The battle at Gettysburg is considered by many to be the turning point for the civil war. One of the results of the battle is, the Northerners shut down the Southerners last major invasion of the North. The Northerners destroyed their offensive strategy and basically made them fight a defensive war now. The South just couldn't keep up with the North's industrial power. The Union had about 82,000 men and the Confederate had about 75,000 men. This war is significant because after this war, Abraham Lincoln established the "Emancipation Proclamation". It was also significant because it was fought in Pennsylvania, instead of where most of the previous battles had been taking place. The biggest battle fought during the battle of Gettysburg was called "Pickets Charge". It was the battle that ended the battle of Gettysburg. The thing that started this battle was General Lee invaded Northern Virginia, Pennsylvania area to help prevent fighting in Virginia and bring the Union army out of its protection and defenses. Another time during this whole battle, a colonel named Joshua A. Chamberlain ran out of ammunition and so he ordered his men to attack using their bayonets (which might have been considered suicidal). But his men did it anyways and it ended up being not so bad of battle. In fact he gained quite of bit of praise and medals, and he was elected governor of Maine four times. Also Armistead (Confederate) and Hancock (Union) were both friends before the war started. They were both US Army officers in California, both were freemasons. During the battle Armistead was shot and another freemason on the Union side helped him.