A Historical Turning Point

This time of year I usually like to watch the movie "Gettysburg." In year's past I have watched the film in real time — meaning I watched the portion for that day on the day. It also helps to break up a five hour movie into smaller chunks.

I have always loved studying the Civil War period. I have read books about it and even took a college elective focused on the Civil War. It was a rough, violent, and difficult period of American history and also one of the most unique because the enemy wasn't a foreign nation but someone with ideological differences within your own country.

In Gettysburg, Penn. 147 years ago today, the tide of the Civil War turned. After nearly three years of bloody conflict, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, led by General Robert E. Lee, pushed into Union territory seeking to end the war by marching on Washington, D.C. The Union troops sought to cut off his advance, taking a defensive position on the heights surrounding Gettysburg.

After two days of fierce conflict that inflicted damage on both sides, nothing had changed. Lee was forced to decide between continuing the battle and withdrawing to find a new place to engage the enemy. He choose to stay and fight knowing resources were limited for the upstart Southern army.

On July 3, 1863, Lee ordered an assault on the middle of the Union lines. The charge was led by Major General George Pickett, and it resulted in a disastrous loss of life for the Confederate Army. Pickett's division was virtually destroyed, as were the other divisions sent out in support. Pickett remained bitter until his dying day about the loss of his men and the failed attack.

On July 4, 1863, the Confederate Army withdrew from Gettysburg, beaten and bloodied, while at the same time Union General Ulysses S. Grant completed his siege on the fortress at Vicksburg, further damaging the Confederate cause. The war went a further two years, but the Confederate Army was just playing out the string after Gettysburg.

I view those three days in Pennsylvania as the most important battle in United States history. It's also a good lesson to those of us who face the temptation of giving into our ideal about our own power and skill in the face of insurmountable odds.

Lee believed his men would prevail because they always had. He ordered an ill-advised charge that destroyed a large chunk of his army. Proverbs 16:18 says, "Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall." Even a tactician and leader as brilliant as Robert E. Lee was prone to over reaching.

So too are we. When we let our own confidence and belief get in the way of making the right decision, we suffer the consequences. Hopefully it doesn't take a slaughter on the battlefield for us to learn that lesson.