thesis statement about battle of gettysburg

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Battle of Gettysburg

By: History.com Editors

Updated: March 17, 2023 | Original: October 29, 2009

The Battle of Gettysburg, fought from July 1 to July 3, 1863, is considered the most important engagement of the American Civil War. After a great victory over Union forces at Chancellorsville, General Robert E. Lee marched his Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania in late June 1863. On July 1, the advancing Confederates clashed with the Union’s Army of the Potomac, commanded by General George G. Meade, at the crossroads town of Gettysburg. The next day saw even heavier fighting, as the Confederates attacked the Federals on both left and right. On July 3, Lee ordered an attack by fewer than 15,000 troops on the enemy’s center at Cemetery Ridge. The assault, known as “Pickett’s Charge,” managed to pierce the Union lines but eventually failed at the cost of thousands of rebel casualties. Lee was forced to withdraw his battered army toward Virginia on July 4. The Union had won in a major turning point, stopping Lee’s invasion of the North. It inspired Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address,” which became one of the most famous speeches of all time.

Battle of Gettysburg: Lee’s Invasion of the North

In May 1863, Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia had scored a smashing victory over the Army of the Potomac at Chancellorsville. Brimming with confidence, Lee decided to go on the offensive and invade the North for a second time (the first invasion had ended at Antietam the previous fall). In addition to bringing the conflict out of Virginia and diverting northern troops from Vicksburg, where the Confederates were under siege, Lee hoped to gain recognition of the Confederacy by Britain and France and strengthen the cause of northern “Copperheads” who favored peace.

On the Union side, President Abraham Lincoln had lost confidence in the Army of the Potomac’s commander, Joseph Hooker , who seemed reluctant to confront Lee’s army after the defeat at Chancellorsville. On June 28, Lincoln named Major General George Gordon Meade to succeed Hooker. Meade immediately ordered the pursuit of Lee’s army of 75,000, which by then had crossed the Potomac River into Maryland and marched on into southern Pennsylvania .

Battle of Gettysburg Begins: July 1

Upon learning that the Army of the Potomac was on its way, Lee planned to assemble his army in the prosperous crossroads town of Gettysburg, 35 miles southwest of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. One of the Confederate divisions in A.P. Hill’s command approached the town in search of supplies early on July 1, only to find that two Union cavalry brigades had arrived the previous day. As the bulk of both armies headed toward Gettysburg, Confederate forces (led by Hill and Richard Ewell ) were able to drive the outnumbered Federal defenders back through town to Cemetery Hill, located a half mile to the south.

Seeking to press his advantage before more Union troops could arrive, Lee gave discretionary orders to attack Cemetery Hill to Ewell, who had taken command of the Army of Northern Virginia’s Second Corps after Lee’s most trusted general, Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson , was mortally wounded at Chancellorsville. Ewell declined to order the attack, considering the Federal position too strong; his reticence would earn him many unfavorable comparisons to the great Stonewall. By dusk, a Union corps under Winfield Scott Hancock had arrived and extended the defensive line along Cemetery Ridge to the hill known as Little Round Top. Three more Union corps arrived overnight to strengthen its defenses.

Battle of Gettysburg, Day 2: July 2

As the next day dawned, the Union Army had established strong positions from Culp’s Hill to Cemetery Ridge. Lee assessed his enemy’s positions and determined—against the advice of his defensively minded second-in-command, James Longstreet—to attack the Federals where they stood. He ordered Longstreet to lead an attack on the Union left, while Ewell’s corps would strike the right, near Culp’s Hill. Though his orders were to attack as early in the day as possible, Longstreet didn’t get his men into position until 4 p.m., when they opened fire on the Union corps commanded by Daniel Sickles .

Over the next several hours, bloody fighting raged along Sickles’ line, which stretched from the nest of boulders known as Devil’s Den into a peach orchard, as well as in a nearby wheat field and on the slopes of Little Round Top. Thanks to fierce fighting by one Maine regiment, the Federals were able to hold Little Round Top, but lost the orchard, field and Devil’s Den; Sickles himself was seriously wounded. Ewell’s men had advanced on the Union forces at Culp’s Hill and East Cemetery Hill in coordination with Longstreet’s 4 pm attack, but Union forces had stalled their attack by dusk. Both armies suffered extremely heavy losses on July 2, with 9,000 or more casualties on each side. The combined casualty total from two days of fighting came to nearly 35,000, the largest two-day toll of the war.

Battle of Gettysburg, Day 3: July 3

Early on the morning of July 3, Union forces of the Twelfth Army Corps pushed back a Confederate threat against Culp’s Hill after a seven-hour firefight and regained their strong position. Believing his men had been on the brink of victory the day before, Lee decided to send three divisions (preceded by an artillery barrage) against the Union center on Cemetery Ridge. Fewer than 15,000 troops, led by a division under George Pickett , would be tasked with marching some three-quarters of a mile across open fields to attack dug-in Union infantry positions.

Despite Longstreet’s protests, Lee was determined, and the attack—later known as “Pickett’s Charge”—went forward around 3 p.m., after an artillery bombardment by some 150 Confederate guns. Union infantry opened fire on the advancing rebels from behind stone walls while regiments from Vermont , New York and Ohio hit both of the enemy’s flanks. Caught from all sides, barely half of the Confederates survived, and Pickett’s division lost two-thirds of its men. As the survivors stumbled back to their opening position, Lee and Longstreet scrambled to shore up their defensive line after the failed assault.

Battle of Gettysburg: Aftermath and Impact

His hopes of a victorious invasion of the North dashed, Lee waited for a Union counterattack on July 4, but it never came. That night, in heavy rain, the Confederate general withdrew his decimated army toward Virginia. The Union had won the Battle of Gettysburg.

Though the cautious Meade would be criticized for not pursuing the enemy after Gettysburg, the battle was a crushing defeat for the Confederacy. Union casualties in the battle numbered 23,000, while the Confederates had lost some 28,000 men–more than a third of Lee’s army. The North rejoiced while the South mourned, its hopes for foreign recognition of the Confederacy erased.

Demoralized by the defeat at Gettysburg, Lee offered his resignation to President Jefferson Davis , but was refused. Though the great Confederate general would go on to win other victories, the Battle of Gettysburg (combined with Ulysses S. Grant’s victory at Vicksburg, also on July 4) irrevocably turned the tide of the Civil War in the Union’s favor.

Gettysburg Address

On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered his most famous speech at the dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg. His now-iconic Gettysburg Address eloquently transformed the Union cause into a struggle for liberty and equality—in only 272 words. He ended with the following:

“From these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve 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.”

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• America 1765 - 1865

Why Was the Battle of Gettysburg So Significant?

Antara Bate

02 jul 2021.

At the beginning of July 1863, with the American Civil War well into its third year of conflict, the Confederate and Union forces clashed near the small town of Gettysburg.

The Battle of Gettysburg is probably the most famous battle of the American Civil War and is widely viewed as a turning point. But why was this battle so significant?

What happened?

A string of Confederate victories before this point including Fredericksburg (13 December 1862), and Chancellorsville (at the beginning of May 1863) had encouraged General Robert E. Lee, the leader of the Southern forces to move forward with his plan to invade north of the Mason-Dixon Line.

The Union army was led by General George G. Meade who was newly appointed after his predecessor General Joseph Hooker was relieved of command.

Towards the end of June, the two armies realised that they were within a day’s march of one another and converged in the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The town of Gettysburg did not have military significance, rather it was the point where a number of roads converged. On a map, the town resembled a wheel.

On 1 July the advancing Confederates clashed with the Union’s Army of the Potomac. The next day saw even more intense fighting as the Confederates attacked the Union soldiers from both the left and the right.

On the final day of the battle, as the union paused their artillery fire, Lee ordered a confederate attack emerging from the treeline. The assault, known as “Pickett’s Charge” was devastating for the Southern army, resulting in thousands of casualties. Whilst they did manage to pierce the Union lines, Lee was forced to withdraw marking his invasion of the North as a failure.

Painting of Pickett’s Charge, from a position on the Confederate line looking toward the Union lines, Zieglers grove on the left, clump of trees on right. By Edwin Forbes, between 1865 and 1895.

Image Credit: Library of Congress print / Public Domain

Why was the battle so significant?

The main reason why the Battle of Gettysburg was so significant is that it marked a change in momentum within the course of the war. Due to the fact that the South lost this battle and subsequently the war, there is a perception that the Battle of Gettysburg decided the war. This would be an overstatement. However, the battle did indeed mark a tipping point where the Union gained an advantage.

The battle served as a transition from the South being well on their way to independence, to the Confederates beginning to cling to a declining cause.

Ultimately, the outcome of the war would be decided within the hearts and minds of the people. The Union needed the American public to stand behind Lincoln in order to be able to win the war. After a string of devasting defeats for the Union, victory at Gettysburg inspired confidence for their cause and prevented an invasion of the north. This was important for morale which was underscored and immortalised in the Gettysburg Address several months later.

The Battle of Gettysburg also emphasised the scale and cost of the war. The casualties on both sides and the scope of the battle demonstrated just how resource-heavy winning the war would be. It was the largest battle ever fought in North America with an estimated 51,000 casualties in total.

There were more casualties in the two years after the Battle of Gettysburg than in the two years before, so the war was far from over at this point, yet it was from here that the Union began to gather momentum that led to their eventual victory.

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Develop a Thesis Statement NHD projects should do more than just tell a story. Every exhibit, performance, documentary, paper and website should make a point about its topic. To do this, you must develop your own argument of the historical impact of the person, event, pattern or idea you are studying. The point you make is called a thesis statement. A thesis statement is not the same as a topic. Your thesis statement explains what you believe to be the impact and significance of your topic in history. Example:

Topic: Battle of Gettysburg Thesis Statement: The battle of Gettysburg was a major turning point of the Civil War. It turned the tide of the war from the South to the North, pushing back Lee’s army that would never fight again on Northern soil and bringing confidence to the Union army.

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Significance of the Battle of Gettysburg

5 Reasons the Battle Mattered

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The importance of the Battle of Gettysburg of the United States' Civil War was evident at the time of the colossal three-day clash across hills and fields in rural Pennsylvania in early July 1863. Dispatches telegraphed to newspapers indicated how enormous and profound the battle had been.

Over time, the battle seemed to increase in importance. And from our perspective, it's possible to see the clash of two enormous armies as one of the most meaningful events in American history.

These five reasons why Gettysburg mattered provide a basic understanding of the battle and why it occupies a pivotal place not only in the Civil War but in the entire history of the United States.

Gettysburg Was the Turning Point of the War

The Battle of Gettysburg fought on July 1–3, 1863, was the turning point of the Civil War for one main reason: Robert E. Lee's plan to invade the North and force an immediate end to the war failed.

What Lee (1807–1870) hoped to do was cross the Potomac River from Virginia, pass through the border state of Maryland, and begin waging an offensive war on Union soil, in Pennsylvania. After gathering food and much-needed clothing in the prosperous region of southern Pennsylvania, Lee could threaten cities such as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania or Baltimore, Maryland. If the proper circumstances had presented themselves, Lee's army could even seize the greatest prize of all, Washington, D.C.

Had the plan succeeded to its greatest extent, Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia might have surrounded, or even conquered, the nation’s capital. The federal government could have been disabled, and high government officials, including even President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), might have been captured.

The United States would have been forced to accept peace with the Confederate States of America. The existence of a pro-slavery nation in North America would have been made permanent—at least for a while.

The collision of two great armies at Gettysburg put an end to that audacious plan. After three days of intense fighting, Lee was forced to withdraw and lead his badly battered army back through western Maryland and into Virginia.

No major Confederate invasions of the North would be mounted after that point. The war would continue for nearly more two years, but after Gettysburg, it would be fought on southern ground.

The Location of the Battle Was Significant, Though Accidental

Against the advice of his superiors, including the president of the C.S.A.,  Jefferson Davis (1808–1889), Robert E. Lee chose to invade the North in the early summer of 1863. After scoring some victories against the Union’s Army of the Potomac that spring, Lee felt he had a chance to open a new phase in the war.

Lee’s forces began marching in Virginia on June 3, 1863, and by late June elements of the Army of Northern Virginia were scattered, in various concentrations, across southern Pennsylvania. The towns of Carlisle and York in Pennsylvania received visits from Confederate soldiers, and northern newspapers were filled with confused stories of raids for horses, clothing, shoes, and food.

At the end of June the Confederates received reports that the Union's Army of the Potomac was on the march to intercept them. Lee ordered his troops to concentrate in the region near Cashtown and Gettysburg.

The little town of Gettysburg possessed no military significance. But a number of roads converged there. On the map, the town resembled the hub of a wheel. On June 30, 1863, advance cavalry elements of the Union Army began arriving at Gettysburg, and 7,000 Confederates were sent to investigate.

The following day the battle began in a place neither Lee nor his Union counterpart, General George Meade (1815–1872), would have chosen on purpose. It was almost as if the roads just happened to bring their armies to that point on the map.

The Battle Was Enormous

Minnesota Historical Society / Getty Images 

The clash at Gettysburg was enormous by any standards, and a total of 170,000 Confederate and Union soldiers came together around a town that normally held 2,400 residents.

The total of Union troops was about 95,000, the Confederates about 75,000.

The total casualties for the three days of fighting would be approximately 25,000 for the Union and 28,000 for the Confederates.

Gettysburg was the largest battle ever fought in North America. Some observers likened it to an American  Waterloo .

Heroism and Drama at Gettysburg Became Legendary

The Battle of Gettysburg actually consisted of a number of distinct engagements, several of which could have stood alone as major battles. Two of the most significant would be the assault by Confederates at  Little Round Top  on the second day, and  Pickett’s Charge  on the third day.

Countless human dramas took place, and legendary acts of heroism included:

• Col. Joshua Chamberlain (1828–1914) and the 20th Maine holding Little Round Top
• Union officers including Col. Strong Vincent and Col. Patrick O’Rorke who died defending Little Round Top.
• The thousands of Confederates who marched across a mile of open ground under heavy fire during Pickett’s Charge.
• Heroic cavalry charges led by a young cavalry officer who had just been promoted to general,  George Armstrong Custer (1839–1876).

The heroism of Gettysburg resonated to the present era. A campaign to award the Medal of Honor to a Union hero at Gettysburg, Lieutenant Alonzo Cushing (1814–1863), culminated 151 years after the battle. In November 2014, at a ceremony at the White House, President Barack Obama awarded the belated honor to distant relatives of Lieutenant Cushing at the White House.

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address Underscored the War's Significance

Ed Vebell / Getty Images 

Gettysburg could never have been forgotten. But its place in American memory was enhanced when President Abraham Lincoln visited the site of the battle four months later, in November 1863.

Lincoln had been invited to attend the dedication of a new cemetery to hold the Union dead from the battle. Presidents at that time did not often have a chance to make widely publicized speeches. And Lincoln took the opportunity to give a speech which would provide a justification for the war.

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address  would become known as one of the best speeches ever delivered. The  text of the speech  is short yet brilliant, and in less than 300 words it expressed the nation’s dedication to the cause of the war.

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Lincoln’s The Gettysburg Address Analysis Essay

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Introduction

The Gettysburg Address is the most famous and one of the most quoted speeches of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, dedicated to the martyrs who had lost their lives during the American Civil War.

The speech was delivered at the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the 19th of November, 1863; four and a half months after the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at the decisive Battle of Gettysburg.

The idea Lincoln is trying to convey to the audience is that they must devote themselves to the protection of a united nation and the new birth of freedom by honoring the dead so that their sacrifice would not be vain. Lincoln’s speech is set up chronologically and commences rather remarkably and extraordinarily, “Four score and seven years ago”, when the nation was formerly created, advancing to the civil war that nation was then engaged in, and finally focusing on the accomplishments from the war.

Lincoln knew that he was addressing a rather divided audience and thus reflected on the ideals and accomplishments of their forefathers which they all shared in common, reminding each section of their unified history thereby bridging the gap between North and South.

Lincoln tactically ignored the reference to slavery or any other comment that would put him in support of either segment. The purpose was to bring the divided people together, so that they would envision a solitary objective of preservation and in effect, rebirth. Lincoln also exposes the problems of “a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure” and its solution by emphasizing their duty to dedicate themselves to the unfinished work of preserving their nation.

Language and structure played an effective role in Lincoln’s speech through the utilization of words that lent a sense of unity and strength such as “our”, “we”, “us”, “nation”, and “the people”. The speech mostly comprised of simple, mono-syllabic or bi-syllabic words as Lincoln knew very well that he was speaking to a diverse crowd comprising not only of politicians, military officers and press, but most importantly the families of the martyred who were commoners and were obviously the most significant section of the audience.

Lincoln gave a stirring speech by bringing into play, antitheses and juxtaposition of ideas: mortal and immortal, “that nation might live … shall not perish from the earth” and “the world will little note, nor long remember” contrasting to “it can never forget”. Lincoln also appeals to the emotions of the audience by the means of words such as ‘fathers’, ‘liberty’, ‘war’, ‘died’, ‘dedicate’, ‘consecrate’, ‘struggle’, ‘nobly’, ‘honored’, ‘God’ and ‘freedom’. Within two minutes Lincoln was able to offer to them self-importance, assurance, rationale, optimism and a united goal by appealing to them to come together as one nation, with a “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”.

The Gettysburg Address is an excellent appeal to humanity to preserve democracy, liberty, and justice for all time, “a new birth of freedom”.

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IvyPanda . 2021. "Lincoln's The Gettysburg Address Analysis." August 18, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/lincolns-the-gettysburg-address-analysis/.

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The Pivotal Battle of Gettysburg: Shaping the Course of the Great Civil War

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Introduction

Significance of the battle.

Casualties and Impact on the Confederate Army

Comparison with other battles.

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Home > ETDS > DISSERTATIONS > 2902

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The way we remember it: the popular memory of the battle of gettysburg.

Glenn Dietrich Follow

Date of Award

Spring 5-11-2021

Degree Type

Degree name.

Larry Greene, Ph.D

Committee Member

Dermot Quinn, D.Phil.

Vanessa May, Ph.D.

Gettysburg, Popular Memory, Historiogrpahy, Reconcilation

The relationship between history and memory is an essential and complicated concept that significantly affects how the public remembers the past. A prime example of this complex relationship between history and memory is true in the most famous battle of the Civil War. Gettysburg is one of the most critical events in American history, for which thousands of books and countless historians have retold this momentous battle. In the case of the popular memory of Gettysburg, I argue that the significant amount of academic historiography, popular media, and American history textbooks have established a reconciliationist memory. This memory focuses more on the courage and bravery of the soldiers on both the Union and Confederate lines while omitting the importance of slavery, emancipation, and the period of reconstruction to preserve an incredible event in Americanhistorywithoutdamagingthe legacy of General Robert E. Lee and the Confederacy.

Recommended Citation

Dietrich, Glenn, "The Way We Remember It: The Popular Memory of the Battle of Gettysburg" (2021). Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs) . 2902. https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2902

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