After the Battle of Gettysburg, the Confederate campaign into the North was halted and they didn't have much more offensive moves for the rest of the war.
Short Term Effects
Union- rebounded themselves from the loss at Chancellorsville that was only a few months before
- their first real key victory against the Confederacy in the war - caused a lot of casualties in the Confederate army |
Confederacy- lost a lot of soldiers in the battle and lost ground in Pennsylvania
- forced to retreat back into Virginia - the "illusion of invincibility" around Robert E Lee was gone after they defeated him; this was more of a morale booster than anything just because he had been so successful up until that point in the war |
Long Term Effects
Union- If they had lost at Gettysburg, they most likely would have lost the war because then the Confederacy would have been able to reach Washington DC
- kept peace talks from coming up because if there was a threat of further invasion into the North, then peace talks would have been more prominent - ended up being the focal turning point in the war |
Confederacy- after this point the Confederacy never launched another invasion into the North and were mainly on the defensive for the rest of the war
- lost any leverage they could have gained by pushing into Pennsylvania and gaining ground on Washington, DC - lost hard earned territory that took a long time to gain because they were forced to retreat out of Pennsylvania |
The Battle of Gettysburg: The Aftermath
- At the time the battle wasn't recognized as a real big turning point
- People in the North were even upset that George Meade had the chance to defeat Robert Lee and let him escape back into Virginia
- However, it did eliminate the illusion around Robert Lee throughout the war that he was invincible just because he was such a great general and commander
- If the Union had lost the war, things could have easily turned out way differently
- The Confederates would have been able to invade as far as the capital, where then they would have underwent peace talks instead of being stuck in the South defending themselves from the Union