"Pickett's charge" was the final battle and the turning point of not only the Gettysburg campaign, but probably the civil war. On day 3, July 3rd, after Confederate attacks on both Union flanks had failed the day before (including the battles of Little Round Top and the Wheatfield), General Lee ordered a massive infantry assault against the Union soldiers on Cemetery Ridge.

The commander ordered to undertake the attack by Lee, was Lt General James Longstreet and he argued against the move. The massed infantry assault was preceded by a massive artillery bombardment that was meant to soften up the Union defense and silence its artillery. However this was largely ineffective. At about 3pm, some 12,500 men in nine infantry brigades were led out by Maj General George Pickett, and they advanced over open fields for three quarters of a mile under heavy Union artillery and rifle fire. Although some Confederates were able to breach the low stone wall that shielded many of the Union defenders, they could not maintain their hold and were repulsed with over 50% casualties, a decisive defeat that ended the three-day battle and Lee's campaign into the North. The farthest point reached by the attack is known as the high-water mark of the Confederacy.

The failure and consequences of this attack were severe and the Confederate war effort never fully recovered - it was the beginning of the end of the civil war although it would take another 2 years to finally cease.