The Battle of Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863) was fought in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War between Union and Confederate forces. The engagement occurred as part of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Gettysburg campaign, his second attempt to invade the North. Following his success at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863, Lee led his Army of Northern Virginia through the Shenandoah Valley with high morale. Lee's strategic objective was to shift the focus of the summer campaign away from the war-ravaged Northern Virginia and penetrate as far north as Harrisburg or Philadelphia, hoping that such an invasion would convince northern politicians to end the war.
Union Major General George Meade commanded the Army of the Potomac against Lee's forces. The battle unfolded over three days, with the Union army mounting a successful defense against Confederate attacks. Lee's invasion of the North was ultimately halted by Meade's forces, resulting in a Union victory and forcing Lee's retreat.
The Battle of Gettysburg is widely considered the turning point of the Civil War, leading to an ultimate Union victory and the preservation of the nation. The engagement was the bloodiest battle of both the Civil War and of any battle in American military history up to that time, claiming over 50,000 combined casualties. The Union success at Gettysburg marked a decisive shift in the war's momentum and ended Lee's attempt to carry the conflict into northern territory.
The American Civil War (1861–1865) was the deadliest conflict in American history, killing an estimated 620,000 to 750,000 soldiers and an unknown number of civilians. The Confederate States of America, formed by eleven seceding Southern states, faced the Union in four years of warfare across 23 states and territories. Major engagements included First and Second Bull Run, Antietam (the bloodiest single day in American history, September 17, 1862), Chancellorsville, Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), Vicksburg (surrendered July 4, 1863), and Sherman's March through Georgia and the Carolinas (1864–1865). President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, transforming the war's stated purpose to include the abolition of slavery and enabling the enlistment of approximately 180,000 Black men in the United States Colored Troops. Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. The war resolved the question of secession and ended American slavery, though Reconstruction would face sustained resistance in its attempt to secure civil rights for formerly enslaved people.
over 50,000 combined casualties
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