I recently had the opportunity to visit the Gettysburg Battlefield. It was pretty awesome and very sobering. To stand there and look out over these fields where on July 1 – 3 in 1863, more than 165,000 men took part in battle.  46,268 lost their lives, 27,224 were wounded in battle, many of those eventually dying from their wounds. This was bloodiest battle in American history. More American lost their lives in Gettysburg than in any other single battle in our history, more than D-Day, more than Iwo Jima.

This is often called the turning point of the American Civil War. The war was going in the favor of the Confederate States. After General R. E. Lee had defeated the Army of the Potomac at Chancellorsville, General Lee decided to push the advantage and invade the norht. After the defeat at Gettysburg Gen. Lee retreated back into Virginia, the momentum swung in the North’s favor, and the rest as that say is history. As I rode through the battlefield looking at the markers showing the positions of the different armies, regiments and division a thought occurred to me.

This wasn’t just a turning point in American History, but a very pivotal point in world history.

Imagine if the Confederate Army had been successful at Gettysburg. They would have been in position to threaten other major northern cities such as Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and they would have basically had Washington, D.C. surrounded. With momentum already in the Confederacy’s favor, such a major victory in northern territory, and the Confederate army close enough to threaten other major cities, including the Union capitol, maybe the Union would have been willing to call a truce, sign a  treaty, and recognize the Confederate States right to exist as a separate country.

Would we have continued as two separate countries or could a peaceful solution be reached to reunite us? If not, with a divided America, of the states that joined the Union after 1865 how many would have joined the USA and how many would have joined the CSA? Could either of these countries become a world power?  Now, think about WWI. Without the U.S. joining in would Germany have prevailed? And if Germany had won, would there have been a World War II, or would Germany, after conquering Europe been strong enough to also conquer Russia and eventually invade and conquer North America, The U.S.A, the C.S.A and Canada, Mexico, and on to South America? Eventually China?

A lot was changed on those hills in southern Pennsylvania on those 3 days in July, 1863 at a little town called Gettysburg.