This Day in Civil War History July 3rd, 1863 Third Day of the batle of Gettysburg

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pickett-leads-his-infamous-charge-at-gettysburg ^

[matginzac]

I don’t think it’s ignored at all by those who are interested and study the war more closely...it’s pretty noteworthy in most circles...

[doublecansiter]

Vicksburg was the more important victory in a strategic
sense. Gettysburg was important because they finally
found a general for the Army of the Potomac that was not
given to running away after a set back.

Mike

[Kenny Bunk]

Gettysburg was Lee's fault. It was his "Bridge Too Far."

He was not at all well during this episode, suffering mightily from "dysentery," of some sort during the whole time. In a way, Meade did to him what Southron Generals did to the Union during the entire war, i.e., depending upon interior lines of supply and communication against invaders who were wandering about without a clue as to local topography and conditions. Yes, one can blame that insufferable "Hot Dog" Stuart for his reconnaissance failures ... however, IMHO, it's a minor chapter.

His masterful retreat, and the successful rear guard actions to Williamsport and back across the Potomac were the real Lee. First Manassas, Antietam, and Gettysburg each had the potential to end the struggle on the Union's terms. The fact that the Confederacy continued so long is the true tribute to Confederate Arms.

[matginzac]

Hey, watch the digs on the tar heels...my great, great granpappy fought with them...captured twice then “paroled”...from Pollocksville, NC (Jones Co.)...

[RegulatorCountry]

The 18th NC Infantry was as responsible for the defeat as either Lee or Stuart, IMO.

Wrong. Stonewall Jackson. Shot and killed in the literal fog of war.

[Kartographer]

“The South could have easily won the war. The only thing necessary was to end the north’s will to fight, just like Vietnam.”

They did at first, but Grant changed that.

[Kenny Bunk]

This may seem astounding to Maine historians, but it now has been historically established that troops from other states were actually at Gettysburg.

However, as a DownEast patriot, I feel their contributions to victory at Gettysburg have been overstated.

[NavyCanDo]

I was hoping the three separate Gettysburg threads (day 1, 2, & 3) would not get hijacked by those finding it more important to argue who was right and who was wrong for the war happening in the first place. But here we go.

With family on both sides of that war, I try not play along with the North Good, South Bad trolling. My opinion , The war was much more complex than many people believe, and that the reunification of the country and end of slavery were probably the only good things to come from the war.

As for States Rights, we can see in the headlines today that that is still very much a hot topic.

[vetvetdoug]

My ancestors were with Archer's Brigade, 14th Tennessee Infantry, and was wounded at the triangle. The first killed were a Tennessean and a cavalryman from Illinois for the battle FYI. I was at the Cash Battery position at the 125th Anniversary to the second at Gettysburg back in 1988.

[rustbucket]

I’ve been to Gettysburg and several of my ancestors died, not there, but in other Civil War battles.

I got to thinking about all the sites, museums, and battlefields I've been to from the war. Gettysburg, Antietam (Sharpsburg), Harper's Ferry, Fredericksburg, Point Lookout Union Prison, Andersonville (Camp Sumter), Shiloh, Bentonville, Fort Sumter, Fort Walker, Fort Pulaski, Fort Jackson, Fort McAllister, Fort Pickens, Fort Pillow, Fort Ringgold, Port Hudson, Olustee, Vicksburg, Appomattox. I've seen information plaques (e.g., Sherman's headquarters were in this building), museums, or exhibits in Atlanta, Savannah, Charleston, Galveston, New Orleans, Richmond, Darien, Columbia, Biloxi (Beauvoir), Lexington (Lee Chapel), Hodgenville (Lincoln Museum), Glorieta, Fort Brown. Visiting such sites makes for a nice hobby.

I was most fascinated by the old raised USS Cairo ironclad at Vicksburg. It is a formidable looking warship that was sunk by a Confederate mine.

[NavyCanDo]

Lee put it best when he said that “a union that had to be maintained through force of arms held no charm.”

[matginzac]

A superficial analysis has been that he wanted to take the fight to the northerners, let them feel the devastation and use some the resources untouched in the north while things were getting slim in VA...I do know that he didn’t plan on fighting at Gettysburg but again, think he wanted to engage closer to DC...I think the Capitol as well as rail road lines were the strategic aim...but yes, he really wasn’t happy to engage at Gettysburg and I think the recon effort of Stuart didn’t help him.
OBTW, when you visit Carlisle, PA,s the courthouse downtown still has marking and, I think, a cannon ball or two still embedded in it from Stuart’s raid there...the whole area is fascinating when it comes to learning about the battle. And, Ken Burns got most of the photos for his documentary from the Army War College...which, I think, anyone can go visit and explore...I saw the actual retreat orders from Lee at the museum...too cool for school for this reb...

[Texas Mulerider]

Shot and killed in the literal fog of war.

Yes, by the 18th NC. These things happen. And I say that as a admirer of NC troops, and having an ancestor in the 6th NC who was killed at First Manassas (Col. Charles Fisher).

The speed with with Jackson could execute large movements might possibly have played a decisive role. Just IMO, of course.

[hoosierham]

From what evidence we have,General Lee made a horrible mistake; a long march into cannon fire is suicidal or homicidal depending on if you are doing the marching or ordered the marching.

[Texas Mulerider]

Not a dig on Tar Heels. I joined the SCV on the service of an ancestor in the 6th NC Infantry who was killed in action at First Manassas.

[FreeAtlanta]

620,000 men died in the Civil War - more than the total COMBINED who died in every war from 1812 through Viet Nam! And this was when our population was only about 30 million

Imagine how bad a civil war would be today. The left has to be stopped at the ballot box.

[Man50D]

Sucession and we wouldn’t be living under Obamas iron fist now.

Secession would not have guaranteed the South not living under the iron fist of some other dictator.

[Kartographer]

The approximate point where in the early morning hours of November 26th 1863 Union troops from the 8th Kentucky Infantry lead by Captain John Wilson made the last assault on the Confederate Army's position atop Lookout Mountain, by scaling the palisades of the point of the mountain. Even though that unknown to the Union forces the Confederate units occupying the summit had withdrawn during the night, and Captain Wilson and his men in the end, made the climb unopposed, I find the daring and the bravery of these men from the Kentucky 8th to be most noteworthy. I only wished that the people of the state of Kentucky had felt the same way, because of among all the plaques and monuments scattered about the park dedicated by the various states who had units who fought in the 'Battle of Lookout Mountain' there is none from the state of Kentucky to honor those brave men of the Kentucky 8th Infantry.

Men from many states fought and died and most got little or no glory.

"Many a good boy lost a young and promising life. Some wore blue and some wore gray."

[Man50D]

Then why did the north fight to hold on to the south?

The greater issue than industrial capacity was the Constitution.

Why didn’t they just let them succeed?
Succeed or secede?

Don’t tell me it was to free the slaves. It was about sucession.

Freeing the slaves was only part of the larger issue to uphold the Constitution.

[tanknetter]

What compelled Lee to suspend his plan and gamble his resources on such a whim?

Lee was a fatalist. Once his forces were engaged (which was largely accidental), he felt that the opportunity to destroy the Army of the Potomac had been given to him.

Given some of the more recent research and analysis (including that in Lost Triumph, it appears that by the numbers Lee probably should have won at Gettysburg, but was undone by that most nebulous of military variables: acts of individual courage and talent that can't be accounted for. At Gettysburg these included:

Buford's Calvary holding the line much longer that should have been expected.

Reynolds arriving at the double-quick in the nick of time.

Chamberlain's bayonet attack to save the Union left flank at Little Round Top

Custer's reckless attack into Stuart's Calvary on the final day (read Lost Triumph for a good analysis of this).