Who Was Involved In The Battle Of Gettysburg ?
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The Battle of Gettysburg stands as an important milestone in the History of America for two reasons. Firstly, this war turned out to be extremely significant in terms of putting an end to the Civil War, paving way for negotiations and furnishing the establishment of a democratic government.
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While the first reason for remembering this battle is heartening, the second cause of being alive in the memory of the people is not so pleasant. The Battle of Gettysburg is rated as one of the bloodiest battles fought during the Civil War. Although the battle prevailed for only 3 days, it left behind traces of trauma that could be witnessed in the town for years to come. Houses of civilians, churches and other public places were flooded with soldiers wounded during war. In fact, the number of dead soldiers was so credibly high that there was shortage of space for burials. This resulted in shallow burials of the dead, the body parts of whom could be easily witnessed during heavy rains. The civilians also suffered at the hands of looting and loss of property. The location of this pivotal battle of the Civil War was not really decided upon. It was shear chance that the conflict commenced in this small town located in the southwestern region of Pennsylvania. Today, the very town that incurred tremendous loss of lives and property owing to the battle obtains heavy revenue from tourism motivated by the same conflict.
Representing the North was General George G. Meade, who was in leadership of the Union army having strength of 90,000 soldiers. In the opposing position was General Robert E. Lee as the head of the Confederate army that consisted of approximately 75,000 soldiers. The victorious and the defeated armies both suffered a loss of about 23,000 men each at the culmination of the conflict that lasted for merely 3 days from 1 July to 3 July, 1863. While the events of the first day went in favor of the Southerners, the second day witnessed the Union army in a potent stance. Despite the powerful assault launched by General George E Pickett of the Confederates on the final day, his army lost miserably owing to the use of cannon fire by the rivals.
The outcome of this battle came as a shock to the Southerners as till now they had been successful in most of their attacks. Even in this battle, the Confederate army fought very bravely. While the first day in any case went in their favor, even the second day was not so bad considering the fact that they could hold their position. It was only on the final day that they suffered immense setback that they could not recover from, eventually leading to their defeat.
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The Battle of Gettysburg indeed altered the path of the American Civil War. The Civil War was on since 2 years before the commencement of this conflict. In these two years, the Confederates had really consolidated their position by having a series of victories to their credit. However, the Battle of Gettysburg inflicted heavy losses on both the conflicting parties. Obviously, the Confederacy that had 26,000 soldiers lesser than the Union army felt the impact of this loss much more than the victorious side.