Reasons For The Failure Of The Battle Of Gettysburg
Introduction
Of all of the civil war battles, or any war battle for the matter; no battle is more historic then the battle of Gettysburg. The battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle in American history. It was a three day from the first to the third of July in 1863. General lees army would have the confidence after the battle of Chancellorsville in 1862, and would move strategically to Pennsylvania, and end up in Gettysburg where the historic battle took place. The campaign of Gettysburg had many focal points. Some were good and others bad; but they all lea to the same outcome. Lees army faced many difficulties while trying to make their way north while the Potomac army of the north was constantly on their heels, they would fight battles, …show more content…
The two main reason the Gettysburg campaign failed was because his subordinates failed to follow orders correctly, and he did not give his orders clearly. On the first day of battle of cemetery ridge had been stormed the outcome may have been drastically different. Maybe the confederates would have won in a single day. The outcome of the entire war may have changed if his orders would have been followed correctly. Also lee did not give full and clear orders to his men. And that, and stubbornness are his two main leadership flaws. The whole battle may have changed if lee had a better cavalry leader, because time and time again General Stuart proved himself as useless to lees army. Wars are not fought perfectly and no leaders are perfect, but with the right men you have a better chance. The battle of Gettysburg remains infamous for the number of casualties it produced an was considered the turning point of the war. The battle brought even more confidence to the north, and destroyed the moral of the south even though lee would not admit that it is so. This battle is the bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil, and the sad truth is that all of the soldiers fighting were Americans. There were 23,049 casualties for the Union (3,155 dead, 14,529 wounded, 5,365 missing). Confederate casualties were 28,063 (3,903 dead, 18,735 injured, and 5,425 missing), which was more than a third of Lee’s
Of all of the civil war battles, or any war battle for the matter; no battle is more historic then the battle of Gettysburg. The battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle in American history. It was a three day from the first to the third of July in 1863. General lees army would have the confidence after the battle of Chancellorsville in 1862, and would move strategically to Pennsylvania, and end up in Gettysburg where the historic battle took place. The campaign of Gettysburg had many focal points. Some were good and others bad; but they all lea to the same outcome. Lees army faced many difficulties while trying to make their way north while the Potomac army of the north was constantly on their heels, they would fight battles, …show more content…
The two main reason the Gettysburg campaign failed was because his subordinates failed to follow orders correctly, and he did not give his orders clearly. On the first day of battle of cemetery ridge had been stormed the outcome may have been drastically different. Maybe the confederates would have won in a single day. The outcome of the entire war may have changed if his orders would have been followed correctly. Also lee did not give full and clear orders to his men. And that, and stubbornness are his two main leadership flaws. The whole battle may have changed if lee had a better cavalry leader, because time and time again General Stuart proved himself as useless to lees army. Wars are not fought perfectly and no leaders are perfect, but with the right men you have a better chance. The battle of Gettysburg remains infamous for the number of casualties it produced an was considered the turning point of the war. The battle brought even more confidence to the north, and destroyed the moral of the south even though lee would not admit that it is so. This battle is the bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil, and the sad truth is that all of the soldiers fighting were Americans. There were 23,049 casualties for the Union (3,155 dead, 14,529 wounded, 5,365 missing). Confederate casualties were 28,063 (3,903 dead, 18,735 injured, and 5,425 missing), which was more than a third of Lee’s