--- title: Gettysburg slug: gettysburg layout: slides draft: true --- ### The Battle of Gettysburg #### July 1–3, 1863 #### `Harry Randazzo` ----- Navigate using your arrow keys. If you see a ⇩ in the bottom right nav there is content below. Try it now! --- ## Nice! To view all slides press the `O` key, otherwise press `>` to move to the next slide. ----- ## Preface The _Battle of Gettysburg_ is commonly known to be the turning point of the Civil War. It marked the last time the South attempted an invasion of the North, one of General Robert E. Lee's few disastrous defeats, and later led to the Gettysburg Address, one of the finest works of literature. ----- ## General Robert E. Lee ![Lee](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Robert_Edward_Lee.jpg/1200px-Robert_Edward_Lee.jpg) --- ## A Tactical Genius - Commander of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. - Lee displayed "expert use of the Napoleonic turning movement as described by Antoine de Jomini". - Goal was to bring the North to the peace negotiating table through costly defeats in Northern territory. - "Became so engrossed with the tactical details and the possibility of achieving an Austerlitz that he lost his focus on directing a campaign linked to political ends." - Sought to achieve a strategic and operational objective through a single tactical victory. ----- ## Day 1 - July 1, 1863 ![Day_1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/Gettysburg_Battle_Map_Day1.png/706px-Gettysburg_Battle_Map_Day1.png) --- ## The Prelude - "began as an engagement between isolated units" that "escalated into a major battle which culminated in the outnumbered and defeated Union forces retreating to the high ground south of Gettysburg". - Overall a very good victory by the South, despite how disorganized both sides were at the start. - Following, Lee chose this ground to become _the_ battle where he would destroy the Northern forces. ----- ## Day 2 - July 2, 1863 ![Day_2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/Gettysburg_Battle_Map_Day2.png/706px-Gettysburg_Battle_Map_Day2.png) --- ## Close Calls - All of the rest of the infantry from both sides has arrived by morning of Day 2. - Confederates nearly broke through the Union's left flank. - Disorganization, miscommunication, and general upper level leadership failures (sounds like a normal Tuesday in the military to me). - Heavy casualties on both sides. - Led to Lee believing that a similar strategy, but with more fresh troops committed, could prevail and crush the Union forces the following day. ----- ## Day 3 - July 3, 1863 ![Charge](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Pickett%27s-Charge.png/800px-Pickett%27s-Charge.png) --- ## The Charge - Early afternoon artillery bombardment by Confederate cannons on Union central lines. - Overshot and did little to soften (imagine if they had modern satellite imagery). - 3/4 quarters of a mile distance to travel. - With fences and other obstacles in the way. - With Cemetery Hill to climb at the end. - Under both infantry and artillery fire. (Hopefully the bombardment would have taken care of the artillery) - To finally face the center of the Union lines. - With zero way of knowing the strength of the enemy. - I would have questioned my commander's sanity if I received these orders. - cont. --- ## The Charge Cont. - 7,000+ Confederate troops made the charge, less than half returned. - Predicting this strategy, Union General Meade had forces on the right side of his center turn to engage, as well as artillery from the left side also engaged. - Essentially a modern day "kill box" was formed for the Confederates to charge into. --- ## Principles This battle was lost due to misuse and misunderstanding the Principles of War. - There was zero `Surprise` in Lee's orders - Day 1 attempted to seize viable high ground and organize - Day 2 attacked both flanks, nearly succeeding - Day 3 attack the center - Lee chose to fight Gettysburg knowing that the North had the superior ground, he failed to `Manuever` his forces into a advantageous position. - The Confederate forces, following the death of General "Stonewall" Jackson, had many newly promoted officers - They lacked solid `Unity of Command` - cont. --- ## Principles Cont. - At the end of Day 1, Confederate forces under General Hill failed to capture Cemetery Hill, showing a failure of `Security` - During Pickett's Charge the Confederate forces were unable to join together and form a single `Mass` to break through the Union's lines. While Lee was a great tactician, he failed to employ the Principles of War to their fullest at the most crucial point in the Civil War. ----- # Thanks! ----- ## Works Cited - Lee - In Search of the Decisive Battle at Gettysburg - Michael J. Forsyth - [History.net](https://www.historynet.com/picketts-charge-gettysburg) - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gettysburg) - [The Killer Angels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killer_Angels) - Highly recommended read, a lot of my Civil War knowledge comes from this series. [Repo URL](https://github.com/Noxsios/gettysburg)