This album has 2064 photos in total.
Album was created 8/5/09 9:27 PM.
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.
Seminary Ridge was the staging point for Confederate forces throughout the Battle of Gettysburg. From Seminary Ridge General Robert E. Lee staged attacks on Culps Hill and Cemetery Hill on the north and the Wheatfield, Peach Orchard, Devil's Den and Little Round Top to the south on July 2, the second day of the battle. On July 3, Confederate forces attacked The Angle with a tremendous cannon barrage, followed by an infantry assault of 12,500 men known as Pickett's Charge; these attacks all began along Seminary Ridge.
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. General Lee watched the destruction of his forces from the opening in the trees in the woods of Seminary Ridge.
Today, Seminary Ridge is lined with cannon and memorials for Southern states and Confederate regiments. The North Carolina memorial and Virginia memorial are two of the most memorable.
