Battle The Confederates example essay topic

Selected Views of the Battle of Gettysburg On July 1st of 1863 the battle of Gettysburg began. The battle was more less an unexpected disaster; neither side had planed the battle they ended up in the same place and the battle begun. There where many wounded and many casualties. Much like the final battle in The Red Badge of Courage when most of Henry's regiment is wiped out by a daring charge. This charge leads to the downfall of the Confederacy as well as the fall of Henry's regiment. 3 days before the battle of Gettysburg the Union replaced General Hooker with General George G. Meade.

The Battle lasted for 3 long bloody days. The Confederate army took heavy casualties causing this fight to be a major turning point in the war. Although the union was losing the war up to this point and out number 75,000 to 97,000, they still managed to win this crucial fight. "This was the bloodiest battle in the American history, on American soil" (. advanced. org). On the first day of the battle not much fighting took place, not all of the army was there from either side. It seemed the Confederacy had the upper hand at first because they had twice as many men as the union in the beginning of battle.

But the Union had the new repeating rifles that reloaded much faster then the Confederacy's single-load muskets. The Union army positioned it's self along wood fences on McPherson " 's Ridge. These men were one of the first units to enter the area. They where able to hold off Lee's army until more Union troops could arrive. The Confederates where not prepared for this new rain of bullets and they were forced to start retreating. After a short retreat they regrouped and began a flanking attack.

The union was forced to retreat and Gettysburg had fallen to the confederates for the day. The next day there would be hope for the union would have a new advantage. On day 2 the Union troops positioned themselves on top of Cemetery Hill and Cemetery Ridge. General Sickles of the union was ordered to fortify Little Round top but he saw no value in this and advanced to Devil's Den. After heavy fighting in Devil " sDen General Sickles army was forced to retreat several times first to the Wheat field, then the peach orchard and finally to Emmets burg road. There where battles fought a teach location as well as fighting on Culp's hill that had a famous bayonet charge by Colonel Chamberlain.

General Longstreet was order to attack Little Round Top, Devil " sDen, the wheat fields, and the peach orchard. "Here some of the most bitter fighting of the Civil War erupted" (web). General Lee's strategy on day 2 was to outflank the Union army. However the Union army stayed fortified on Cemetery Hill, causing General Lee to change his strategy. This leads up to most of the fighting on day 3. Day 3 started with renewed fighting on Culp's hill.

The fight went on for six hours when the Confederates where finally driven back. Shortly after that General Lee was preparing for his large frontal assault on Cemetery hill and there was an encounter between the Union and Confederate cavalries near the Round Tops. The Union won this small battle stopping the Confederate army from breaking thought the line. The Confederates then positioned themselves in the woods across from the center of the Union line for a charge. At about 1: 00 p.m. they began bombarding the Union center with shells from their 170 artillery. "Then, 15,000 brave Confederates marched on emile in an open field to reach the Union line and try to break though" (. advanced. org).

This charge know as "Pickett's Charge" probably lost the battle for the Confederates because the sustained heavy casualties where the union took few. Critically weakened by artillery during their approach, formations hopelessly tangled, lacking reinforcement, and under savage attack from three sides, the Confederates retreated. They left behind 19 battle flags and hundreds of prisoners. In 50 minutes, 10,000 in the assault had become casualties.

In the end, this disaster claimed many lives and thousands more lay wounded. This battle was the major turning point in the war for the Union. Before this battle the Confederates where wining the war. If it were not for a few mistakes by General Lee the Confederate army may have won. His defeat was caused by overconfidence in his troops, Ewell's inability to fill the boots of General "Stonewall" Jackson, and faulty reconnaissance. Though Meade has been criticized for not destroying the enemy by pursuing them after the battle had stopped.

After the Union victory here the Union began an offensive that lead them to winning the war. The Confederates had more money and better-trained armies. However the Union had a much larger population giving them an advantage near the end of the war. This battle is like many of the battles in the Red Badge of Courage. There are many fights where they must retreat and attack at the same time in this battle as well as in the Red Badge of Courage. The Confederates lost many of its man in the charge up Cemetery hill as did Henry's regiment in the final charge of the book.

They also where forced to retreat as was in the book. It seems that General Lee used this 15,000 men as Henry's regiment was used in its charge as " mule drivers."