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| | The three-day battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in early July 1863, is the most famous in all of American history. It could be the subject of an entire course, featuring military strategy, enormous human tragedy, and endless debates about why it happened and whether the outcome could have been different. Its location is only about a two-hour drive from our class and it a "must see" stop for tourists. Lincoln himself traveled there to deliver the most famous speech in American history later in 1863: the Gettysburg address. | | The three-day battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in early July 1863, is the most famous in all of American history. It could be the subject of an entire course, featuring military strategy, enormous human tragedy, and endless debates about why it happened and whether the outcome could have been different. Its location is only about a two-hour drive from our class and it a "must see" stop for tourists. Lincoln himself traveled there to deliver the most famous speech in American history later in 1863: the Gettysburg address. |
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| − | The famous battle took place, ironically, on a farm owned by a freed slave. It was a chance encounter; neither side expected the other side to have as many troops as they did. Both sides fought ferociously expecting the other side to cut and run. | + | The famous battle took place, ironically, on a farm owned by a freed slave. It was a chance encounter; neither side expected the other side to have as many troops as they did. Both sides fought ferociously expecting the other side to cut and run. From just three days of fighting, the results were very grim: 10,000 soldiers killed, 30,000 wounded, and another 10,000 captured or missing. |
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| | Confederate General Robert E. Lee commanded the southern troops, and he hoped to push through and surprise D.C. with an attack from the north. Up until this time General Lee, first in his class at West Point, had never lost a battle. He planned his strategy with expert precision, utilizing three different points of assault to break the Union line in order to defeat them. Lee had more men, but the Union had the higher ground. General George Meade led the Union troops. In contrast with General Lee's military brilliance, General Meade made his major decision by major vote of his lieutenants! | | Confederate General Robert E. Lee commanded the southern troops, and he hoped to push through and surprise D.C. with an attack from the north. Up until this time General Lee, first in his class at West Point, had never lost a battle. He planned his strategy with expert precision, utilizing three different points of assault to break the Union line in order to defeat them. Lee had more men, but the Union had the higher ground. General George Meade led the Union troops. In contrast with General Lee's military brilliance, General Meade made his major decision by major vote of his lieutenants! |
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| | At dawn, General Lee started by firing cannons from the largest cannonade assembled in history to this date. But the Union troops were closer than he thought, and the cannon balls sailed harmlessly over their heads to explode behind them. | | At dawn, General Lee started by firing cannons from the largest cannonade assembled in history to this date. But the Union troops were closer than he thought, and the cannon balls sailed harmlessly over their heads to explode behind them. |
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| − | By November 1863, Lincoln displayed signs of finding the faith that he lacked earlier. He may have found the Lord while riding the train to Gettysburg, in order to deliver what would become the famous Gettysburg Address. Though not in the drafts of his speech for that commemoration, at the last minute Lincoln inserted the phrase "under God" after his reference to "one Nation."<ref>The origin of the phrase "under God" is the General Orders of [[George Washington]] on July 2 and 9, 1776: "The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army" (July 2); "the peace and safety of the Country now depends, under God, solely on the success of our arms" (July 9). See http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/264xqezm.asp?pg=2 . Later, the imagery of "under God" appeared in a cartoon in 1788 celebrating the ratification of the Constitution by Massachusetts. See [[American History Homework Three Answers - Model]].</ref> He delivered the speech at the battlefield (converted to a cemetery) in commemoration of the soldiers who died at the Battle of Gettysburg, and the Gettysburg Address remains the most famous in all of American history. It ends with the words "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." | + | By November 1863, Lincoln displayed signs of finding the faith that he lacked earlier. He may have found the Lord while riding the train to Gettysburg, in order to deliver what would become the famous Gettysburg Address. Though not in the drafts of his speech for that commemoration, at the last minute Lincoln inserted the phrase "under God" after his reference to "one Nation."<ref>The origin of the phrase "under God" is the General Orders of [[George Washington]] on July 2 and 9, 1776: "The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army" (July 2); "the peace and safety of the Country now depends, under God, solely on the success of our arms" (July 9). See http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/264xqezm.asp?pg=2 . Later, the imagery of "under God" appeared in a cartoon in 1788 celebrating the ratification of the Constitution by Massachusetts. See [[American History Homework Three Answers - Model]].</ref> He delivered the speech at the battlefield (converted to a cemetery) in commemoration of the soldiers who died at the Battle of Gettysburg, and the Gettysburg Address remains the most famous in all of American history. It ends with the words "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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| | ===1864-1865=== | | ===1864-1865=== |