| − | The '''Gettysburg Campaign''' of June–July 1863 was the turning point in the [[American Civil War]] that, combined with the simultaneous loss of [[Vicksburg campaign|the Mississippi River]] in the west pointed toward Confederate exhaustion and defeat. | + | The '''Gettysburg Campaign''' of June–July 1863 was the turning point in the [[American Civil War]] that, combined with the simultaneous loss of [[Vicksburg Campaign|the Mississippi River]] in the west pointed toward Confederate exhaustion and defeat. |
| | The Gettysburg campaign climaxed in the famous [[Battle of Gettysburg]], July 1–3, 1863, on the outskirts of the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, that was an overwhelming Union victory. Confederate General [[Robert E. Lee]] led his Army of Northern Virginia on a raid into Pennsylvania designed to capture supplies and destroy the political will of the Union to continue the war. He unexpectedly encountered the main Union army under General [[George Meade]]. In an intensely fought three-day battle, Lee had advantages on the first two days but lost badly on the third. He was, at that point, trapped but Meade's dilatory pursuit allowed Lee to escape. The battle became a metaphor for the entire war, and a central icon of courage on both sides. It was used by President [[Abraham Lincoln]] in his [[Gettysburg Address]] to mark the birth of a new nation dedicated to equality and democracy. | | The Gettysburg campaign climaxed in the famous [[Battle of Gettysburg]], July 1–3, 1863, on the outskirts of the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, that was an overwhelming Union victory. Confederate General [[Robert E. Lee]] led his Army of Northern Virginia on a raid into Pennsylvania designed to capture supplies and destroy the political will of the Union to continue the war. He unexpectedly encountered the main Union army under General [[George Meade]]. In an intensely fought three-day battle, Lee had advantages on the first two days but lost badly on the third. He was, at that point, trapped but Meade's dilatory pursuit allowed Lee to escape. The battle became a metaphor for the entire war, and a central icon of courage on both sides. It was used by President [[Abraham Lincoln]] in his [[Gettysburg Address]] to mark the birth of a new nation dedicated to equality and democracy. |