Ben

There were many things that led to the Unions victory at Gettysburg. The Battle of Gettysburg is considered by many as the turning point of the American Civil War. The battle was won by the thousands of Union soldiers who died at the historic Gettysburg battlefield in Pennsylvania. The Battle lasted for three long days. Some of the things that affected the outcome of the battle of Gettysburg were the Union Commanders, The Confederate Commanders, the individual regiments and several key events. In this presentation, I will present the commanders.

                                                            One of the most important aspects attributing to the Union Victory at Gettysburg was the Commanders of the Union army. The primary leader of the Union’s Army of the Potomac was General George G. Meade. Meade replaced General Joseph Hooker Shortly before the battle. Meade’s defensive strategy during the battle helped thin the numbers of the advancing confederates. This inevitably dropped the confederate numbers significantly enough to force General Lee to retreat. Several other supporting commanders contributed to the victory. General John F. Reynolds was the general in charge of the left wing of the army of the Potomac. He commanded several groups including the first Corps and General Buford’s first Division. He died during the first day of the battle from a gunshot wound to the back of his neck. General John Buford had command of the first Division, a cavalry unit. General Buford and his first Division were the men who originally scouted out and occupied the town of Gettysburg before the battle. Another important commander during the battle of Gettysburg was Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain. Colonel Chamberlain commanded the twentieth Maine Infantry Regiment during the battle. He and the twentieth Maine are responsible for the victory at little Round top, one of two large hills in Gettysburg. After sustaining heavy casualties, Chamberlain ordered a bayonet charge to finish off the attacking Confederate fifteenth Alabama Regiment. Chamberlain’s victory at Little Round top is considered on of the most important defensive victories of the Union army during the Battle of Gettysburg.

                                                            Another important aspect of the battle of Gettysburg was the Confederate Commanders. The Primary Confederate Commander during the Battle of Gettysburg was General Robert E. Lee. After sustaining heavy casualties, Lee retreated on the third day to prevent further losses. Another important Confederate general was General Henry Heth. Heth is responsible for indivertibly starting the battle of Gettysburg. He sent two brigades into the town of Gettysburg in search of shoes. The brigades were attacked by General Buford’s first Division, thus starting the battle. Another Important Confederate Commander was General James Longstreet. General Longstreet was Lee’s principle subordinate. He was ordered by General Lee to attack the Union army’s left flank. Longstreet however, delayed his attack. Many believe that his delay to attack directly contributed to the Confederate army’s loss. The final Confederate Commander who influenced the outcome of the battle was General George E. Picket. General Picket was one of Longstreet’s subordinates. During the second day of the battle it became necessary to directly attack General Meade’s position on Cemetery Ridge. Lee ordered his men to assault the position. Chosen to lead this attack was General Picket. Picket led an enormous number of Confederate soldiers in the final attack. This attack came to be known as Picket’s Charge. The heavy losses during this attack forced Lee to retreat, ending the three day battle.

Perhaps one of the most important battles of the American Civil War was the Battle of Gettysburg. The Battle of Gettysburg is considered by many as the turning point of the American Civil War. The battle was won by the thousands of Union soldiers who died at the historic Gettysburg battlefield in Pennsylvania. The Battle lasted for three long days. Some of the things that affected the outcome of the battle of Gettysburg were the Union Commanders, The Confederate Commanders, the individual regiments and several key events.

                                                            One of the most important aspects attributing to the Union Victory at Gettysburg was the Commanders of the Union army. The primary leader of the Union’s Army of the Potomac was General George G. Meade. Meade replaced General Joseph Hooker Shortly before the battle. Meade’s defensive strategy during the battle helped thin the numbers of the advancing confederates. This inevitably dropped the confederate numbers significantly enough to force General Lee to retreat. Several other supporting commanders contributed to the victory. General John F. Reynolds was the general in charge of the left wing of the army of the Potomac. He commanded several groups including the first Corps and General Buford’s first Division. He died during the first day of the battle from a gunshot wound to the back of his neck. General John Buford had command of the first Division, a cavalry unit. General Buford and his first Division were the men who originally scouted out and occupied the town of Gettysburg before the battle. Another important commander during the battle of Gettysburg was Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain. Colonel Chamberlain commanded the twentieth Maine Infantry Regiment during the battle. He and the twentieth Maine are responsible for the victory at little Round top, one of two large hills in Gettysburg. After sustaining heavy casualties, Chamberlain ordered a bayonet charge to finish off the attacking Confederate fifteenth Alabama Regiment. Chamberlain’s victory at Little Round top is considered on of the most important defensive victories of the Union army during the Battle of Gettysburg.

                                                            Another important aspect of the battle of Gettysburg was the Confederate Commanders. The Primary Confederate Commander during the Battle of Gettysburg was General Robert E. Lee. After sustaining heavy casualties, Lee retreated on the third day to prevent further losses. Another important Confederate general was General Henry Heth. Heth is responsible for indivertibly starting the battle of Gettysburg. He sent two brigades into the town of Gettysburg in search of shoes. The brigades were attacked by General Buford’s first Division, thus starting the battle. Another Important Confederate Commander was General James Longstreet. General Longstreet was Lee’s principle subordinate. He was ordered by General Lee to attack the Union army’s left flank. Longstreet however, delayed his attack. Many believe that his delay to attack directly contributed to the Confederate army’s loss. The final Confederate Commander who influenced the outcome of the battle was General George E. Picket. General Picket was one of Longstreet’s subordinates. During the second day of the battle it became necessary to directly attack General Meade’s position on Cemetery Ridge. Lee ordered his men to assault the position. Chosen to lead this attack was General Picket. Picket led an enormous number of Confederate soldiers in the final attack. This attack came to be known as Picket’s Charge. The heavy losses during this attack forced Lee to retreat, ending the three day battle.

                                                            There were several key events that influenced the outcome of the battle of Gettysburg. The first thing that influenced the outcome of the battle was the beginning of the battle. This, of course, was important because without it, there would have been no battle. In the early morning, on July 1^st, 1863 the first shots were fired. General Robert E. Lee ordered General Henry Heth to send two brigades into the Gettysburg. Their mission was simply to gather shoes, which were in short supply, for the army. While on this seemingly simple mission, Heth’s men ran into light Union resistance several miles from the town. These men were cavalry from General Buford’s first division. This accidental confrontation started the battle of Gettysburg. Another event that directly contributed to the Union’s victory at Gettysburg was the fight at little Round top. Little Round top was one of two large hills near Gettysburg, the other being Round top. The fight at little Round top occurred on July second, the second day of the battle. The union took little Round top because Round top was too rocky and densely wooded for troops to hold a position. The confederates realized the advantage of holding this hill. They sent the fifteenth Alabama in hopes of taking control of the hill. Defending the hill was the Union’s twentieth Maine. The commander of the twentieth Maine was Colonel Joshua Chamberlain. The twentieth Maine effectively held their position. When the numbers of the fifteenth Alabama were sufficiently thinned, Chamberlain ordered a bayonet charge on the weakened confederates, wining the fight at little Round top. The event that finally caused the Union victory was Picket’s Charge. Near the end of the battle the confederates numbers and chances of winning were low. General lee ordered for a final stand. They needed to assault general Meade’s position at Cemetery Ridge. Chosen to lead this final charge was general George Picket. Picket led the approximately 12,500 Confederate soldiers in the final attack. Nearly fifty percent of those men died in the attack. The heavy losses during this charge forced lee to retreat. This attack resulted in the Union Victory at Gettysburg.

                                                            The final things that contributed to the Union Victory at Gettysburg were the individual regiments. The first regiment that contributed to the Union Victory was General Buford’s First Cavalry Division. Several days before the battle, the first division was sent by General Meade to occupy the town of Gettysburg. On July first several groups from the first division encountered confederate soldiers. The first Division fired on them, beginning the battle. Another Regiment that contributed to the outcome of the battle was the twentieth Maine. The twentieth Maine defended little Round top from the Confederate army. They killed many confederates and helped thin their numbers during the fight at little Round top. A final Regiment that contributed to the outcome of the battle was the Confederate fifteenth Alabama. They were ordered to take little Round top. They charged the hill, but were defeated by the twentieth Maine. They lost many soldiers during the attack, removing a large chunk of the confederate army.

            The battle of Gettysburg was an important part of the American Civil War. A large part of the Confederate army was weakened in the battle. It also served to lower Confederate morale. The Confederate army encountered little opposition on their march back to Virginia. After the battle, President Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address, honoring all who died in the historic battle.

The horrible task has begun. The social science research paper has its first due date. People always say, “this wont hurt a bit”. That may be true with some things, but not this paper. Writing this paper really could be painful. At least it’s only the first two pages. Maybe if we have no school monday we’ll have extra time. Wait, It’s due on Turnitin.com. Oh well; it might not be terribly hard. We’ve written body and introductory paragraphs in English class. It’s also supposed to be double spaced, so technically thats one page thats doubled by the spacing. Having thought about that, this is going to be easy!

We all want snow. Every human being needs a day off. Weekends of course, do not count. This weekend is the perfect time. Eight to Twelve inches would almost guarantee at least monday off. Maybe we will miss monday and tuesday so we can have our two full weeks of winter vacation. We can only hope that we’ll get the full twelve inches and the roads will ice. Everyone wants snow days; students, teachers, and everyone else.  For now all we can do is watch the weather and hope for a cancellation. But nobody should make the mistake I did. Don’t “Forget” to do your project because you couldn’t say, “Hey maybe I’ll have school tomorrow”. I guess now all we can do is wait in anticipation until we see those wonderful words, “Loudon County Public Schools: Cancelled”. A delay wouldn’t be bad either.

Why We Blog

           Why in the world do we blog? We have to post two posts and eight comments. On top of that we have to have at least two of our comments  as the first. Why do we do this?  

                     The answer is actually very simple. It helps us develop our skills as writers. It will also help us publish some of the great material we have written. Finally it helps us learn how to do things such as blogging and publishing.

           We may think this is long, tedious, and above all boring. I disagree; this can be a fun, easy task once you get into it. This gives you the opportunity to publish your best writing. Some people might think this is boring, but it doesn’t have to be.

                Those people who still think it’s boring, there are ways to end this. Write about something you like. If your ticked off, write about it. It really can be an enjoyable experience.