GETTYSBURGThe Civil War Turning Point
Road to Gettysburg• After Antietam, General
McClellan failed to finish off a retreating General Lee
• Pres. Lincoln was frustrated by this and had him replaced
• Lincoln eventually replaced his replacement with General Joseph Hooker
• Hooker’s army fought at Chancellorsville where General “Stonewall” Jackson was mistakenly shot by his own men
Lincoln & McClellan shortly after the Battle of Antietam
Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson
General Joseph Hooker
Lee’s Northern Push• Despite the tragic loss of
“Stonewall” Jackson, Lee pressed into Penn.
• Lee had many ideas of what victories in the North would bring• Talks of peace• Fuel Northern discontent with
the war• Would lead to diplomatic
recognition of the Confederacy from Europe
• Assistance to the Confederacy from Europe
Center: Jackson, Beauregard, and Lee
Gettysburg Campaign
Union
Confederacy
Battle of Gettysburg• Fighting lasted 3 days on the
hills and fields around Gettysburg, PA• July 1-3, 1863
• 90,000 Union troops were commanded by Gen. George Meade
• 75,000 Confederate troops were commanded by Gen. Robert E. Lee
• Union troops tried to hold their ground on Cemetery Ridge, south of the town
General Meade’s HQ @ Cemetery Hill in Gettysburg
Day One @ Gettysburg
Day 2 @ Gettysburg
Day 3 @ Gettysburg• Turning point of the battle comes on this day
• Lee ordered General George Pickett to directly attack the Union line
• Pickett’s Charge• Approx. 13,000 rebel troops
charge the ridge• Thousands died and the
Confederates retreat
Confederate Retreat• Union expected a
counterattack that never came
• Lincoln was again angered that his generals to not finish off Lee’s army
• Union lost 23,000 men
• Confederate casualties equal 28,000 and he leads his men back to Virginia
• Confederates never again cross the Union border• Remain on the defensive for
remainder of the war
Gettysburg Address• November 1863
• Dedicate cemetery for those killed in the battle
• Lincoln was not the key speaker• Key guy spoke for 2 hours• Lincoln’s address was 2 minutes
• Included African Americans in the term “all men are created equal”
“It is for us the living…to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us…that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of
freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”