Process
Before you begin to design your strategic battle positions, you will need to have a basic understanding of the Civil War and previous battles before the Battle of Gettysburg. In addition, you will need to have a general understanding of the geographical layout of the town of Gettysburg and the surrounding lands that the ensuing battle takes place in. This will be the key to your victory over the North.
Using the resources provided, you will need to become an expert on the geographical landscapes of Gettysburg and decide how to attack the Union's positions in defense of their city.
http://www.nps.gov/gett/historyculture/index.htm
http://www.nps.gov/archive/gett/getttour/day1.htm
http://www.nps.gov/archive/gett/getttour/day2.htm
http://www.nps.gov/archive/gett/getttour/day3.htm
On your United Streaming site, use the following videos to gather a better understanding of the events that will shape your alterations in one of the most historical battles in US history.
Use the Gettysburg Cyclorama, Confederate's Mistakes at Gettysburg and Pickett's Charge videos for your investigation.
Now that you have a good understanding of the events up to the second day of the battle, you and your partner will now need to start strategically planning how to beat the re-grouped and re-enforced Union Army at Gettysburg. You will be creating your own physical map and written plan to beat the Union. Your map will need to include:
- A Legend - showing Generals, battalions with numbers of men -color coded (Blue=Union, Red=Confederate)
- A compass for direction
- Landmarks
- Colored troop movements
- Scale - to show distances
- Draw in hills, forests, fields, homes, roads, etc... objects that appeared in their maps and would have an impact on your movements.
You and your partner will need to provide a written explaination that can be used for your presentation to the class. The written plan will be turned in, in addition to your map.
Using this map as a guide, create your own map to show how the South over takes the North.
BE CREATIVE! This project is designed for you to put your knowledge and ideas on paper and give the Confederates a victory. Use the knowledge that you have learned from the video's and websites to turn the tables on the Union and U. Grant. Winning Gettysnurg may change the face of the Nation and our history. Help put Jefferson Davis in Confederate States Presidential Office for another term.
You will need to create a map that shows the Union and Confederate Armies at the begining of Day 2 at Gettysburg. Show how and who you would move into position to take on the Union's battalions with consideration to their strategic holdings at Little Round Top, etc. Make sure that you are moving and flanking the Union soldiers with the correct number of Confederate soldiers, no one will believe that you flanked the Union soldiers at Little Round Top with only 500 men.
When moving battalions, make sure to show who is in charge of the battalion. This is important due to historical perspective. You can't ask a battalion to move 5 miles in an hour and then climb a large hill or open field to fight the Union, make realistic decisions.
When creating your map, remember to draw and label geographic locations such as hills, forests, fields, homes, roads and so on. This gives credibility to your map and the decisions that you make.
Ask yourself what the weaknesses are in the Union Army? Where might they be vulnerable and why? These questions will help you write your paper as well. Your combined paper should be no less than 5 pages to adequetley describe your movements and strategic decisions. This is a combined effort. Since there is only two of you, the work must be split evenly for the task of creating a map and 5 page paper is too large of a burden for one person. You may divide the jobs in half, but remember that you are dependent upon each other.