Gettysburg, PA -- 2021

welcome to carol and gary see america tour hello again everyone after 150 mile drive on friday august 20th carol jasper and i are now in gettysburg pennsylvania you might not be able to see it on this map but most of our drive was on interstate 68 through northern maryland gettysburg wasn't the final battle of the civil war nor was it the first but it was the battle that turned the tide of the civil war until gettysburg the confederates were in the lead but the decisive battle in gettysburg allowed the union army to change the course of history 1863 was the middle of the civil war neither side had made significant progress toward ending this bloody conflict in june 1863 confederate general robert e lee decided it was time to do something drastic he invaded union territory with an army of 60 000 men it was a high-risk high-reward maneuver and route to destroy a supply depot in maryland general lee scouts brought him good news a large union force was camped at gettysburg vulnerable to attack this was the sort of break that lee had been hoping for he marched his entire army of sixty thousand soldiers to gettysburg to obliterate the union force the battle begins on the morning of july first eighteen sixty three several assaults by confederate soldiers were repelled by union soldiers but running low on the ammunition by 4 pm confederate forces were able to drive the outnumbered union defenders back through gettysburg to cemetery and culps hill a half mile south of town heavy fighting led to over 10 000 casualties that first day during the night additional soldiers arrived to supplement both sides union forces have strengthened their position on cemetery hill and taken up positions on surrounding hills culp sill powers hill and a little round top against the advice of his defensive minded second in charge general james longstreet general lee orders attacks on the left and right sides of the union positions on cemetery hill attempting to dislodge union soldiers from their defensive position but first lee plans to attack culp's hill hard and little round top harder general lee ordered general longstreet to lead an attack on the union's left while general ewell would strike the union's right near culps hill though his orders were to attack as early in the day as possible longstreet didn't get his men into position until 4pm when long street attacked they opened fire on the union soldiers commanded by general daniel sickles over the next several hours leddy fighting raged along sickle's line which stretched from the nest of boulders known as devil's den into a peach orchard as well as in a nearby wheat field and on the slopes of little round top thanks to fierce fighting the union soldiers were able to hold little round top that lost the orchard the wheat field and the devil's den general sickles himself was seriously wounded meanwhile general ewell sent five thousand confederate soldiers charging up culves hill sixteen hundred union soldiers defended their positions the first confederate attacks were repelled but then one confederate brigade outflanked the union soldiers being attacked from two different directions union soldiers fell back relinquishing control of culp seal to the confederate both armies suffered extremely heavy losses on july 2nd with approximately 9 000 casualties on each side the combined casualty total for these two days of fighting came to nearly 35 000 the largest two-day total of the war on july third union soldiers launched a dawn bombardment against confederate soldiers on culps hill by 11 a.m union soldiers had strengthened their defensive lines and are in a strong position of power by afternoon union forces still hold cemetery hill morale is high after the courageous defense of multiple flanking assaults the confederates on the other hand are getting desperate general lee decides the best course of action is a direct assault it's a do or die moment for him and the confederacy again general lee's second in command general james longstreet disagreed with general lee so general pickett takes command of this hail mary attack fifteen thousand confederate soldiers attacked sixty five hundred union soldiers on cemetery hill the assault took place over three quarters of a mile of open ground susceptible to cannon fire the entire time the ill-fated assault resulted in over 6 000 confederate casualties to mark the end of the battle of gettysburg as well as lee's invasion of the north general lee was able to lead what was left of his army out of gettysburg overnight the union army was too weak to pursue the confederates after the battle nearly 7 500 soldiers were hastily buried in shallow graves on the battlefield while hundreds more died at field hospitals each day medicine was woefully inadequate during the civil war if a soldier received a head wound or shrapnel medics would leave the person to die the best thing that a doctor could do was administer morphine to ease the pain in order to avoid infections or disease if a soldier was shot in the arm or leg surgeons would give them a shot of whiskey and then a stick to bite down on before amputating their arm or leg over the course of the entire civil war 660 000 soldiers died but only one-third were killed outright by union or confederate soldiers the rest were killed by infection and disease pennsylvania governor andrew curtin worked with gettysburg attorney david wills to establish a proper burial ground for the union dead who had given the last full measure of devotion reburial began on october 27 1863 and continued for five months the remains of 3 300 confederate soldiers were removed from the battlefield to cemeteries in the south soldiers national cemetery was dedicated on november 19 1863 president lincoln's few appropriate remarks at the dedication of the soldiers national cemetery became his most famous and inspirational speech the gettysburg address these are some of the unidentified union soldiers buried at soldiers national cemetery in gettysburg today this hallowed ground is a final resting place for american veterans from the civil war through vietnam [Music] this is looking down from cemetery hill today [Music] when we arrived in gettysburg i downloaded an app to my cell phone that described the battle of gettysburg in great detail the app guided us to key battlefield locations and highlighted facts that led to the union's successful defense against confederate attacks granite statues have been positioned along our driving route recognizing the soldiers their unit and the state that each unit had come from [Music] carol and i will be leaving for our last stop in pennsylvania on friday if you like this video but have not yet subscribed please do so to be notified of future videos and as always feel free to share with your friends thanks for watching

Channel: Carol & Gary's See America Tour

Views: 118

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Snowbird, Snowbirding, Class A, Motorhome, Full-timers, Carol, Carol and Gary, Carol & Gary, Carol and Gary's, Carol & Gary's, Campbell, See America Tour, Thor, Palazzo 36.1, Diesel Pusher, Jasper, Pennsylania, Gettysburg, Civil War

Id: M04MwNHGoV4

Length: 7min 52sec (472 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 25 2021