Tides of the War Changes - Battle at Gettysburg

Tides of the War Changes

The battle at Gettysburg was not only the turning point of the war, but also was an unfortunate loss by the south because the tide had rapidly turned in the North's favor. The battle was fought in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The day of battle was on July 1, 1863 (Petruzzi). The first shot fired was at 7:30 am (Petruzzi). The battle ended on July 3, 1863 (Doyle). The battle at Gettysburg was "the most costly of all battles of the American Civil War, and one of the most significant battles ever fought" (Doyle).

It was fought between the Confederate army, the slave states, and the Union army, the anti-slave states. The confederate army was represented by Robert E. Lee –commander of the confederate army-, Lieutenant General James Longstreet, Lieutenant General A.E. Hills, Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell and also General George Picket (Samito). The Union army was shown by General George Gordan Meade, Major General Richard Anderson -served under Lieutenant Longstreet-, Major General George Skyes, Major General John Sedgwick, and General James Samuel Wadsworth (Samito). These are just a few of the Generals and Lieutenants that represented both armies at the battle of Gettysburg.

The south was under the command of Robert E. Lee. He had a plan that was a wonderful way to defeat the Union army. The plan was practically to surround the Union.

"It started off by ‘Lee telling General Longstreet attack and over take the Federal left flank.' ‘At the same time Hill's corps would threaten the Union center to prevent General Meade from helping the Union left and would continue to attack until when Anderson brigades ,holding the corps right, made contact with General Longstreet.' Ewell would make divisionary attacks all along his front and then launch an all-out assault if able.' Lee thought if all of this happened then the Union army would topple helplessly from the positions it held atop the high ground south of Gettysburg and the Civil War could be won in one day. (Samito)

Unfortunately, this plan failed and the Confederate army began to notice the tides changing hands. "General Hill failed to live up to his reputation as a fighting division commander and did not deliver his assault with the power and coherence that Lee had expected" (Samito). Later it was found out that Hill had been "suffering from diarrhea, stress fatigue and an attack of his recurring prostate affliction during the battle" (Samito). On the first day of the battle Hill had been restricted to stay on his cot, and he finally admitted he was ill (Samito). Also, Anderson had formerly been under the command of Longstreet, and had just recently been moved to command Hill's army (Samito). Hill's army still did not have the companionship "with the commanders" and Anderson himself when July 1 rolled