VOA慢速英语2014 葛底斯堡战役让南方的希望破灭

 

Battle of Gettysburg Ends the South’s Hopes 葛底斯堡战役让南方的希望破灭

From VOA Learning English, this is The Making of a Nation. I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

And I’m Christopher Cruise¹.

America's civil war in the 1860s did not have the full support of the people. In the North, many young men refused to join the Union army.

Confederate General Robert E. Lee saw the northern anti-war movement as a sign of weakness. He also saw it as an opening for a military victory. Lee hoped for a final, decisive² blow that would bring the war to an end.

In the middle of 1863, 70,000 Confederate soldiers were ordered to move against the Union force at the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Lee was not worried about the large Union Army of the Potomac.  He believed it was far behind him, in Virginia. But Lee was wrong. The Union Army had followed him. And it reached Gettysburg first.

On July 1, 1863, the first group of northern soldiers formed a thin line of defense³ outside Gettysburg. The first group of southern soldiers attacked this line. 

When the guns began to roar, both sides hurried more men to the front. By the next morning, Lee's 70,000 men faced a Union army of 90,000 men.

After the second day of fighting, Union commander George Meade met with his generals. He said he was sure General Lee would attack again. The next attack, Meade said, would be against the center of the Union line.

Meade was right. 

On July 3rd, a little past one o'clock in the afternoon, a Confederate gun fired once. Then again. That was the signal to attack.

All at once, the Confederate artillery⁴ thundered. The cannon⁵ sent iron and smoke into the Union soldiers. Within minutes, hundreds lay dead or dying.

Union artillery on the hill answered the Confederate cannon. Men lay flat on the ground. They prayed for the shelling to stop. Finally, it did. And the smoke of battle began to clear.

Now the Union soldiers could see across the valley. The Confederates stood shoulder to shoulder in a line almost two kilometers long.  Sunlight shone from their guns. Their battle flags waved. Slowly, the line began to move.

Union artillery opened fire. The guns tore big holes in the Confederate battle line.  But the southerners kept moving forward up the hill.

Union soldiers rose from behind stone walls and fallen trees. They poured even more gunfire into the Confederate line. More and more bodies fell to the ground. Still, the Confederate line moved forward.

A few Confederates reached the Union line, but not enough to seize it. They were shot down.

Suddenly, the Confederates began racing⁶ down the hill. Many raised their hands in surrender. 

Fifteen thousand had begun the attack. Only half returned.

The battle of Gettysburg was over.

General Lee's invasion of the North had failed. There was only one thing he could do now: retreat to Virginia. 

On the Union side, General Meade lost so many men that he decided⁷ not to chase Lee immediately. He did not want to risk losing what remained of the Army of the Potomac.

Meade’s decision angered President Abraham Lincoln. He had told Meade that driving the Confederates out of the North was not enough. The southern army must be destroyed.

"We had them," Lincoln said. "We had only to stretch out our hands and take them. And nothing I could do or say could make the army move."

Words in This Story

decisive – adj., causing something to end in a particular way

roar – v. make a long, loud sound

tore – v. made a hole in a violent or forceful way

1 cruise   

v.巡航，航游，缓慢巡行；n.海上航游

参考例句：

• They went on a cruise to Tenerife.他们乘船去特纳利夫岛。
• She wants to cruise the canals of France in a barge.她想乘驳船游览法国的运河。

2 decisive   

adj.决定性的，坚定的，果断的，决断的

参考例句：

• A decisive person acts quickly and often succeeds.果断的人行动迅速，常常成功。
• Man is a decisive factor in doing everything.人是做每件事情的决定性因素。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

5 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

6 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。