Gettysburg, PennsylvaniaGettysburg is a small town in the state of Pennsylvania, in the eastern United States. There is good farmland around the town. Much of the area still looks like it did in the 1860s. In 1863, during the American Civil War, two big armies fought a battle here. The army of the North was led by General George Meade. The army of the South was led by General Robert E. Lee. Lee's army came north from Virginia. Lee thought that a win in the North could end the war and make the South independent. The battle started on July 1, 1863. About 170,000 soldiers fought for three days. When it ended on July 3, more than 50,000 soldiers were dead, hurt or missing. Lee's army lost the battle. Today, many visitors start at the Gettysburg Museum of the Civil War. It has more than 1 million old things, like soldiers' notebooks, clothes and maps. It also has a very big painting called a cyclorama. The painting goes all the way around you. The painting shows the last big attack of the battle, called Pickett's Charge. The attack failed. After that, the army of the South never came so far north again. On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln came to Gettysburg. He spoke at a new cemetery for soldiers of the North. He spoke for only two minutes. But his speech, "The Gettysburg Address," is one of the most famous speeches in American history.
