Gettysburg Turning Point

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One hundred and fifty years ago we had one of the bloodiest battles in history! The Battle of Gettysburg was a three day battle from July 1st to July 3rd in 1863, and it was not even planned. On the first day they say the most crucial battle was fought. The Battle of Gettysburg was a big devastation to those in and around Gettysburg, but it is said to be the turning point in the Civil War. The Battle of Gettysburg had a lot of deaths and injuries, with it being said that it was the bloodiest battle in history. When they first got there they didn’t know if they wanted to battle on that field. There were big “heroic efforts” from both the Union and the Confederate soldiers. Everyone who lived through the battle was severely affected. After…show more content…
They used guns that were fast loading to slow the other side down. They had taken about 5,000 horses during the battle, even though they did not make it far, the horses helped a lot! Over 50,000 soldiers fought in the first day. In the first day alone there were over 15,000 deaths, more than the Battle of the Bull Run and the Battle of Franklin combined! On day two, Confederates had a lead on the Union. One of the Confederates most trusted generals was wounded. The Union gave soldiers positions to guard and there was a new leader to try and lead them for an attack. There were more than 35,000 deaths on the second and the first day combined. On the third and final day Longstreet was extremely tired and tried to get Lee to surrender. In fact, one hundred and fifty guns opened fire on the Union center. That night Lee and his army left Gettysburg. There was about 50,000 deaths in the Battle of Gettysburg. Reporters went after the war to write in their newspapers, one of them reported, “The ground is thick with the dead, and the wounded are like the withered, dry and shriveled, leaves of autumn.” Everyone there was devastated. Another reporter wrote “ Every farm, field, or garden was a graveyard. Churches, public buildings, and even private homes where hospitals were filled with wounded soldiers.” Even after two more years of battles the confederacy could not recover
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