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The Battle of Gettysburg, fought on July 1–3, 1863, was the battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War and is often considered as the war's turning point. Fought in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the Battle of Gettysburg saw 165,000 Union and Confederate soldiers clash in a three day battle that resulted in more than 51,000 casualties. On the third day of the battle, Confederate soldiers in an attack called Pickett's Charge reached the copse of trees near The Angle (a corner in a low stone wall) on Cemetery Ridge; this represented the farthest point north that Robert E. Lee's forces reached during the Civil War. For this reason the copse of trees is often referred to as the High Water Mark of the Confederacy.
Pickett's Charge was a disaster for the Confederate forces and ended Robert E. Lee's plan to move his forces north to Harrisburg Pennsylvania and on to Washington DC. While the Civil War continued on for two more years, the Battle of Gettysburg changed the dynamics of the war and General Lee was never truly on the offensive again.
On July 1, the fighting started north of Gettysburg but entered the town of Gettysburg as Union soldiers retreated from McPherson Ridge to the safety of Culps Hill, Cemetery Hill and Cemetery Ridge to the south. Soldiers shot at each other in the streets and took refuge in citizens' homes during the chaos of the fight. After the Battle of Gettysburg, citizens were left to deal with the dead and wounded that amounted to more than 10 soldiers for every citizen, not including the thousands of horses that were also killed. Remarkably, only one civilian, Jennie Wade, was killed during the fighting.
Today Gettysburg caters to the one million-plus tourists who visit the Gettysburg Battlefield each year. Some noteworthy merchants in Gettysburg include Cashtown Inn, Quality Inn at General Lee's Headquarters, Home Front General Store, Miniature Battlefield Diorama at Artillery Ridge Campground and Ghosts of Gettysburg tours.
