by Bradley Streeter

Created on: February 12, 2009

The Battle of Gettysburg is the most well-known battle of the American Civil War and is considered by many to be the turning point of the conflict. A string of victories against Union forces in Virginia had many southerners thinking that victory was close at hand. General Lee and President Davis of the Confederacy believed that a victory on northern soil would finally force President Lincoln to listen to the increasingly war-weary Union populace and let the southern states go. At the very least it would legitimize the rebellion and win over the support of the British and French.

Instead, the Battle of Gettysburg ended in defeat for the southerners. Never again would the Confederates threaten Union territory. The defeat crippled General Lee's army, and though the war would linger on for another two years, the force would never recover from its losses. Perhaps just as important, the battle was a tremendous blow to the confidence of the southern people and just as big a boost for northern morale. And the psychological impact of those three days in July of 1863 on the Confederacy would not end with the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. Even today, Confederate apologists cling to "Lost Cause" mythology, pointing to unfortunate events surrounding the battle as evidence of fate conspiring against the righteous cause of the south.

The battle itself cost the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia a staggering 23,000 casualties. Although the Army of the Potomac would lose a similar number of troops, the 23,000 southerners killed, wounded and captured at Gettysburg represented 30% of General Lee's soldiers. The Confederacy, which was already at a severe numerical disadvantage, could ill afford such loss.

The Confederate States of America had been courting the British and French governments for recognition and trade throughout the war. However, support wasn't likely to come from Europe without some assurance that the rebellion would be successful. Coupled with the fact that the British and French were anti-slavery, it would have taken a decisive victory in Union territory to convince the two nations to break their neutrality. The loss at Gettysburg dashed Confederate hopes, however slim, that European nations would be willing to resist the U.S. embargo and trade with the rebellious states.

Leading up to Gettysburg, the Army of Northern Virginia had won decisively at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. The United States Congress had authorized the nation's first draft in

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