Historical Aspects Of The Last Of The Mohicans
...fierce battles and so many troops dying for their respective causes. The Northern Campaign centered at Gettysburg is said to have had major impact on the outcome of the Civil War. The Battle at Cemetery Hill was one of those decisive moments. One research stated that between the two armies 45,438 casualties occurred during the three days in July , 1863 at Gettysburg with a total of 57,225 casualties during the entire invasion of Pennsylvania.
As in any war, volumes have been written about what changed with all of these losses and authors have tried to analyze the impact of various decisions made by the leaders at Gettysburg. The purpose of this paper is to look at the Battle of Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg and the two Generals that led so many soldiers into battle.
This same location (Cemetery Hill) was chosen as a national burial site to honor the fallen Union soldiers. This happened some four months (November 19, 1863) after the battle of Cemetery Hill. It is the cite of President Lincoln's infamous "Gettysburg Address". A new book, The Gettysburg Gospel: The Lincoln Speech That Nobody Knows by Gabor Boritt, shares insight into Lincoln's speech and the conditions in the aftermath of the three day battle at Gettysburg. Consider this quotation from the above referenced book and then the speech itself.
"The battle is over, but the smell of putrid animal flesh mingles with the odor of human decay. It extends into the spirit of t he people. War had come to them. Now it had gone and left the horror behind...Dead everywhere. Day follows day...Must try to control disease. Pour kerosene on the bodies of horses and mules. Three to give thousand of them. Light the fire over them..."
President Lincoln came here to deliver his 272 word speech given in a time span of two minutes to give closure to all that had been said and done during this...
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