The Battle of Gettysburg was not planned by either side—neither commanding general was present at the front when the fighting began—both arrived as the fighting was already in progress, and both had to improvise. Thanks largely to the thinking of cavalry Brigadier General John Buford, the Union position was strong, though by no means invulnerable. The Confederates had at least two chances to drive the Union arny out of its strong position or seriously threaten it from a flank. Both opportunities were lost, and on the fateful third day of the battle, Pickett's division reached what would become known at the high water mark of the Confederacy—the copse of trees in the center of Cemeterty Ridge.

Gettysburg has become the most famous battle of the war, and it certainly was a major turning point, mostly because a Confederate victory at Gettysburg might well have ended the Union cause. That Lee did not win the battle was a momentous factor in the outcome of the war.

On the other hand, the battle of Vicksburg, which ended on the day after Gettysburg, July 4, 1863, was strtegically more important as it divided the Confederacy and returned the Mississippi River to Union control all the way to New Orleans. The entire southwestern sector of the Confederacy thus became irrelevant to the outcome.

The double blow did not finish the Confederacy, but certainly the summer of 1863 was hte beginning of the end for the South.