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Essay on The Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg occupies a unique place in American history. The outcome of that battle - the largest and bloodiest ever fought in North America - decided that we would, eventually, remain one nation. The battle, in which both sides suffered 51,000 casualties, was fought west of town on the first day, and then through the town and south of town on the second and third days of July, 1863. The town then had a population of about 2,200, and houses that were standing at that time are marked today with small brass plaques. Union soldiers - almost of of ammunition - won the day and Little Round Top by mounting a bayonet charge and sending the 20th Alabama into retreat.
The action began on the very first day of the battle, July 1, 1863. On McPherson's Ridge, west of town, battlefield markers pinpoint where North Carolina brigades of Gen. James Johnston Pettigrew and Gen. Aldred Iverson attacked Union soldiers. Both brigades were badly mauled. A marker on the site tells that Pettigrew's 26th North Carolina Infantry Regiment of the brigade started battle with 843 men. By the end of fighting, all were casualties except for 71. These were the highest casualties of any regiment in a single battle in the Confederate Army. One company of the 26th lost 86 out of 87 men. Iverson's brigade also suffered; they started with 1,500 men and had 800 casualties. That first day was a victory for the South in spite of its losses: they drove Union troops in disorder through Gettysburg and onto Cemetery Ridge, high ground to the south of town.
There, the Union troops set their positions behind rock fences to fight a strategy of defense: force the South to attack uphill. (Hyde, 2003)The battle of Gettysburg is distinguished in this war, not only as by far the greatest and severest conflict that has occurred, but for some other things.......
