No, let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.” • Jackson then passed away.

8. Chancellorsville

9. The Battle of Gettysburg Three Bloody Days

10. Background • Encouraged by almost destroying Hooker’s army of 138,000 and wanting to end the war, Lee decides to invade the North • Lincoln replaced Hooker with General George Meade

11. Background • Lee • 75,000 Troops • Meade • 95,000 Troops • Almost by accident the two armies meet in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania • Lee wants to prove himself after the failed attack at Antietam • Gettysburg becomes the turning point in the American Civil War

12. Gettysburg – Day 1 • July 1, 1863 • Southerners march towards Gettysburg • Meet Union Cavalry and forces confederates to fall back • Mid afternoon • 40,000 soldiers clash for control of the town • Union retreats to Cemetery Hill • Southerners win day one and reinforce their position

13. Gettysburg – Day 2 • Reinforcements arrive for both armies during the night • Meade and his men form a fishhook-shaped line with Culp’s Hill on the right, Cemetery Hill and Cemetery Ridge along the center, and two hills—Little Round Top and Big Round Top—on the left • Confederates attack • Fighting erupts throughout the lines • No ground changed • Both sides experience high casualties

14. Gettysburg – Day 3 – Pickett's Charge • July 3, 1863 • Two-hour artillery barrage • Confederates attack at 3 PM • Led by General George Pickett • 13,000 Confederates attack • March 1 Mile while being shot at • Rebs pierce the Union Line but eventually retreat • Confederates retreat and Pickett's Charge fails • Lee’s strategy fails and Gettysburg is over

15. Outcome • Confederates flee back to Virginia • Losses are staggering for Lee and his army never recovers • Gettysburg was a victory for the North and the Turning point in the war. • The Confederate Army would never be strong enough again to threaten the North

16. Casualties • North – 23,000 • 3,155 Killed • 14,529 Wounded • 5,365 Missing • South – 28,000 • 3,903 Killed • 18,735 Wounded • 5,425 Missing • Totals – 51,000

17. Gettysburg

18. The Gettysburg Address • Burial site from Gettysburg stretched for miles • Lincoln dedicates the site to the dead • November 19,1863 • Edward Everett gives a two hour dedication speech • Lincoln rises and speaks for three minutes but was one of the finest speeches ever made

19. The Gettysburg Address • In a few words, Lincoln made clear why Union soldiers died • He reminded Americans that their nation was “…conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” • He concluded – • “We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain…and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”