VOA慢速英語:葛底斯堡戰(zhàn)役讓南方的希望破滅

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From VOA Learning English, this is The Making of a Nation. I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.And I’m Christopher Cruise.

America's civil war in the 1860s did not have the full support of the people. In the North, many young men refused to join the Union army.

Print based on the painting called Hancock at Gettysbug by Thure de Thulstrup. Shows Major General Winfield S. Hancock riding along the Union lines during the Confederate bombardment prior to Pickett's Charge.

Confederate General Robert E. Lee saw the northernanti-war movement as a sign of weakness. He alsosaw it as an opening for a military victory. Lee hoped for a final, decisive blow that would bring the war to anend.

In the middle of 1863, 70,000 Confederate soldierswere ordered to move against the Union force at thesmall town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Lee was notworried about the large Union Army of the Potomac. Hebelieved it was far behind him, in Virginia. But Lee waswrong. The Union Army had followed him. And itreached Gettysburg first.

On July 1, 1863, the first group of northern soldiers formed a thin line ofdefense outside Gettysburg. The first group of southern soldiers attacked thisline.

When the guns began to roar, both sides hurried more men to the front. By the next morning, Lee's 70,000 men faced a Union army of 90,000 men.

After the second day of fighting, Union commander George Meade met withhis generals. He said he was sure General Lee would attack again. The nextattack, Meade said, would be against the center of the Union line.

Meade was right.

On July 3rd, a little past one o'clock in the afternoon, a Confederate gun firedonce. Then again. That was the signal to attack.

All at once, the Confederate artillery thundered. The cannon sent iron andsmoke into the Union soldiers. Within minutes, hundreds lay dead or dying.

Union artillery on the hill answered the Confederate cannon. Men lay flat on the ground. They prayed for the shelling to stop. Finally, it did. And the smoke ofbattle began to clear.

Gettysburg Battlefield map

Now the Union soldiers could see across the valley. The Confederates stoodshoulder to shoulder in a line almost two kilometers long. Sunlight shone fromtheir guns. Their battle flags waved. Slowly, the line began to move.

Union artillery opened fire. The guns tore big holes in the Confederate battle line. But the southerners kept moving forward up the hill.

Union soldiers rose from behind stone walls and fallen trees. They pouredeven more gunfire into the Confederate line. More and more bodies fell to theground. Still, the Confederate line moved forward.

A few Confederates reached the Union line, but not enough to seize it. Theywere shot down.

Suddenly, the Confederates began racing down the hill. Many raised theirhands in surrender.

Fifteen thousand had begun the attack. Only half returned.

The battle of Gettysburg was over.

General Lee's invasion of the North had failed. There was only one thing hecould do now: retreat to Virginia.

On the Union side, General Meade lost so many men that he decided not tochase Lee immediately. He did not want to risk losing what remained of theArmy of the Potomac.

Meade’s decision angered President Abraham Lincoln. He had told Meade thatdriving the Confederates out of the North was not enough. The southern armymust be destroyed.

President Abraham Lincoln"We had them," Lincoln said. "We had only to stretchout our hands and take them. And nothing I could do orsay could make the army move."

I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

And I’m Christopher Cruise.

This is The Making of a Nation from VOA LearningEnglish.

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Words in This Story

decisive – adj., causing something to end in a particular way

roar – v. make a long, loud sound

tore – v. made a hole in a violent or forceful way