On November 19, 1863, at the dedication of a military        
cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, during the
American Civil War,  President Abraham Lincoln
delivered one of the most  memorable speeches in
American history. In fewer than 275 words, Lincoln  
brilliantly and movingly reminded a war-weary public
why the Union had to fight, and win, the Civil War. 

The Battle of Gettysburg, fought some four months
earlier, was  one of the single bloodiest battle of the
Civil War. Over the course  of three days, more than
45,000 men were killed, injured, captured or went
missing.        

The battle also proved to be the turning point of the war:
General Robert E. Lee’s defeat and retreat from Gettysburg
marked the last Confederate invasion of Northern territory
and the beginning of the Southern army’s ultimate decline.