What does Lincoln mean when he says soldiers gave "the last full measure of devotion"?
1 Answer
Lincoln means that the soldiers were willing to die to give their lives out of love and devotion.
Explanation:
The three day battle of Gettysburg was the deadliest battle of the Civil War. Thousands of soldiers on both sides died in this battle.
Soldiers can panic, break and flee the scene of a battle. Thousands of soldiers willing died because they believed in what they were fighting for.
Gettysburg was a critical battle. If the north had lost this battle it is likely that the south would have achieved the independence as a separate nation that the confederacy was fighting for. Despite taking heavy causalities in both the first and second days of this battle the Union troops did not break. In many previous battles the northern armies had not been willing to take such high causalities and had surrendered the field to the souther forces.
Gettysburg was a critical battle for the south as well. The loses the south experienced in this battle made it impossible for the south to ever invade the north again. This meant that south could not win a military victory in the war. The only hope for the south after Gettysburg was that the north would grow weary of fighting for the preservation of the Union and grant the south independence.
