America's Largest Battle: The Battle of Gettysburg - Gettysburg, PA (Jul 1, 1863 – Jul 3, 1863)

The Gettysburg National Military Park is where The Battle of Gettysburg took place. The Battle of Gettysburg was not only the largest battle of the Civil War, it remains the largest battle ever fought in North America in terms of the number of troops involved. 

The U.S. Government Publishing Office’s (GPO) describes the battle as the bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil. The U.S. Census Bureau notes The Battle of Gettysburg as the bloodiest in U.S. history. The Digital Public Library of America recognizes it as the most deadly military battle in U.S. history.

The battle involved around 165,000 troops. Union casualties numbered around 23,000 people, while Confederate casualties numbered around 28,000 people. 

Gettysburg Battlefield Guide Tour Tickets

The American Civil War also had the largest number of American military fatalities in history. In fact, the Civil War's death toll is comparable to all other major wars combined, the deadliest of which were the World Wars, which have a combined death toll of more than 520,000 American fatalities. 

The Battle of Gettysburg (largest battle of the Civil War) had unprecedented military fatalities of American soldiers, with almost 3,200 Union deaths and over 3,900 Confederate deaths, giving a combined total of more than 7,000. It also had more than 51,000 casualties. The battle was fought from  Jul 1, 1863 – Jul 3, 1863 in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. 

This largest battle in history involved the largest number of casualties of the entire war and is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Meade's Army of the Potomac defeated attacks by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, ending Lee's attempt to invade the North. While Meade won the battle and stopped the invasion, he ultimately failed to destroy Lee’s army and end the rebellion.

The Union won the American Civil War. The war effectively ended in April 1865 when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. The final surrender of Confederate troops on the western periphery came in Galveston, Texas, on June 2. President Lincoln delivered the famous Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the military cemetery later that fall. 

The significance of the Battle of Gettysburg was not only its enormous size and scope, but also its impact on the outcome of the Civil War. It is widely regarded as one of the most important battles in American history, and its legacy continues to be felt today. 

There are 1,328 monuments, memorials, markers, and plaques on the battlefield that commemorate and memorialize the men who fought and died during the Battle of Gettysburg and continue to reflect how that battle has been remembered by different generations of Americans. Visiting the Gettysburg National Mark is an incredible way to learn about America's largest battle in history.