WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.240 What if I told you the bloodiest battle in American 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:06.860 history? I mean, the definitive turning point 00:00:06.860 --> 00:00:09.000 of the Civil War didn't actually start with some, 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:12.300 you know. brilliant strategic masterstroke. Right, 00:00:12.339 --> 00:00:15.900 it's wild. It basically started because a group 00:00:15.900 --> 00:00:18.179 of Confederate soldiers were supposedly wandering 00:00:18.179 --> 00:00:21.100 into this small Pennsylvania town looking for 00:00:21.100 --> 00:00:24.399 a pair of shoes. Exactly, a pair of shoes. Welcome 00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:26.500 to today's Deep Dive, everyone. We are looking 00:00:26.500 --> 00:00:29.300 at a massive stack of historical documentation 00:00:29.300 --> 00:00:32.359 today, all detailing the Battle of Gettysburg. 00:00:32.500 --> 00:00:35.000 And it is a lot of material to get through. It 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:37.560 really is. But my mission for you today isn't 00:00:37.560 --> 00:00:40.439 to just recite a, you know, a timeline of troop 00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:42.359 movements. We're assuming you already know the 00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:45.140 major players of the Civil War. So instead, we 00:00:45.140 --> 00:00:47.299 are going to unpack the actual mechanisms of 00:00:47.299 --> 00:00:49.979 this battle. We want to figure out how this incredible 00:00:49.979 --> 00:00:53.600 series of absolute accidents, psychological blind 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:56.299 spots, and just these incredibly bold gambles 00:00:56.299 --> 00:00:58.659 all collided to completely change the map of 00:00:58.659 --> 00:01:01.200 the United States. Yeah, and to really grasp 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:04.040 how chaotic this collision was, we kind of have 00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:05.859 to look at the board before someone bumped the 00:01:05.859 --> 00:01:08.209 table, so to speak. Oh, I like that. Yeah, like 00:01:08.209 --> 00:01:11.689 if you look at this antique oval shaped 1863 00:01:11.689 --> 00:01:14.530 topographical map behind me, you can actually 00:01:14.530 --> 00:01:17.810 visualize the incredible stakes here. Yeah, the 00:01:17.810 --> 00:01:19.769 scale is just huge. Right. It's the summer of 00:01:19.769 --> 00:01:23.719 1863. And Confederate General Robert E. Lee is 00:01:23.719 --> 00:01:26.640 invading the North with an army of over 70 ,000 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:29.739 men. Which is massive. Huge. And he isn't just 00:01:29.739 --> 00:01:32.280 marching blindly, right? He has these massive 00:01:32.280 --> 00:01:34.760 multi -tiered objectives. He desperately needs 00:01:34.760 --> 00:01:36.920 to relieve the pressure on the Confederate garrison 00:01:36.920 --> 00:01:38.799 at Vicksburg out West. Right, because they're 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:41.599 currently being starved out. Exactly. And on 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:43.920 top of that, he wants to threaten major northern 00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:46.060 cities. Places like Philadelphia, Baltimore. 00:01:46.939 --> 00:01:50.140 Washington. Just to create a panic? Yes. Ultimately, 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:52.739 he is hoping that a terrifying northern invasion 00:01:52.739 --> 00:01:55.019 will strengthen this growing peace movement in 00:01:55.019 --> 00:01:57.400 the north, you know, and force them to the negotiating 00:01:57.400 --> 00:02:00.719 table. So it's a really grand strategic plan. 00:02:00.840 --> 00:02:03.299 Very grand. But the execution of it falls apart 00:02:03.299 --> 00:02:06.000 almost immediately. The sources note that Lynn 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:08.659 had explicitly given orders to avoid a general 00:02:08.659 --> 00:02:11.419 engagement until his entire army was concentrated 00:02:11.419 --> 00:02:14.330 together. Right. No big fights yet. Exactly. 00:02:14.810 --> 00:02:17.969 Yet on July 1st, they stumble into this massive 00:02:17.969 --> 00:02:21.509 fight. Which brings us back to that shoe rumor. 00:02:21.870 --> 00:02:24.430 Ah, yes, the legendary shoe rumor. I mean, it 00:02:24.430 --> 00:02:27.129 is heavily contested by modern historians, but 00:02:27.129 --> 00:02:29.530 the story goes that Confederate troops under 00:02:29.530 --> 00:02:32.389 A .P. Hill were marching toward Gettysburg. Looking 00:02:32.389 --> 00:02:34.819 for footwear? Right. Whether they were genuinely 00:02:34.819 --> 00:02:37.020 looking for a supply of shoes or conducting a 00:02:37.020 --> 00:02:40.080 reconnaissance in force, which simply means sending 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:42.280 a substantial body of troops forward to prod 00:02:42.280 --> 00:02:44.479 the enemy and force them to reveal their positions, 00:02:44.979 --> 00:02:46.900 they basically run smack into Union cavalry. 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:50.039 And wait, let's pause on why they had to blindly 00:02:50.039 --> 00:02:52.280 prod the enemy in the first place. Oh, this is 00:02:52.280 --> 00:02:54.639 crucial. Because the sources mention General 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:57.180 J. E. B. Stuart, who was Lee's cavalry commander. 00:02:58.080 --> 00:02:59.819 And cavalry, I mean, they were the eyes and ears 00:02:59.819 --> 00:03:02.759 of a 19th century army. Yep, the absolute only 00:03:02.759 --> 00:03:04.740 way you knew what was ahead of you. But Stuart 00:03:04.740 --> 00:03:07.580 had taken his three best brigades and basically 00:03:07.580 --> 00:03:10.099 went joyriding around the Union army. He was 00:03:10.099 --> 00:03:12.639 completely out of communication. Yeah. So Lee 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:14.780 is essentially marching his army through hostile 00:03:14.780 --> 00:03:17.919 territory, wearing a blindfold. Which is terrifying. 00:03:18.340 --> 00:03:20.719 That intelligence blackout is really the foundational 00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:24.240 error of the entire battle. Lee has absolutely 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:26.719 no idea that the Union cavalry in Gettysburg 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:29.539 is commanded by Brigadier General John Buford. 00:03:29.699 --> 00:03:32.560 And Buford is sharp. Very sharp. Buford looks 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:35.520 at the terrain. specifically these ridges west 00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:38.699 of town, and immediately recognizes their tactical 00:03:38.699 --> 00:03:41.020 importance. He sees the high ground. Exactly. 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:43.419 He knows that if the Confederates seize that 00:03:43.419 --> 00:03:46.139 high ground, the Union Army will just be slaughtered 00:03:46.139 --> 00:03:48.800 trying to take it back later. So Buford sets 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:52.210 up this desperate delaying action. I am continually 00:03:52.210 --> 00:03:55.229 blown away by how fast this localized skirmish 00:03:55.229 --> 00:03:58.229 just escalates into a complete bloodbath involving 00:03:58.229 --> 00:04:01.310 tens of thousands of men. It escalates so quickly. 00:04:01.449 --> 00:04:03.289 Because the Union rushes an infantry to support 00:04:03.289 --> 00:04:05.409 Buford and the leadership cost is immediate, 00:04:05.689 --> 00:04:08.009 the Union loses General John F. Reynolds. Yeah, 00:04:08.090 --> 00:04:09.810 he's shot and killed super early in the fighting. 00:04:10.030 --> 00:04:12.129 And our sources note he was considered by many 00:04:12.129 --> 00:04:14.569 to be the absolute best general in the Union 00:04:14.569 --> 00:04:17.509 army. He really was. And the sudden death of 00:04:17.509 --> 00:04:20.639 Reynolds. creates this massive command vacuum 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:24.439 on the field for the Union. And the rank -and 00:04:24.439 --> 00:04:26.879 -file soldiers pay just an unimaginable toll. 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:29.290 Yeah, the numbers are awful. Just look at the 00:04:29.290 --> 00:04:31.389 26th North Carolina Regiment. They entered the 00:04:31.389 --> 00:04:33.209 fight as the largest regiment in the Confederate 00:04:33.209 --> 00:04:37.089 Army. They had 839 men. Okay. By the end of that 00:04:37.089 --> 00:04:40.170 first day, they had around 212 men left standing. 00:04:40.250 --> 00:04:42.410 Oh my gosh. Yeah. And by the end of the three 00:04:42.410 --> 00:04:45.069 -day battle, they had about 152 men left. That 00:04:45.069 --> 00:04:47.670 is insane. It is the highest casualty percentage 00:04:47.670 --> 00:04:50.709 of any regiment, North or South, for a single 00:04:50.709 --> 00:04:53.810 battle in the entire war. The sheer volume of 00:04:53.810 --> 00:04:56.490 fire is just staggering, but despite that fierce 00:04:56.490 --> 00:04:59.790 Union resistance, the Confederate forces, particularly 00:04:59.790 --> 00:05:03.189 the divisions under Robert E. Rhodes and Jubal 00:05:03.189 --> 00:05:05.889 Early, they actually manage to outflank the Union 00:05:05.889 --> 00:05:08.310 positions. They do. The Union army is broken 00:05:08.310 --> 00:05:10.370 and they get pushed back through the actual streets 00:05:10.370 --> 00:05:12.470 of Gettysburg, retreating to the high ground 00:05:12.470 --> 00:05:14.529 south of the town. Specifically Cemetery Hill. 00:05:14.610 --> 00:05:16.750 Right. And here is where I really want to challenge 00:05:16.750 --> 00:05:18.769 you on this, because this feels to me like the 00:05:18.769 --> 00:05:21.089 ultimate pivot point of the war. OK, let's hear 00:05:21.089 --> 00:05:25.300 it. General Lee sees the Union retreating, right? 00:05:25.639 --> 00:05:29.000 He sends orders to his subordinate, General Richard 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:31.800 S. Ewell, telling him to take Cemetery Hill if 00:05:31.800 --> 00:05:35.060 practicable. Yes, the famous if practical order. 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:37.920 Exactly. Ewell looks at the hill, decides it 00:05:37.920 --> 00:05:41.339 isn't practical, and stops his men. So is this 00:05:41.339 --> 00:05:44.060 the exact moment the South loses the battle? 00:05:44.420 --> 00:05:46.779 Well, I mean, historians have debated that single 00:05:46.779 --> 00:05:49.139 decision for over a century and a half. I bet. 00:05:49.240 --> 00:05:51.899 To understand why Ewell froze, you really have 00:05:51.899 --> 00:05:55.079 to look at the psychology of command. Ewell was 00:05:55.079 --> 00:05:57.939 newly promoted. He had previously served directly 00:05:57.939 --> 00:06:00.220 under Stonewall Jackson. Okay, and Jackson was 00:06:00.220 --> 00:06:02.100 a completely different type of leader. Completely 00:06:02.100 --> 00:06:04.560 different. Jackson was notorious for issuing 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:07.879 incredibly specific, rigid, peremptory orders. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:10.180 You did exactly what Jackson told you to do. 00:06:10.220 --> 00:06:13.139 No more, no less. You did not improvise. So Ewell 00:06:13.139 --> 00:06:16.379 is basically programmed to be a strict executor 00:06:16.379 --> 00:06:19.220 of formulas. But Lee doesn't lead that way. I 00:06:19.220 --> 00:06:22.120 mean, in an era before radios, Lee's philosophy 00:06:22.120 --> 00:06:24.259 was to give general objectives and just trust 00:06:24.259 --> 00:06:27.000 his local commanders to assess the chaos on the 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:29.660 ground and take initiative. Right. So when Lee 00:06:29.660 --> 00:06:32.699 says, take it if practicable, he means, I trust 00:06:32.699 --> 00:06:35.519 your judgment, but push hard to get this done. 00:06:36.379 --> 00:06:38.620 But Ewell, with his background under Jackson, 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:41.720 he hears, take it only if it's perfectly safe 00:06:41.720 --> 00:06:44.250 and guaranteed. Which a frontal assault on a 00:06:44.250 --> 00:06:47.310 fortified hill literally never is. Never. Yule 00:06:47.310 --> 00:06:49.589 just lacked that aggressive instinct that Lee 00:06:49.589 --> 00:06:53.149 assumed he would exercise. And because Yule hesitated 00:06:53.149 --> 00:06:55.910 and decided against the attack, the Union army 00:06:55.910 --> 00:06:59.790 was handed a massive gift. Time. Time, exactly. 00:06:59.850 --> 00:07:02.089 They were given the entire night to dig in, consolidate 00:07:02.089 --> 00:07:04.389 their forces, and build defenses on those hills. 00:07:04.730 --> 00:07:06.810 And that causality, Yule's hesitation giving 00:07:06.810 --> 00:07:09.689 the Union time to dig in, sets the stage perfectly 00:07:09.689 --> 00:07:12.019 for day two. Because when the sun comes up on 00:07:12.019 --> 00:07:14.319 July 2nd, the Union has established one of the 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:16.740 most famous defensive formations in military 00:07:16.740 --> 00:07:19.540 history. The fishhook. Yes. If you are listening 00:07:19.540 --> 00:07:21.959 to this, I want you to picture a giant fishhook 00:07:21.959 --> 00:07:24.339 lying on the ground. Right. So the eye of the 00:07:24.339 --> 00:07:27.060 hook is anchored at Culp's Hill to the southeast. 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:30.180 It curves tightly around Cemetery Hill, and then 00:07:30.180 --> 00:07:32.959 the long straight shank of the hook runs south 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:35.680 down Cemetery Ridge, ending near a rocky wooded 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:37.959 elevation called Little Round Top. And I'm looking 00:07:37.959 --> 00:07:40.879 at this topographical map and Meade's setup almost 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:43.600 looks unfair. He possesses something called interior 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:46.579 lines. Yes, interior lines are huge here. If 00:07:46.579 --> 00:07:48.920 you think of a circle, the Union Army is defending 00:07:48.920 --> 00:07:51.920 the inside. So Union General George G. Meade 00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:54.040 can just walk his troops straight across the 00:07:54.040 --> 00:07:56.480 center of the circle to plug any holes. Exactly. 00:07:56.839 --> 00:07:59.519 Whereas Lee's Confederate Army is stretched out 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:02.879 along a massive five mile exterior arc wrapping 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:05.360 around the outside. Right. So if Lee wants to 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:07.279 move troops from his left to his right, they 00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:09.220 have to march for miles around the perimeter. 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:11.800 The mathematics of interior lines dictate the 00:08:11.800 --> 00:08:14.439 entire pace of the second day. I mean, Meade 00:08:14.439 --> 00:08:16.939 can reinforce his weak points in a fraction of 00:08:16.939 --> 00:08:19.120 the time it takes Lee to launch a coordinated 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:22.420 attack. It is a textbook defensive posture. But 00:08:22.420 --> 00:08:25.060 even with this perfect mathematically superior 00:08:25.060 --> 00:08:27.540 setup, the Union nearly hands the battle away 00:08:27.540 --> 00:08:30.160 on a silver platter. Oh, General Sickles. Yes. 00:08:30.399 --> 00:08:33.220 Enter Union General Daniel Sickles. He's commanding 00:08:33.220 --> 00:08:35.240 the third corps on the southern end of the ridge. 00:08:35.960 --> 00:08:39.139 And he completely disobeys his orders. He really 00:08:39.139 --> 00:08:40.679 does. He doesn't like his position on the ridge. 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:43.580 He looks at some slightly higher ground, about 00:08:43.580 --> 00:08:45.340 three quarters of a mile out in front of him, 00:08:45.539 --> 00:08:48.379 near a peach orchard. And he decides to just 00:08:48.379 --> 00:08:50.879 march his entire corps out there, completely 00:08:50.879 --> 00:08:52.799 disconnecting from the rest of the Union army. 00:08:53.480 --> 00:08:56.220 Yeah, and by moving his men forward, Sickles 00:08:56.220 --> 00:08:59.000 creates a massive salient in the Union line. 00:08:59.340 --> 00:09:01.659 Let's make sure everyone understands why a salient 00:09:01.659 --> 00:09:04.559 is a death sentence. Think of a straight castle 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:07.259 wall, right? If you stand behind it, the enemy 00:09:07.259 --> 00:09:09.899 can only shoot at you from the front. But if 00:09:09.899 --> 00:09:11.899 you march your troops out into the field ahead 00:09:11.899 --> 00:09:14.639 of the wall, forming a wedge that points directly 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:17.059 at the enemy... You've created a salient. Right, 00:09:17.240 --> 00:09:19.220 like stepping down into the moat almost. Exactly. 00:09:19.259 --> 00:09:21.399 It's like marching down into the moat. Now the 00:09:21.399 --> 00:09:23.779 enemy can shoot at your front, your left flank, 00:09:23.860 --> 00:09:26.299 and your right flank simultaneously. You are 00:09:26.299 --> 00:09:29.639 completely boxed in by fire. And the geometry 00:09:29.639 --> 00:09:32.179 of Sickle's new position meant his troops were 00:09:32.179 --> 00:09:35.399 isolated and exposed on three sides. So when 00:09:35.399 --> 00:09:37.840 Confederate General James Longstreet finally 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:40.039 launched his massive attack on the Union left 00:09:40.039 --> 00:09:43.340 flank later that afternoon, His men slammed directly 00:09:43.340 --> 00:09:45.820 into Sickles' exposed core. And the fighting 00:09:45.820 --> 00:09:48.340 there was just horrific. It produced some of 00:09:48.340 --> 00:09:50.720 the most legendary brutal landmarks of the war. 00:09:51.299 --> 00:09:54.419 The Peach Orchard, the Wheat Field, and Devil's 00:09:54.419 --> 00:09:57.460 Den. Sickles III core was virtually eradicated 00:09:57.460 --> 00:10:00.259 as a fighting unit. Wow. And Sickles himself 00:10:00.259 --> 00:10:02.440 had his leg completely shattered by a cannonball. 00:10:02.700 --> 00:10:05.730 Oh, man. And because Sickles essentially opened 00:10:05.730 --> 00:10:08.509 a massive hole in the defensive line, Meade has 00:10:08.509 --> 00:10:10.850 to scramble. And this is where those interior 00:10:10.850 --> 00:10:13.149 lines save the Union. Yep, the shortcut across 00:10:13.149 --> 00:10:16.210 the circle. Meade desperately pulls 20 ,000 reinforcements 00:10:16.210 --> 00:10:17.909 from the right side of his fishhook, rushing 00:10:17.909 --> 00:10:19.730 them across the center to plague the bleeding 00:10:19.730 --> 00:10:22.730 hole Sickles created on the left. And this cascading 00:10:22.730 --> 00:10:25.549 series of crises leads directly to the most dramatic 00:10:25.549 --> 00:10:28.100 moment of day two. A little round -top. Yes. 00:10:28.659 --> 00:10:32.019 Because Sickles moved his corps forward, he abandoned 00:10:32.019 --> 00:10:34.740 the original defensive line on the ridge. That 00:10:34.740 --> 00:10:36.860 meant Little Round Top, which is the very end 00:10:36.860 --> 00:10:39.840 of the Union line, the tip of the Fishook's shank, 00:10:39.899 --> 00:10:41.740 was left completely undefended. Just sitting 00:10:41.740 --> 00:10:45.159 there empty. Right. And Confederate troops recognized 00:10:45.159 --> 00:10:47.340 this glaring vulnerability and began surging 00:10:47.340 --> 00:10:50.240 up the hill. If they capture Little Round Top, 00:10:50.500 --> 00:10:52.720 they can place artillery there and fire straight 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:54.899 down the length of the entire Union line. Just 00:10:54.899 --> 00:10:57.519 effectively rolling up the whole army. Exactly. 00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:00.480 But Meade realizes this just in time and rushes 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:02.740 troops to the hell. And this is where Colonel 00:11:02.740 --> 00:11:05.480 Joshua L. Chamberlain and the 20th Maine step 00:11:05.480 --> 00:11:08.080 into history. Such a famous moment. They are 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:10.399 rushed to the slopes of Little Round Top mere 00:11:10.399 --> 00:11:12.639 minutes before the Confederate assault arrives. 00:11:13.259 --> 00:11:15.600 And they are told they're the extreme left flank 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:18.779 of the entire Union army. If they break, the 00:11:18.779 --> 00:11:21.000 battle is over. The psychological toll on those 00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:23.379 men is just difficult to fathom. I mean, they 00:11:23.379 --> 00:11:25.860 fight off wave after wave of intense Confederate 00:11:25.860 --> 00:11:28.919 assault. Close quarters combat. Brutal and relentless. 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:31.919 And eventually, Chamberlain's men realize they 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:34.019 are completely out of ammunition. They have literally 00:11:34.019 --> 00:11:36.789 nothing left to shoot. So instead of retreating 00:11:36.789 --> 00:11:39.809 or surrendering, Chamberlain orders a desperate, 00:11:40.149 --> 00:11:43.529 improvised maneuver. The bayonets. Yes. He orders 00:11:43.529 --> 00:11:46.250 his exhausted men to fix bayonets and charge 00:11:46.250 --> 00:11:48.649 straight down the Rocky Hill into the advancing 00:11:48.649 --> 00:11:51.889 Confederates. It is the ultimate expression of 00:11:51.889 --> 00:11:54.710 shock combat. It really is. The sheer audacity 00:11:54.710 --> 00:11:57.490 of it completely shatters the Confederate assault, 00:11:57.870 --> 00:12:00.129 forcing a mass surrender. So the Union flanks 00:12:00.129 --> 00:12:03.019 bend to the breaking point, but they hold. The 00:12:03.019 --> 00:12:05.039 Confederate assaults on both the Union left at 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:07.259 Little Round Top and later that evening on the 00:12:07.259 --> 00:12:09.580 Union right at Culp's Hill, they inflict massive 00:12:09.580 --> 00:12:12.100 damage but ultimately fail to break Meade's army. 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:14.399 And that causality, the fact that both the left 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:17.080 and right sides held strong dictates the entire 00:12:17.080 --> 00:12:19.779 strategy for day three because General Lee makes 00:12:19.779 --> 00:12:22.940 it fatal logical deduction. Right. He knows Meade 00:12:22.940 --> 00:12:25.220 shifted tens of thousands of troops to reinforce 00:12:25.220 --> 00:12:28.100 the wings on day two. So Lee concludes that Meade 00:12:28.100 --> 00:12:30.519 must have hollowed out his center to do it. Lee's 00:12:30.519 --> 00:12:32.620 logic dictates that the center of the Union line 00:12:32.620 --> 00:12:34.879 on Cemetery Ridge must be the weakest point. 00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:38.799 So he decides to launch a massive, concentrated 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:42.039 frontal assault directly at that center, aiming 00:12:42.039 --> 00:12:44.220 for a small clump of trees. But this is where 00:12:44.220 --> 00:12:45.960 the sources get really interesting regarding 00:12:45.960 --> 00:12:48.919 Lee's mindset. Yeah, the internal pushback. Exactly. 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:52.220 His most trusted commander, General Longstreet, 00:12:52.580 --> 00:12:55.700 vehemently opposes this plan. Longstreet looks 00:12:55.700 --> 00:12:58.220 at the open ground and does the brutal math. 00:12:58.679 --> 00:13:02.059 He tells Lee it would take 30 ,000 men to successfully 00:13:02.059 --> 00:13:04.379 take that ridge. And Lee only has, what, about 00:13:04.379 --> 00:13:06.659 12 ,000 to 15 ,000 available for the assault? 00:13:06.779 --> 00:13:09.580 Right. And they have to walk nearly a mile across 00:13:09.580 --> 00:13:12.379 an open field while taking artillery fire. So 00:13:12.379 --> 00:13:14.820 I have to ask, why does Lee order what amounts 00:13:14.820 --> 00:13:17.399 to a suicidal charge? The sources mention he 00:13:17.399 --> 00:13:19.559 was suffering from health issues. Does a medical 00:13:19.559 --> 00:13:22.000 condition explain this tactical blindness? The 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:24.360 medical context is incredibly crucial here. The 00:13:24.360 --> 00:13:26.419 historical record indicates Lee had been diagnosed 00:13:26.419 --> 00:13:28.419 with pericarditis earlier that spring. Okay, 00:13:28.600 --> 00:13:30.879 what exactly is that? For you listening, pericarditis 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:32.659 is an inflammation of the sac surrounding the 00:13:32.659 --> 00:13:35.220 heart. Yeah, it physically restricts the heart's 00:13:35.220 --> 00:13:38.610 ability to pump effectively. The result is restricted 00:13:38.610 --> 00:13:41.970 blood flow, shortness of breath, and this profound 00:13:41.970 --> 00:13:45.049 debilitating fatigue. That sounds awful. It is. 00:13:45.450 --> 00:13:48.029 And some modern cardiologists reviewing his symptoms 00:13:48.029 --> 00:13:50.110 argue he had recently suffered a mild heart attack. 00:13:50.269 --> 00:13:53.129 While commanding an army. Right. And when your 00:13:53.129 --> 00:13:55.690 brain is starved of oxygen and you're operating 00:13:55.690 --> 00:13:57.950 under that level of immense physical exhaustion, 00:13:59.070 --> 00:14:01.309 your cognitive flexibility, like your ability 00:14:01.309 --> 00:14:04.269 to process risk and adapt to new information, 00:14:04.759 --> 00:14:07.580 It just plummets. So you pair that physical exhaustion 00:14:07.580 --> 00:14:10.639 with his recent, against all odds, victory at 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:12.840 Chancellorsville, right? And you have a commander 00:14:12.840 --> 00:14:15.059 who genuinely believes his men are invincible 00:14:15.059 --> 00:14:17.700 and physically cannot process the mathematical 00:14:17.700 --> 00:14:19.899 reality Longstreet is showing him. Exactly. He 00:14:19.899 --> 00:14:21.720 just can't see it. So the attack goes forward. 00:14:21.950 --> 00:14:24.870 And to prep for the infantry charge, Lee orders 00:14:24.870 --> 00:14:27.210 the largest artillery bombardment of the entire 00:14:27.210 --> 00:14:29.629 war. Which was massive. We are talking about 00:14:29.629 --> 00:14:33.690 150 to 170 Confederate cannons firing simultaneously 00:14:33.690 --> 00:14:35.509 at the Union Center. That's insane. The sheer 00:14:35.509 --> 00:14:37.990 acoustic shockwave caused the ground to shake, 00:14:38.350 --> 00:14:40.649 and the noise was reportedly heard as far away 00:14:40.649 --> 00:14:44.009 as Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh? That's miles and miles 00:14:44.009 --> 00:14:46.990 away. Yeah. The goal was to obliterate the Union 00:14:46.990 --> 00:14:49.909 artillery and demoralize the infantry before 00:14:49.909 --> 00:14:51.769 the Confederate troops even started walking. 00:14:51.879 --> 00:14:54.799 But the Union artillery commander, General Henry 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:57.559 Hunt, plays a brilliant psychological trick. 00:14:57.679 --> 00:15:00.320 Oh, this is so smart. It is. He realizes the 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:02.879 Confederate shells are largely overshooting the 00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:06.059 infantry line. So Hunt orders his cannons to 00:15:06.059 --> 00:15:09.000 slowly stop returning fire. Baking them out. 00:15:09.259 --> 00:15:11.840 Exactly. He tricks the Confederates into believing 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:13.539 they have successfully knocked out the Union 00:15:13.539 --> 00:15:16.700 guns, all while secretly conserving his ammunition 00:15:16.700 --> 00:15:19.379 for the infantry charge he knows is coming. Wow. 00:15:20.370 --> 00:15:22.629 Consequently, when those 12 ,000 Confederate 00:15:22.629 --> 00:15:25.029 soldiers step out of the tree line to begin Pickett's 00:15:25.029 --> 00:15:27.710 Charge, they believe the Union guns are silenced. 00:15:27.769 --> 00:15:30.289 But they aren't. Not at all. Instead, as they 00:15:30.289 --> 00:15:32.389 march across that three -quarters of a mile of 00:15:32.389 --> 00:15:35.470 open field, they march into a meticulously planned 00:15:35.470 --> 00:15:37.899 slaughter. The mechanisms of this destruction 00:15:37.899 --> 00:15:41.179 are just terrifying. They take solid cannon shot 00:15:41.179 --> 00:15:44.200 from the front, then flanking fire from cannons 00:15:44.200 --> 00:15:46.600 placed on little round top, and then concentrated 00:15:46.600 --> 00:15:49.759 musket fire. Just crossfire. Yeah. Only a small 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:51.820 fraction of the Confederates actually make it 00:15:51.820 --> 00:15:54.419 to the low stone wall protecting the Union line. 00:15:55.399 --> 00:15:57.899 General Louis Armistead actually manages to breach 00:15:57.899 --> 00:16:00.950 the wall at a spot called the Angle. leading 00:16:00.950 --> 00:16:03.230 a few hundred men into the Union Center. Right, 00:16:03.389 --> 00:16:05.610 and Armistead breaches the wall and yells for 00:16:05.610 --> 00:16:08.250 his men to turn the captured Union cannons on 00:16:08.250 --> 00:16:11.009 the retreating troops. But he immediately realizes 00:16:11.009 --> 00:16:14.379 the cannons are dead weight. Why? because the 00:16:14.379 --> 00:16:16.500 Union Artillery men had already fired their very 00:16:16.500 --> 00:16:19.759 last canister shots. Oh, man. Let's explain canister 00:16:19.759 --> 00:16:21.799 shot for you listening, because it is horrific. 00:16:22.200 --> 00:16:25.000 It essentially turns a massive cannon into a 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:27.200 giant, lethal shotgun. Pretty much, yeah. They 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:29.980 pack a tin cylinder full of iron balls or scrap 00:16:29.980 --> 00:16:33.259 metal. When the canning fires, the tin shreds 00:16:33.259 --> 00:16:35.980 and a massive cone of shrapnel obliterates anything 00:16:35.980 --> 00:16:37.940 in its path. And the Union Artillery had used 00:16:37.940 --> 00:16:40.259 it all to systematically dismantle the incoming 00:16:40.259 --> 00:16:42.700 Confederate lines at point blank range. It's 00:16:42.700 --> 00:16:45.379 just... devastating. It is. Armistead is mortally 00:16:45.379 --> 00:16:47.419 wounded at that spot, which is now forever known 00:16:47.419 --> 00:16:50.200 as the high watermark of the Confederacy. The 00:16:50.200 --> 00:16:52.580 high watermark. Yeah, it was the deepest penetration 00:16:52.580 --> 00:16:55.200 into Union lines and the closest the South ever 00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:57.659 came to winning the battle. From that moment 00:16:57.659 --> 00:17:00.679 on, the charge collapses. The survivors stream 00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:03.679 back across the field. Pickett's division alone 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:06.859 suffers a staggering 60 percent casualty rate. 00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:10.380 60 percent. That's, I mean. The charge fails, 00:17:10.500 --> 00:17:13.220 the battle is over, and the sun comes up on July 00:17:13.220 --> 00:17:16.200 4th, and the aftermath is almost impossible for 00:17:16.200 --> 00:17:19.299 a modern person to comprehend. The sources detail 00:17:19.299 --> 00:17:23.140 a battlefield covered in 46 ,000 to 51 ,000 casualties. 00:17:23.880 --> 00:17:26.700 Over 8 ,000 men were killed outright, just left 00:17:26.700 --> 00:17:29.460 baking in the July heat. I mean, imagine being 00:17:29.460 --> 00:17:31.980 a resident of Gettysburg. The town had a civilian 00:17:31.980 --> 00:17:34.819 population of just 2 ,400 people. and suddenly 00:17:34.819 --> 00:17:36.920 they're overwhelmed. Practically overnight every 00:17:36.920 --> 00:17:39.220 single church, barn and home is converted into 00:17:39.220 --> 00:17:42.069 a triage center. The townspeople suddenly tasked 00:17:42.069 --> 00:17:45.109 with caring for 14 ,000 wounded Union troops 00:17:45.109 --> 00:17:47.869 and 8 ,000 Confederate prisoners. And the sources 00:17:47.869 --> 00:17:51.369 highlight some incredible human stories amidst 00:17:51.369 --> 00:17:54.150 all those statistics. There was actually only 00:17:54.150 --> 00:17:57.450 one documented civilian casualty during the entire 00:17:57.450 --> 00:17:59.789 three -day battle. Which is a miracle, really. 00:17:59.809 --> 00:18:02.509 It really is. It was a 20 -year -old woman named 00:18:02.509 --> 00:18:05.549 Ginny Wade who was instantly killed by a stray 00:18:05.549 --> 00:18:07.630 bullet passing through her kitchen door while 00:18:07.630 --> 00:18:10.339 she was literally just kneading dough. Wow. And 00:18:10.339 --> 00:18:13.579 then you have John L. Burns, a 69 -year -old 00:18:13.579 --> 00:18:16.539 veteran of the War of 1812. Oh, this guy is something 00:18:16.539 --> 00:18:19.480 else. He literally just grabbed his musket, walked 00:18:19.480 --> 00:18:21.819 out of his house on the first day, volunteered 00:18:21.819 --> 00:18:24.180 to fight alongside the Union troops, got wounded 00:18:24.180 --> 00:18:27.339 three times, and miraculously survived. That's 00:18:27.339 --> 00:18:29.660 incredible. But you know, the environmental impact 00:18:29.660 --> 00:18:31.859 on the town was equally staggering. Oh, bad. 00:18:32.089 --> 00:18:35.069 Beyond the human dead, there were over 3 ,000 00:18:35.069 --> 00:18:37.589 horse carcasses scattered across the fields. 00:18:38.250 --> 00:18:40.089 The town's fuel had to drag them into these massive 00:18:40.089 --> 00:18:42.950 pile cells of town and burn them. Oh, God. Yeah, 00:18:43.009 --> 00:18:45.349 the stench of burning flesh and decaying bodies 00:18:45.349 --> 00:18:48.230 hung over the valley for weeks, making the residents 00:18:48.230 --> 00:18:50.910 violently ill. As the town struggles to breathe, 00:18:51.529 --> 00:18:54.789 General Lee is forced to begin a miserable, torturous 00:18:54.789 --> 00:18:57.569 retreat back to Virginia in torrential rain on 00:18:57.569 --> 00:19:00.619 July 4th. And here is where the scope of the 00:19:00.619 --> 00:19:03.599 war widens, right? Because on that exact same 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:07.400 day, 920 miles away, the Confederate stronghold 00:19:07.400 --> 00:19:10.359 of Vicksburg finally surrenders to Ulysses S. 00:19:10.440 --> 00:19:13.380 Grant. The simultaneous loss at Gettysburg and 00:19:13.380 --> 00:19:16.359 Vicksburg is the absolute death knell for the 00:19:16.359 --> 00:19:18.099 Confederacy. Because of the Mississippi River. 00:19:18.420 --> 00:19:21.500 Exactly. By taking Vicksburg, the Union completely 00:19:21.500 --> 00:19:23.500 severs the Confederacy's control of the Mississippi 00:19:23.500 --> 00:19:25.880 River, cutting their supply lines in half, and 00:19:25.880 --> 00:19:28.059 the psychological and political fallout in Europe 00:19:28.059 --> 00:19:30.779 is immediate. Oh right, because they were watching. 00:19:31.019 --> 00:19:33.809 Very closely. Nations like Britain and France, 00:19:33.970 --> 00:19:36.009 who have been considering recognizing the Confederacy, 00:19:36.329 --> 00:19:38.450 they look at the dual defeats on July 4th and 00:19:38.450 --> 00:19:41.029 completely abandon any lingering ideas of intervening 00:19:41.029 --> 00:19:43.529 on behalf of the South. But even with this monumental 00:19:43.529 --> 00:19:45.829 dual victory, President Lincoln is absolutely 00:19:45.829 --> 00:19:48.869 furious in Washington. He's livid. Why? I mean, 00:19:48.950 --> 00:19:52.039 they won. because Lincoln sees the board clearly. 00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:55.200 Lee's army is battered, exhausted, and trapped. 00:19:55.839 --> 00:19:57.859 The torrential rains have swollen the Potomac 00:19:57.859 --> 00:20:00.400 River, and the Confederate pontoon bridges have 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:02.900 been destroyed. They physically cannot cross 00:20:02.900 --> 00:20:05.900 back into Virginia. But General Meade hesitates. 00:20:06.059 --> 00:20:08.740 He does. I mean, his own army is exhausted and 00:20:08.740 --> 00:20:12.720 has taken over 23 ,000 casualties. Meade calls 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:15.779 a council of war and decides not to pursue Lee 00:20:15.779 --> 00:20:18.380 aggressively enough. He gives Lee just enough 00:20:18.380 --> 00:20:20.680 time to build a makeshift bridge and slip his 00:20:20.680 --> 00:20:23.440 trapped army across the river to safety. And 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:25.839 Lincoln is just beside himself. He's pacing the 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:28.460 White House, famously complaining that Meade 00:20:28.460 --> 00:20:30.359 held the war in the hollow of their hand and 00:20:30.359 --> 00:20:32.829 they would not close it. Which introduces a massive 00:20:32.829 --> 00:20:35.230 historical debate that continues today. Yeah. 00:20:35.309 --> 00:20:37.750 Was Gettysburg truly a decisive victory? Right. 00:20:37.890 --> 00:20:40.029 I mean, the Union repelled the invasion and forever 00:20:40.029 --> 00:20:42.529 broke the myth of Robert E. Lee's invincibility. 00:20:42.710 --> 00:20:45.329 But because Meade let the army escape, the war 00:20:45.329 --> 00:20:48.529 dragged on for two more agonizing, blood -soaked 00:20:48.529 --> 00:20:51.390 years. When you look at the incredible scale 00:20:51.390 --> 00:20:54.859 of the tragedy. the failures of command, the 00:20:54.859 --> 00:20:57.740 brilliant tactical gambles, and the sheer resilience 00:20:57.740 --> 00:21:01.039 of the soldiers. It's no wonder Gettysburg transformed 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:03.660 from a bloody Pennsylvania farm town into the 00:21:03.660 --> 00:21:06.279 ultimate national symbol. It really became sacred 00:21:06.279 --> 00:21:08.720 ground. And that transformation was cemented 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:10.940 just a few months later when Abraham Lincoln 00:21:10.940 --> 00:21:13.779 arrived to dedicate the new National Cemetery. 00:21:14.009 --> 00:21:18.750 In a speech that was barely 271 words long, the 00:21:18.750 --> 00:21:21.430 Gettysburg Address fundamentally redefined the 00:21:21.430 --> 00:21:24.269 entire purpose of the Civil War. It wasn't just 00:21:24.269 --> 00:21:26.789 about preserving a fractured union anymore. It 00:21:26.789 --> 00:21:30.049 was about ensuring a new birth of freedom. And 00:21:30.049 --> 00:21:32.309 that transformation of purpose brings up a lingering 00:21:32.309 --> 00:21:34.049 question I really want you to consider after 00:21:34.049 --> 00:21:36.069 we wrap up today. Oh, I love these. Let's hear 00:21:36.069 --> 00:21:38.170 it. Well, we often look back at history and view 00:21:38.170 --> 00:21:40.289 the outcomes as inevitable, right? Like it was 00:21:40.289 --> 00:21:42.170 always going to happen this way. but consider 00:21:42.170 --> 00:21:44.569 the overwhelming role of chance. The accidents. 00:21:45.029 --> 00:21:47.970 Exactly. If J .E .B. Stewart hadn't taken his 00:21:47.970 --> 00:21:51.650 cavalry on a joyride, leaving Lee blind, if Yule 00:21:51.650 --> 00:21:53.549 had found the aggressiveness to take Cemetery 00:21:53.549 --> 00:21:56.569 Hill on day one, if Sickles' rogue march had 00:21:56.569 --> 00:21:58.690 actually successfully collapsed the Union left, 00:21:59.470 --> 00:22:01.690 how fundamentally different would the map of 00:22:01.690 --> 00:22:04.230 the United States look today? It's wild to think 00:22:04.230 --> 00:22:06.710 about. Furthermore, what if General Meade had 00:22:06.710 --> 00:22:09.789 ignored his exhaustion and aggressively destroyed 00:22:09.789 --> 00:22:12.809 Lee's trapped army in the rain on July 4th? Would 00:22:12.809 --> 00:22:14.990 the deadliest conflict in American history have 00:22:14.990 --> 00:22:17.730 ended two full years earlier, saving hundreds 00:22:17.730 --> 00:22:20.130 of thousands of lives? It all comes back to that 00:22:20.130 --> 00:22:22.789 bumped chessboard. We study history looking for 00:22:22.789 --> 00:22:25.549 grand, inevitable designs. But sometimes the 00:22:25.549 --> 00:22:27.690 fate of an entire nation really comes down to 00:22:27.690 --> 00:22:30.269 a delayed message, a misunderstood order, an 00:22:30.269 --> 00:22:32.549 inflamed heart, or even just a sudden rainstorm. 00:22:32.859 --> 00:22:35.619 Thank you for joining us on this deep dive. Remember, 00:22:35.819 --> 00:22:37.799 history is never just a static list of dates 00:22:37.799 --> 00:22:40.279 and facts. It is a chaotic collection of human 00:22:40.279 --> 00:22:42.599 choices, physical limitations, and incredibly 00:22:42.599 --> 00:22:45.019 high stakes. Next time you think a small detail 00:22:45.019 --> 00:22:47.319 doesn't matter, just remember the geometry of 00:22:47.319 --> 00:22:49.680 a fishhook, the silence of empty cannons, and 00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:51.839 a missing pair of shoes. See you next time.