Gettysburg--the terrible war<1>
Late June, 1863: the fields in Pennsylvania were bountiful with crops, the land was untouched by conflict, and the people prospering. Yet a few days later, into this fertile countryside, came a huge army of Confederate soldiers, led by the ingenious General Robert E. Lee. The great general was leading them to meet up with an even bigger Union army, known as the Yankees.
The Rebels, proud and brave, hoped to destroy the Yankee army on its own soil, and thus bring an end to nearly two years of war. On July 1st, the first shots of the battle of Gettysburg were fired. For three days, the two sides smashed at each other endlessly, often performing great acts of heroism. Yet, as in all wars, the end result was the same: death and destruction of the human spirit. In the words of Sergent James Wright, fighting for the Union, Gettysburg was a cataclysm beyond imagination:
Howling, shrieking, exploding, tearing, smashing and destroying...The ground was torn up, fences and trees knocked to splinters, rocks and small stones were flying in the air... guns were dismounted and the men and horses torn to pieces. [201 words]