The Gettysburg Address

During the first three days of July 1863 the small, peaceful Pennyslvanian town of Gettysburg became the unlikely setting for the largest battle to ever take place on United States soil. The Civil War was in its third year and southern commander, General Robert E Lee, had decided to invade Pennyslvania heading north to the west of Washington. Aware of the threat to the capital the union army was also moving north. Neither side possessed accurate reports of the other’s movements. It was by chance that a group of confederate soldiers came face to face with a contingent of union forces near Gettysburg which happened to be at the hub of a network of roads.

The battle on the first of July saw the confederate army push back the outnumbered union divisions but they halted their advance. This gave time for the union army, with reinforcements pouring in from the south, to establish a solid defensive position south of the town on a plateau known as Cemetery Ridge. On the 2nd July the confederate plan to attack and encircle the union left flank failed. On 3rd July believing the centre to be weak Lee ordered a full frontal attack despite the reticence of his senior officers. Over 9000 confederate troops marched in formation for more than half a mile across open, rising fields to be met by cannon fire, cannister and grenades, then volleys of rifle fire from the union army solidly entrenched behind low walls on the hillside. It was a disaster for Lee’s army and signalled the beginning of the end for the confederate cause, although the war raged on for two more years.

With more than 50000 soldiers dead, wounded or missing, Politicians in Washington decided to erect a momument on the battlefield and in November 1863 President Abraham Lincoln was invited to attend the auspicious occasion. What he said during little more than two minutes was not particularly well received at the time but today is considered one of the most inspiring speeches ever made.