Introduction
The Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania ended on July 3rd 1863 in victory for the Union against the Confederate South. Yet it came hard on the heels of a bruising defeat at the hands of General Robert E. Lee at Chancellorsville, and the great issues that hung upon the American Civil War were, for a few days, very much in the balance.
A MONTH after the battle of Chancellorsville Lee made a second attempt to enter the free states and conquer a peace.* He moved down the Shenandoah Valley with about seventy thousand men, crossed the Potomac the first week in June (1863), and moved forward into Pennsylvania, intending to strike Harrisburg, the capital of the state, and then, if successful there, to march on Philadelphia. General Meade,* with a Union force of about eighty thousand,* met Lee at Gettysburg.*
Here one of the most important and decisive battles of the war was fought. Both sides showed the most desperate determination to win; for both knew that the results of victory would be far reaching. The Confederates were posted on Seminary Ridge; the Union men, on Cemetery Ridge, nearly opposite. The battle lasted three days (July 1-3, 1863).
The Battle of Chancellorsville took place between April 30th and May 6th 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, about fifty miles southwest of Washington DC. It was a victory for the Confederacy and for their supreme commander General Robert E. Lee (1807-1870), though his fellow General Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson (1824-1863) died in the fighting.
Modern estimates are not very different from Montgomery’s, some 93,000 for the Union and 71-75,000 for the Confederacy.
General George Gordon Meade (1815-1872), ‘the old snapping turtle’, had been on the wrong end of Confederate victories at Fredericksburg, just south of Washington, and nearby Chancellorsville. Gettysburg was his finest hour. Overall command of the Union was in the hands of General Ulysses S. Grant (1802-1885), who later served as President of the USA from 1869 to 1877.
Find Gettysburg on Google Maps. Harrisburg is to the north, and Philadelphia is to the northeast.
Précis
In 1863, midway through the American Civil War of 1861-1865, the Union suffered a setback at Chancellorsville. Pursuing their advantage, Confederate forces under Robert Lee marched towards Harrisburg in Pennsylvania, but were intercepted by Union forces at Gettysburg on July 1st. The fighting was bitter, for both sides knew that victory here might decide the outcome of the war. (59 / 60 words)
In 1863, midway through the American Civil War of 1861-1865, the Union suffered a setback at Chancellorsville. Pursuing their advantage, Confederate forces under Robert Lee marched towards Harrisburg in Pennsylvania, but were intercepted by Union forces at Gettysburg on July 1st. The fighting was bitter, for both sides knew that victory here might decide the outcome of the war.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: just, may, or, otherwise, unless, until, whereas, who.
Word Games
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
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