Because a Confederate victory at Gettysburg could of been a game changer. Union morale was down after the successive defeats at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville.Gettysburg occupies so much attention from ACW enthusiasts.
It was one fight and not the most important fight of the war and yet nowhere else generates as much ink or interest. Why?
We have a great debate thread on which victory was more important ; Vicksburg or Gettysburg moderated by @jgoodguy.Gettysburg occupies so much attention from ACW enthusiasts.
It was one fight and not the most important fight of the war and yet nowhere else generates as much ink or interest. Why?
Because a Confederate victory at Gettysburg could of been a game changer. Union morale was down after the successive defeats at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville.
If Lee could of captured Philadelphia or Baltimore that might of been the straw that broke the back of the Confederacy.
After the defeat at Gettysburg there was no more attempts by the Confederacy to sieze and hold Union territory. In conventional war victory can not be obtained until one side can do so.
Leftyhunter
Gettysburg occupies so much attention from ACW enthusiasts.
It was one fight and not the most important fight of the war and yet nowhere else generates as much ink or interest. Why?
Thanks.We have a great debate thread on which victory was more important ; Vicksburg or Gettysburg moderated by @jgoodguy.
Leftyhunter
A little movie called Gettysburg probably has a little something to do with it. Sorry! I just had to say that. Actually, Gettysburg has always seemed to garner the most attention. The accessibility to the park by train back in the 1870's was probably an early lure. The Grand Reunion in 1888 brought enormous attention to the battlefield as did the 50th reunion and the others that have followed. In addition to Lincoln, six other presidents have "addressed" the public there: Rutherford B. Hayes (1879), Theodore Roosevelt (1904), Calvin Coolidge (1928), Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. One future president, Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson, also spoke at Gettysburg. Success seemed to breed success with the development of the large Visitor's Center and museum. And then of course they purchased the cyclorama (first viewed in Boston in 1884).
Lastly, there is an undeniable sense of awe that one feels when they visit the Gettysburg battlefield. Although in truth, I get a very similar feeling at Antietam too.
I agree completely. Sharpsburg is awe inspiring. There the visitor gets a sense of the ground and the sacrifices made there without the commercial hype. A determined hiker can cover virtually any part of the battle he/she wishes and see the ground very much like it was on September 17th. IMO no other eastern theatre battlefield compares.
(if I can go all Jungian for a moment).
Oh @Eleanor Rose, you are a woman of great wisdom and many talents! Somehow I knew you'd know Jung's work.Are you implying that Civil War nuts like me have a "complex"? I remember just enough about Carl Jung from my college days to be extremely dangerous. I really got into his theory that young people disengage from humanity for a period of time. That seemed all too likely when I taught middle school. And don't even get me started about his theory on a second puberty between the ages of 35-40. Come to think of it, a lot of Jung's work can easily be related to the men who fought in the Civil War. Do go on General Adam!
Somehow I knew you'd know Jung's work.
I'm my opinion there are several reasons. The myth of shoes in the town giving it an accidental meeting feel, the thought that if the AOP loses the war was over, the high water mark etc. Being the largest battle ever fought in North America I think gives a lot of press as well. There is a last at bat in the bottom of the ninth mythology to it, also being considered the "turning point" of the war ( which I disagree with). That's my two cents fwiw.
I agree completely. Sharpsburg is awe inspiring. There the visitor gets a sense of the ground and the sacrifices made there without the commercial hype. A determined hiker can cover virtually any part of the battle he/she wishes and see the ground very much like it was on September 17th. IMO no other eastern theatre battlefield compares.
Then you and I are of the same thinking. That is exactly where I believe the turning point is.The word "mythology" seems appropriate.
Perhaps it stems from being the first significant Union victory in the eastern theatre and that the winners write the history.
IMHO the turning point of the war was when Grant slid left after Second Wilderness.