Civil+War+project

**Zahia Tayoubi, Grapes, 5/20/10** Hello, my name is Susan and my father went away to fight in the battle of Gettysburg, The Confederates vs. the Union. I'm six years- old and I live with my mother and two little sisters. I pray every day for my father because he is at harm, but he is fighting for our country, one day my father may never come home but I pray that he will. When my father left I was very upset because I will miss him. I began crying, I hugged tightly because I didn’t want him to leave, but he let go and left us behind because he had a job to do. The next day was very depressing, I thought about my dad all day and if he was okay or not, my momma and little sisters were upset too, we played in the corn fields and had a picnic to get our mind off of things. I still miss my father though. After three days of war, I hope my father will come home to visit and hopefully stay for good. Before my father left, he told me that the battle would begin July 1, 1863 and end July 3, 1863, near Gettysburg, PA. He told me it would be the battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War. When my father left, he said he’d keep a diary of the progress and facts from the war and share it with me when he came back, so I can brush up on my history.

**Day 1;** The Battle of Gettysburg began quite accidentally. Two Confederate Brigades under the command of General Heth moved in to take up the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The town was already occupied by two Union Calvary Brigades commanded by General John Buford. The fighting broke out around 8 a.m. as the Confederate Brigades moved in from the Northwest. They expected little resistance but were quite surprised to find the Union Brigades. Buford's men were able to hold the confederates for over an hour while waiting for reinforcements. They were in time forced to move away but not before General Reynolds arrived to lend a hand in the lookout of McPherson's Ridge. Unfortunately, while deploying the new troops General Reynolds was shot and killed, leaving General Doubleday the position commander on the field alone. The battle continued over the next couple of hours with the Confederate troops attempting to border their Union counterparts and drive them from the high ground. General Lee arrived on the scene around 2:30 p.m. and gave permission to join the assault on General Meredith and his Iron Brigade. The Union troops were not capable of holding their ground under this attack and began to retreat towards the Seminary. However, their stay at the Seminary was short. The Confederates pushed the advantage and forced the Union soldiers to take off through the town of Gettysburg and to the area known as Cemetery Hill. Luckily for the Union, the Confederacy had continued many wounded soldiers in their first day of victory. They had been damaged and were unable to press their improvement successfully. General Meade arrived at Cemetery Hill at 11:30 p.m. and finished deploying the men in a suspicious position along Cemetery Ridge. The top features of the region were Cemetery Hill, Culps Hill, Little Round Top, and Big Round Top. These places would soon enter into the records of American history with the rest of the Battle of Gettysburg.  Day 2; **On July 2, 1863, the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate commander Robert E. Lee ordered Lieutenant General James Longstreet to attack the Federal left side. At the same time, Lieutenant General A.P. Hill's corps would intimidate the Union center to prevent Major General George Gordon Meade from reinforcing the Union left and would then continue the assault when Major General Richard Anderson's brigades, holding the group right, made contact with Longstreet. On the Confederate left, Lee instructed Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell to make attacks all along his front and then launch an assault if possible. If the plan succeeded, the Union army would collapse weakly from the positions it held atop the high ground south of Gettysburg, and the entire Civil War might be won in a day. During the battle, Hill failed to live up to his standing as a fighting division commander and did not deliver his assault with the power and logic that Lee had expected. Normally aggressive, Hill was apparently suffering from stress fatigue during the battle, spending a portion of July 1 restricted to a cot and later acknowledging that he had been in poor health. Anderson's command had previously served in Longstreet's group and had only recently been transferred to the newly promoted Hill in the army's reform following the Battle of Chancellorsville. Hill remained unusual with Anderson's brigades, not yet feeling the same friendship with the commanders and men that he experienced with his other divisions. The reorganization would stand a harsh disappointment before the day was through. It’s only been my 2nd day and about 400 soldiers have passed away. Tomorrow is my last day and I hope to come home after the war is over Day 3; **On July 3, (the last day) Lee decided to press the attack to the Union center on Cemetery Ridge. At 1 in the afternoon, the southern weapons opened an attack and engaged the massed guns of both sides in a thundering battle for domination, but did little to soften up the Union battle lines. Then came the peak of the Battle of Gettysburg, with a greeting from Longstreet, General George E. Pickett, in a desperate attempt to bring back the limited success of the previous day, was I thought one of the most incredible labors in military history, 15,000 Confederate troops were across the open field toward the Union center on Cemetery Ridge. They marched 1 mile while being crushed by weapons and rifle fire. Through it all, Pickett's men reached but failed to smash the Union line, and the brilliant effort ended in disaster. The rush of the Confederacy had "swept to its crest, paused, and receded." In 50 minutes, 10,000 soldiers in the assault had become wounded, and the attack - forever to be known as Pickett's Charge - was now history. Abraham Lincoln wasn’t in any of the battles, but he did occasionally visit battlefields after the fighting had ended. Abraham Lincoln gave a very important speech after the Battle The war itself was less important than the speech; it was called “The Gettysburg Address” It was given after a military cemetery was dedicated to all of the Union soldiers  who died during their come across with the Confederate army at Gettysburg. * * * My father’s been home for quite some time, I think he came home stronger and braver from what he experienced and changed a lot ever since he left to fight in the battle. When he came home he shared with me the facts he wrote in his diary, and shared some interesting stories. He met Abraham Lincoln when he gave a very important speech about the Union Soldiers and how it was the most important speech in American History. Abraham Lincoln Sadly passed away because he was shot from the back of his head by John Wilkes Booth, he didn’t like the way Lincoln was taking the power of things going on in our country. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated after the Civil War on April 14, 1865. Lincoln was shot as the American Civil War was coming to an end. It was really sad, because if it wasn’t for Abraham Lincoln my father wouldn’t be with us right now. The war would still be going on as of today and no one as smart and talented as Lincoln would have the strength and knowledge to step in and say something. I am very happy that my father is with right me now, thanks to Abraham Lincoln there will be no more war. Sources: [] [] [] [] []
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