Introduction
The Battle of Gettysburg was one of the pivotal battles of the Civil War. It is sometimes called the high water mark of the Confederacy. Prior to the battle, the war had been going better for the South than for the North, and Confederate hopes were high. At the Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate troops made their deepest penetration into northern territory. If they had won the battle, it would have opened the way for an attack on Washington, D.C.
However, with the Union victory at Gettysburg, the Confederate army was forced to retreat back to Virginia. Though the war would continue for almost two more years, the South never again threatened Northern territory, and its army was increasingly on the defensive.
Gettysburg was also the bloodiest battle of the Civil war, with about 50,000 men (out of 157,000 who fought) killed, injured, or missing during the three days of battle.
How Do We Know About the Battle?
Diary kept by Private Henry Hamilton Bennett during the Civil War. The pages show entries from May 22-23, 1863.
Photo ©2009 Wisconsin Historical Images. Bennett diary pages. Used under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.
We know what happened at Gettysburg from many different sources. These include official battle reports, newspaper stories, accounts written later by soldiers who were in the battle, letters written by soldiers to family and friends, and diaries that some soldiers kept.
Diaries are a particularly interesting source of information. Because some soldiers wrote in their diaries nearly every day, they recorded information while it was still fresh in their memories, before they began to forget details. The diaries also provide interesting insights into a soldier’s daily life.
