On July 1, 1863, the battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania began, perhaps the most important battle of the US Civil War. Many historians have considered it the battle that the war hinged on, especially as it was the “high water mark” of the Confederate invasion of the North. We list here some of the most important, most critical battles in our nation’s history, battles that the very existence of the country depended on. Since the only wars that our existence hinged on were the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and World War II, by our definition only those wars can be considered. (Note: Although the Battle of Midway was certainly the turning point in the Pacific in 1942, we do not see the Japanese as an actual threat to America’s existence or sovereignty in World War II.)
Digging Deeper
5. Normandy, 1944.
If the D-Day invasion had failed, especially if it failed decisively, the Germans may have been able to redeploy forces to the East and potentially defeat the Soviets, creating an entirely different scenario for the resolution of World War II. After the Battle of the Atlantic, Normandy is certainly the most critical battle of World War II for the US.
4. Antietam, 1862.
Only barely a victory for the Union Army, the battle was the bloodiest single day in US military history with 22,000 combined casualties and almost 4000 combined deaths. Although an enormous blunder by the Union Army to fail to run down and keep attacking a numerically smaller Confederate Army, the fact that the Confederates retreated gave the appearance and technical definition of a defeat for the Rebels.
