History Fact Finder | War and Conflict: Pre-Twentieth Century - What Was The Significance Of The Battle Of Gettysburg?

What was the significance of the Battle of Gettysburg?

The Battle of Gettysburg marked a turning point in the American Civil War (1861–65), a bloody conflict between states in the North (the United States, or the Union) and the South (the Confederate States of America, or the Confederacy). The battle was fought in the summer of 1863 when Union and Confederate forces met accidentally at Gettysburg, a town in southern Pennsylvania. From July 1 to 3, Union General George Meade (1815–1872) led about 90,000 troops to defeat 75,000 advancing Confederate troops under General Robert E. Lee (1807–1870). The Union victory effectively stopped Lee's invasion of the North.

On November 19, 1863, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) made his historical address at Gettysburg, during the dedication of part of the battlefield as a national cemetery. Lincoln began with the now-famous words "Four score and...

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