Newsletter Sample

N EWS FROM THE FRONT

T HE

CONFEDERATE TIMES V OLUME 1, I SSUE 1

J ULY 3, 1863

4,700 S OUTHERNERS KILLED AT GET TYSBURG GETTYSBURG, PA– What began as a small skirmish with a probable Southern victory, ended three days later with a stunned Confederate army in shreds. On a blistering July 1st, the brilliant southerner, General Lee, arrived on the battlefield with 25,000 men to fight the Union’s 20,000. Although this battle began small, it quickly escalated into a massive war effort to secure a victory. General Lee instructed one of his commanders, General Richard Ewell to attack the Union troops that were positioned atop Cemetery Hill. However, Ewell decided not to attack after seeing all the Union’s artillery. Experts say that if

Ewell had gone through with the attack, it might have caused the South to win the battle.

Four Confederate soldiers lay dead after battle. Photo: Alexander Gardner

As of the armies on both sides arrived by the end of that first night, the stage was set for the brutal days that followed. Our Con-

federate men fought bravely the sweltering 90 degree heat, but were tricked by the Union army. On the third day after an hour’s duel, the North deceived our men into thinking that they were out of ammunition. As the Confederate army marched across the field to finish the battle, the Union army opened up on them and scarcely half made it back to their own lines. In total, Lee lost more than a third brave, Southern men before retreating to Virginia. Many mothers and wives will morn this day as the Union celebrates a tragic victory.

F AST B ATTLE F ACTS •

23,231 Southern Casualties including:

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4,708 killed, 12,693 wounded and 5,830 captured or missing

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Total number of Northern soldiers: 93,921

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Total number of Southern soldiers: 71,699

“I S AW THE B AT TLE ”: O NE GIRL ’ S ACCOUNT GETTYSBURG, PA- As Tillie Pierce sat in her school room on July 1st, she would not have guessed that she would be witnessing one the most horrific battles of our generation just hours later. As Ms. Pierce tells it, she saw the “rebel” troops

come into her usually sleepy town and start “ransacking” the stores and homes for food and supplies. While she admits she understood that the men must be starving and needing essentials, she maintains that she the men were “not the Southern gentlemen she hears so much about in stories.”

Ms. Pierce continued to watch the battle from the safety of her home with her mother and two sisters and claims that she prayed for both sides to stay safe. However, like all Union supporters, she was thrilled at the outcome of the battle despite the terrible losses on both sides.

A map of Gettysburg, PA made by S. G. Elliott