The Battle of Gettysburg and the Gettysburg Address

1. The Battle of Gettysburgand theGettysburg Address

2. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania • At about the same time Grant was fighting in Vicksburg, Robert E. Lee was invading the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

3. Battle of Gettysburg • The Battle of Gettysburg fought between July 1 – July 3, 1863, was the battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War and is frequently cited as the war's turning point. • The Battle was the turning point in the Civil War because it almost destroyed the Army of Northern Virginia. (CS)

4. Causalities • There were heavy losses on both sides. The Confederates had about 28,000 men killed, wounded or missing. • The Union had about 22,000 men killed, wounded or missing. • There were so many wounded men left behind that there were 10 wounded soldiers for every survivor in Gettysburg.

5. Tennessee Soldiers • Tennessee’s Fourteenth Regiment began the battle with 365 soldiers. • When the battle ended, only three men had survived.

9. Gettysburg Address • On November 19, 1863, President Lincoln went to Gettysburg to dedicate a cemetery for those who had died there. • A crowd of 6,000 gathered for the ceremony.

10. Gettysburg Address • Lincoln gave a short speech that lasted for less than three minutes. • Lincoln’s speech was so short that many people in the crowd were disappointed. • Lincoln thought the speech was a “flat failure.”

11. Gettysburg Address • In the years that followed, The Gettysburg Address was recognized as one of the most inspiring messages ever delivered by an American president.

12. What did the speech say? • He spoke about the ideals of liberty and equality on which the country had been founded. • He honored the soldiers who had died defending those ideals. • He called on Americans to try harder to win the struggle the soldiers had died for.