CWR - Virtual Visit - Gettysburg Lesson

Virtual Visit - Gettysburg

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, is arguably the most famous battlefield in the United States. This is for several reasons. The sheer size of the battle is impressive as 160,000 troops faced off. The number of killed and wounded for these three days of July 1-3, 1863 was a staggering 51,000. One of America's greatest Presidents, Abraham Lincoln, would give his famous Gettysburg Address here four months after the battle. Gettysburg was also a pivotal battle in the war that would determine the future course of the United States.

In the summer of 1863, victory for the Union in the Civil War was still very much in doubt. Support for the War on the Homefront had dipped as the war had gone on for over two years and casualties had mounted. Confederate General Robert E. Lee had won a string of impressive victories. In fact, he had not been militarily defeated in a large battle before Gettysburg. Lee had taken the fighting to the North with his march into southern Pennsylvania. Had he been victorious at Gettysburg, it would have had devastating effects on the prospects for a Union victory. So Gettysburg stands as the turning point in the Eastern Theater of the Civil War and the battlefield remains as a hallowed ground testifying to the determination of the thousands that died there.

Click here to visit Gettysburg Links to an external site..

 

RESOURCES IN THIS MODULE ARE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) OR CREATED BY GAVS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SOME IMAGES USED UNDER SUBSCRIPTION.
PHOTOGRAPH OF GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD USED WITH PERMISSION FROM KEN KRACH VIA FLICKR (https://www.flickr.com/photos/kjkmep Links to an external site.)