Was the Battle of Gettysburg the most important battle of the Civil War and was it the turning point in the war?

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Was the Battle of Gettysburg the most important battle of the Civil War and was it the turning point in the war?

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The battle of Gettysburg is one of the best known combat actions in US history. The battle, which only lasted three days (1st – 3rd July, 1863), saw the fierce confrontation between the Unionist soldiers of Major General George G. Meade versus the Confederate army of General Robert E. Lee. The event has been the focus of discussion of numerous historians and socio-political commentators, who have almost unanimously highlighted that this battle was one of the major military confrontations of the Civil War, due to the extremely significant role that it played and its ultimate consequences on the final outcome of the war.

Numerous scholars have examined the battle and its consequences, arriving to the conclusion that the event represented a turning point in the Civil War (Eicher, 2003). Without a doubt, the battle represents the most important event of the American Civil War. While Eicher and numerous other commentators have highlighted the fact that the battle was decisive, representing a turning point in the war, enabling the North to reinforce its position and prevent any possibility of a Southern recovery, Goss and other writers point out that entire wars are won through series of successful campaigns, and that a single battle cannot decide the final outcome of a military conflict, as a high number of elements come into play during a military conflict of the magnitude of a Civil War.

Introduction
Battle of Gettysburg
Was the Battle of Gettysburg the most important battle of the Civil War and was it the turning point in the war?
Conclusion

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[...] The victory in the battle of Gettysburg enabled the North to obtain increasing support from outside allies. All these factors brought the North closer to their ultimate victory in the Civil war (www.nps.gov/hps). Various commentators like Goss (2004), disagree with the view of other experts, highlighting the fact that when these experts describe the battle of Gettysburg as the turning point of the US Civil War, they are adopting a highly simplistic theoretical approach to explain a highly complex military offensive and historical event like the Civil War. [...]

[...] Was the Battle of Gettysburg the most important battle of the Civil War and was it the turning point in the war? The battle of Gettysburg is one of the best known combat actions in US history. The battle, which only lasted three days (1st – 3rd July, 1863), saw the fierce confrontation between the Unionist soldiers of Major General George G. Meade versus the Confederate army of General Robert E. Lee. The event has been the focus of discussion of numerous historians and socio-political commentators, who have almost unanimously highlighted that this battle was one of the major military confrontations of the Civil War, due to the extremely significant role that it played and its ultimate consequences on the final outcome of the war. [...]

[...] (1997) The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command. New York: Touchstone Books. Eicher, J. D. (2003) Gettysburg Battlefield: The Definitive Illustrated History. Chronicle Books. Goss, T. (July, 2004) Gettysburg's “Decisive Battle”. Military Review › Vol. 84 Nbr. 4. Kerber, L. (1980) Women of the Republic. University of North Carolina Millett, A. R. and Maslowski, P. (1994) For the Common Defense: A Military History of the United States of America. New York: The Free Press. Pfanz, H. W. (1994) The Battle of Gettysburg. [...]

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