Gettysburg — 150 Years After Lincoln’s Speech
©Bert Gildart: One hundred and fifty years ago yesterday, Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg address, and I regret not having posted something about it November 19th. It was a memorable day in American history and was commemorated in part with a presidential visit to the battlefield.
Recalling Gettysburg, a much published image -- and story
The speech is one of my favorites and the subject of Gettysburg is one I have covered for magazines on at least four different occasions. In high school I was required to learn the speech, and still remember it to this day.
WHO WAS EDWARD EVERETT?
I can’t add much to what newspapers recounted, but all sources say the speech was effective because Lincoln was able to get straight to the point. In two minutes Lincoln said what Edward Everett had just tried to say in two hours.
Who was Everett? At the time he was a Congressman and well known speaker who had preceded Lincoln on the day’s roster of speakers, but most don’t remember his name.
Lincoln Pennies left by appreciative visitors to Gettysburg; General Longstreet, and note
the expression of calm on the general’s face contrasted with the look of terror in the eyes of the horse. One of my favorite statues at Gettysburg.
Essentially Lincoln said that if Democracy won’t work here, it won’t work anywhere. But he said it choosing words that have lived down through the decades. CNN summarized it this way:
“His words are some of the most memorable in American history, forever stamping our collective minds with “four score and seven years ago,” and “all men are created equal,” and of course a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
JUST 272 WORDS
All together Lincoln used 272 words and they are displayed at Gettysburg on a plaque. Today, visitors deposit Lincoln pennies on that plaque, a combination I thought made for an exquisite image.
Images from the battlefield sandwich image of our Airstream as we search this Gettysburg campground
for a site on a lovely fall day. After parking we toured battlefield to view some of the 1,328 statues now commemorating the nation’s most intense battle.
Of course, Gettysburg National Battlefield tells more than just the story of Lincoln. Hundreds of statues now piece together episodes from our nation’s bloodiest battle to include vignettes of Generals Mead and Longfellow and of my favorite general, General Robert E. Lee. That’s not to say I wanted to see the nation split, but most historians agree that General Lee was the best tactician, though perhaps not at Gettysburg. The Union won the battle and if Robert E. Lee had listened to General Longstreet, his “Warhorse,” it is likely the Confederacy would have prevailed on July 3, 1863.
But it’s hard to say that either side won as both sides lost thousands of men. Together almost 8,000 soldiers were killed in the course of the three-day battle, but the tragedy doesn’t end there. Records suggest that an additional 38,000 soldiers either went missing or were wounded. The overwhelming tragedy is that these were Americans killing Americans.
HIGH WATER MARK
Gettysburg tells all these stories, which generally conclude at the High Water Mark. Here an open book represents the northern-most point to which the Confederacy advanced.
High Water Mark -- represented by an open book, which tallies casualties -- of the northern most point reached by Confederates.
Yesterday, November 19th, the Battlefield recalled the Gettysburg address – and it recalled Lincoln and what may be one of our nation’s most significant tragedies. If John Wilkes Booth had not assassinated Lincoln, most likely conciliation of North and South would have been hastened – for Lincoln was a compassionate man.
If you’re interested in learning more, read Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, by James L. Swanson, or Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever, by Bill O’Reilly, Gods and Generals by Jeffrey Shaara, or The Killer Angels a historical novel by Michael Shaara that was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1975.
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