Gettysburg-"Turning point"of the Civil War?

[Thomas Thorne]

I agree with Rob Wick's definition of a turning point and believe that no 1863 battle can be proclaimed "the turning point."

Confederate military success in 1864 would likely have produced such Union war weariness that McClellan would have been been elected. I don't believe his party would have permitted him to wage war after the Confederacy, seeking independence,rejected the restoration of the old Union with Slavery. This was Lincoln's view.

The seeming failure of Grant's Overland campaign and the deadlock before Atlanta apparently doomed Lincoln at the polls. Sherman's capture of Atlanta,was the turning point.

The idea of Gettysburg as the turning point is due to a variety of factors. It was fought by the principal field armies guarding the capitals of the combatants. It was the last time Lee's army as a whole invaded the North. It was a see saw battle encompassing more dramatic incidents over a short three day period than any comparable battle of the war.
Tom