Gettysburg changed the course of the Civil War

July 1, 1863, during the American Civil War, marked the beginning of the Battle of Gettysburg. It began unexpectedly when Confederate forces under General Heth encountered Union cavalry under the command of Union General Buford. The Confederates pushed the Union forces through the town, but the Union troops regrouped in a defensive position at Cemetery Hill.

On the second day, General Lee of the Confederate troops arrived and attempted to flank the Union positions. Union forces held but suffered heavy casualties.

July 3 was the third and final day. It featured Pickett's Charge, a direct assault by approximately 12,500 Confederate troops against the center of the Union forces on Cemetery Hill. The attack was repulsed with severe Confederate losses. Lee's Army, battered and depleted, retreated to Virginia on July 4, thus ending the battle.

The battle resulted in 46,000 to 51,000 casualties, including the dead, wounded and missing. It was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. It halted Lee's invasion of the North and shifted the war in favor of the Union.

Then, on Nov. 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous "Gettysburg Address" at the newly established Soldiers' National Cemetery. Today, Gettysburg National Military Park preserves the battlefield and commemorates the soldiers who fought there. The battle remains a central study in military strategy, leadership and the human cost of war.

Those of us who have been in wars have witnessed the human costs of war, both from our side and the enemy's side.

Again, older men start the wars; young people fight and die in them.

Roger Gregory served as a captain in the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam. He is a Priest River businessman.