The Battle of Gettysburg

June 29, 1863, the day before the most memorable battle in history took place. The Battle of Gettysburg would become the major outcome of the Civil War. What

happened in the following three days has greatly impacted today's society. The gut renching question topics leaving many historians puzzled is, "what if?" What if

certain elements had played out differently, would the outcome of the war still remain the same? What if he decisions made by Generals of both the Union and

Confederacy were even remotely different?

What if Harrison, a confederate courier spy did not discover a large mass of Union troops moving to the north? What if he was simply lying? If he was lying, he had

General Robert E. Lee, one of the most famous men in the south and second in charge of the Confederates, General James Longstreet fooled. Would Lee's decison

to flee west towards Gettysburg, Pennsylvaina remain the same or would he decided to not take Harrison's claim to account? Skeptical Lee, has sent General J. E. B.

Stuart out with his cavalry to keep an eye on the movements of the Union army. Longstreet convinces Lee that Stuart isn't doing is job and is out on a joyride which

leads Lee to severly consider the truth of Harrison. Had Lee have stayed in Taneytown, Pennsylvania the outcome of the entire civil war would be hendered slightly.

In the end, the results would have remained the same. The casualities would have been greatly reduced due to the fact that the confederates would not have been

prepared for battle.

Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain of the Union was a college professor at Bowdoin College. Having lied to Bowdoin, he told them he was going on sabbatical

to France because they would not let h...

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...he defensive warfare tactics, the Confederacy might actually have had a shot at winning the Battle of Gettysburg. Because the Confederates had

the lower grounds they could have used the trenches to take cover and have better aim of the adversary Union army.

In all, the short notice decisions made by the leaders of the Civil War era impacted the war and how americans today live. If Lee had been successful in destroying

the Union army or capturing Washington, D.C., the North would have had to admit defeat, and the Confederacy would have been established as a new country. But

the Union won the Battle of Gettysburg, and the battle itself was largely determined by the Battle of Little Round Top. From the famous Civil War speech by

Abraham Lincoln, "The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but can never forget what they did here."