Soldiers'_National_Cemetery

Gettysburg National Cemetery

Gettysburg National Cemetery

Battlefield cemetery created following the Battle of Gettysburg


Gettysburg National Cemetery is a United States national cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania created for Union casualties from the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War. The Battle of Gettysburg, which was fought between July 1 to 3, 1863, resulted in the largest number of casualties of any Civil War battle but also was considered the war's turning point, leading ultimately to the Union victory.

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The land of the cemetery was part of the Gettysburg Battlefield, and the cemetery is within Gettysburg National Military Park, which is administered by the National Park Service of the U.S. Department of Interior.[3]

Originally called Soldiers' National Cemetery, U.S. 16th President Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address at the cemetery's consecration on November 19, 1863. That day is observed annually at the cemetery and in the town as "Remembrance Day" with a parade, procession, and memorial ceremonies by thousands of Civil War reenactor troops representing both Union and Confederate armies and descendant heritage organizations led by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) and the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV).

The cemetery contains 3,512 interments from the Civil War, including the graves of 979 unknowns.[4] It also has sections for veterans of the Spanish–American War (1898), World War I (1917–1918), and other wars, along with graves of the veterans' spouses and children. The total number of interments exceeds 6,000.[4]

Battlefield monuments, memorials, and markers are scattered throughout the cemetery, and its stone walls, iron fences and gates, burial and section markers, and brick sidewalk are listed as contributing structures within Gettysburg Battlefield Historic District.[5]

Description

Gettysburg National Cemetery on the 50th anniversary of the battle in July 1913

The centerpiece of Gettysburg National Cemetery is Soldiers' National Monument (1869), a 60-foot-tall (18 m) granite monument designed by sculptor Randolph Rogers and architect George Keller. It is surrounded by concentric semicircles of graves, divided into 18 sections for Union states (1 each),[4] a section for United States Regulars, and 3 sections for unknown soldiers.[4]

Battlefield monuments within Gettysburg National Cemetery include those of the 1st United States Artillery Battery H, the 2nd Maine Battery, the 1st Massachusetts Battery (Cook's Battery), the 1st Minnesota Infantry, the 1st New Hampshire Light Battery, the 5th New York Independent Light Artillery, the 136th New York Volunteer Infantry, the 1st Ohio Battery H, the 55th Ohio Infantry, the 73rd Ohio Infantry, and the 75th Pennsylvania Infantry; and markers for the 1st Ohio Battery I and the 3rd Volunteer Brigade Artillery Reserve (Huntington's Brigade). Other monuments include the New York State Monument (1893), the Kentucky State Monument (1975), the Lincoln Address Monument (1912), the Friend to Friend Masonic Memorial (1994), the Major-General John F. Reynolds Statue (1872), and the Major-General Charles Collis Memorial (1906).

History

In 1863, William Saunders was selected by a committee of Union governors to design the Soldiers National Cemetery. Saunders' radial plan of "simple grandeur," grouped the Union dead by states and focused on a central monument. The graves were marked with simple, unadorned, rectangular slabs of gray granite inscribed with the name, rank, company, and regiment of each soldier. Saunders noted in his description of the design that this repetition of "objects in themselves simple and common place" was meant to evoke a sense of "solemnity" which "is an attribute of the sublime." Officers and enlisted men were buried alongside one another to symbolize the egalitarian nature of the Union Army, which consisted mostly of volunteer citizen soldiers.[6]

Reinterments

Union remains were transferred from the Gettysburg Battlefield burial plots,[7] local church cemeteries, field hospital burial sites, including Camp Letterman, Rock Creek-White Run Union Hospital Complex, USA General Hospital,[8] and the "Valley of Death" below Little Round Top, where unburied soldiers decomposed in place.[9] Samuel Weaver, as "Superintendent of the exhuming of the bodies", personally observed the contractor's workers opening graves, placing remains in coffins, and burying them in the cemetery,[8]:158 and at least one reinterment from neighboring Evergreen Cemetery.

Consecration

President Lincoln (seated, left of center) at the cemetery's consecration, November 19, 1863
1863 map of Soldiers' National Cemetery

Chronology

More information Date, Event Symbols: †-interments ۩-structures §-superintendents ...

References

  1. Reid, Whitelaw. "title tbd". Cincinnati Daily Gazette. The stand was erected on the spot where the monument is to be built, in front of which are two semi-circular sections. (cited by Tilberg 1970) Klement pp. 186–67, reference 23 cites Tilberg's "summary of study of location of Gettysburg Address platform" – perhaps referring to Tilberg's newspaper article:
  2. "Soldier's National Cemetery" (Google News Archive). The Wayne County Democrat. September 21, 1887. Retrieved February 25, 2012. …slain in the first day's battle and had lain for days [behind enemy lines] in the sun and rain until recognition was impossible.
  3. National Park Service. "National Cemetery Walking Tour" (PDF). Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  4. "Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg". CivilWarWiki.net. Archived from the original on July 9, 2020. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
  5. "GETT List of Classified Structures". www.hscl.cr.nps.gov. National Park Service. Archived from the original (NPS.gov HSCL[specify] website) on September 24, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  6. Rainey, Reuben (1995). "Saunders, William b. 1822, d. 1900". In Birnbaum, Charles A. (ed.). Pioneers of American Landscape Design II: An Annotated Bibliography. U.S. Department of the Interior. pp. 132–137. ISBN 0-16-048060-4. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. Becker, Joseph (November 1863), sketch of Cemetery Hill
  8. "Report of David Wills". Revised Report. pp. 4–tbd.
  9. Wert, J. Howard (1886). A Complete Hand-Book of the Monuments and Indications and Guide to the Positions on the Gettysburg Battle-Field (Google Books). B.M. Sturgeon & Co. p. 93. Retrieved March 2, 2012. The heavy rains that followed the battle washed down and lodged in these [Valley of Death] places other corpses from positions higher up the flat. These bodies were never recovered, but gradually decomposed, whilst the bones were washed away or covered with rubbish.
  10. Adams, II, Charles J. (June 29, 2000). "National cemetery a somber stop" (Google News Archive). Reading Eagle. Retrieved March 22, 2012. the Soldiers' National Monument now towers over the well-manicured lawn of what was once a cornfield and apple orchard.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. Dreese, Michael A. (2002). The Hospital on Seminary Ridge at the Battle of Gettysburg (Google Books). McFarland. p. 130. ISBN 9780786412242. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
  12. "Battle of Gettysburg" (Google News Archive). The Compiler. July 20, 1863. Retrieved February 26, 2012. The Federal soldiers in the [Evergreen] Cemetery laid many of the tombsones on the ground to prevent injury… Thursday [July 2] Confederates…had their sharpshooters…picking off Federal soldiers on the hills [sic] to the north of the cemetery.
  13. "Care of wounded after Battle of Gettysburg". The Gettysburg Times. July 14, 1986. p. 8. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  14. "Consecration of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg" (Google News Archive). The Adams Sentinel. November 24, 1863. Retrieved March 10, 2012. …rows of graves ranged along the line of the stone or wooden fences
  15. "The Adams Centinel" via Google News Archive Search.
  16. McConaughy, David (August 5, 1863), [letter to Governor Andrew Curtin] (negative photocopy), Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center vertical files: David Wills correspondence{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) (cited by GDG.org: The Development of the National Cemetery)
  17. "More Exempts from the Draft". The Baltimore Sun. September 16, 1863. Retrieved January 23, 2011. the heights of Cemetery Hill and the granite spur of Round Top … purchased by Mr. D. McConaughy.
  18. "The Compiler" via Google News Archive Search.
  19. Unrau, Harlan D (July 1991) [December 1865 complete draft]. administrative history, Gettysburg National Military Park (PDF) (Report). Denver, CO: National Park Service. OCLC 24228617. Archived from the original ("B&W Scan" of copy D-44) on October 20, 2012. Retrieved March 10, 2012. McConaughy, who held key topographic features of the battlefield in trust for the GBMA, was reimbursed for his prior purchases from commonwealth appropriations in 1867–68 (cf. HAER No. 485 p. 43 claims McConaughy was paid in 1868 when the GBMA received $6,000 from the state.) (This report is also available at Google Books.)[hyperlink needed]
  20. Cross, Rev. Andrew B. (July 25, 1863), letter for newspaper publication (letter republished in report), retrieved March 9, 2012, Shall the bones of those who turned the battle from the gate in that fearful struggle of three days at Gettysburg be left for men to plough up in their fields and to wagon over on the roads around that town? (letter included in report, p. 60)
  21. "For Sale or Rent" (Google News Archive). The Star and Sentinel. January 2, 1900. Retrieved March 6, 2012. For Sale or Rent. – My Property on Baltimore pike, below Evergreen Cemetery, right hand side; 10 acres, improved with 2-story House, Stable, Hog Pen, &c. Lot of Fruit, never-failing well of Water at Kitchen door. Peter Thorn, Residence on Middle St., next door Dr. Diehl's office. 12-12-4f.
  22. "The Adams Centinel" via Google News Archive Search.
  23. Murphy, Jim (1992). The Long Road to Gettysburg. New York: Clarion Books. pp. 98–9. ISBN 0-395-55965-0.
  24. Gettysburg National Military Park Tour Roads (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record (Report). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 16, 2014. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  25. Wills request for proposals from contractors to reinter the dead[full citation needed]
  26. "Gettysburg: Tiny Pennsylvania Town Teaches a Powerful Lesson in History". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. June 25, 2000. A cornfield was turned into a cemetery for 3654 known Union soldiers.
  27. Amrhein, Elizabeth (Fall 2009). Hidden in Plain Sight…Ice House Complex (PDF) (Report). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2012. In 1899, [sic] soldier remains were unearthed in preparation for construction of the new shirt factory.14 These remains were moved to the National Cemetery
  28. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  29. "→A beautiful Pole…" (Google News Archive). The Adams Sentinel. November 17, 1863. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  30. Selleck, W. Y. ("purported to have been written by"), holograph text, The stand on which President Lincoln stood…was 12 ft. wide and 20 ft. long, and facing to the North West. It was located 40 feet North East of the outer circle of Soldiers' Graves as shown by pencil mark (cited by Tilberg 1970)
  31. Carr, Clark E. Lincoln at Gettysburg: An Address. Chicago: A. C. McClurg. Retrieved March 1, 2012. I was able to have placed the Illinois section… On one side of our Illinois section is a large one, containing the graves of the unknown, and on the other that of the State of Virginia. It was upon the ground in the centre reserved for the monument that the platform from which the addresses were delivered was placed. This platform fronted away from the cemetery proper, giving room for the vast audience of people in front of and facing it.
  32. "Digitool | Becker Collection". Archived from the original on November 28, 2010. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  33. "The Dead on the Battle-field" (Google News Archive). The Compiler. December 7, 1863. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
  34. "The Providence Evening Press" via Google News Archive Search.
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  36. Own, Our (June 26, 1869). "Gettysburg: Preparations for the Dedication of the Soldiers' Monument" (PDF). New York Times. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
  37. c.1916 local Gettysburg newspaper item reporting Major Tate's annual visit (e.g., Gettysburg Times)[full citation needed]
  38. "The Development of the National Cemetery". GDG.org – Gettysburg Discussion Group website. Retrieved March 12, 2012. citing for quotation:
    • "David McConaughy to Governor Andrew Curtin, August 5, 1863 (negative photocopy, David Wills correspondence, GNMP vertical files): "We agree to sell to the state or states nine acres between the Cemetery and the Taneytown road, at $200.00 per acre – the states to enclose this land on that Road, and on North and South, but not on side adjoining the Cemetery – the grounds to be used for burial of the soldier dead of all the states."
  39. "List of Classified Structures". Archived from the original on September 17, 2012.
  40. "Plan $50,000 Battlefield Project Here" (Google News Archive). Gettysburg Times. July 16, 1934. Retrieved March 2, 2012. work on the re-setting of 5,200 feet of head stones in the National cemetery will ge under way within a week … many of which are either leaning or have fallen over altogether, will be reset in concrete. … The work will be done by enrollees of the two civilian conservation corps camps on the battlefield
  41. "Baltimore American" via Google News Archive Search.
  42. Bartlett, John Russell, ed. (1874). "Oration of Governor O. P. Morton". The Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg…the Monument…dedication (Google Books). Providence, Rhode Island. for distribution to the Board of Commissioners of the Cemetery.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  43. Sellars, Richard West (Winter 2005). Pilgrim Places: Civil War Battlefields, Historic Preservation, and America's FirstNational Military Parks, 1863–1900 (PDF). CRM (Report). Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  44. "Monuments and Entertainments" (Google News pay-per-view)). Detroit Free Press. June 21, 1867. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
  45. "Visit of Gen. Grant and Gov. Geary & Meeting of the Board of Managers of the Soldiers' National Cemetery" (Google News Archive). The Star and Sentinel. June 26, 1867. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  46. "The Star and Sentinel" via Google News Archive Search.
  47. "Gettysburg: The Reunion on the Field…" (PDF). New York Times. August 27, 1869. visited the apple orchard,[where?] peach orchard, wheatfield, Round Top… The positions of the above-named corps were fixed. … Over one hundred stakes were driven at important points. … and the places where General Sickles, Hancock and Graham were wounded… General Hll…fixed the position…which opened the battle… The hop at the Springs Hotel…netted about $200, which is to be devoted to the Soldiers' Home, near Cemetery Hill. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
  48. "Gettysburg" (Google News Archive). The Pittsburgh Gazette. August 30, 1869. Retrieved February 25, 2012. The battle monument is not yet finished
  49. "The Star and Sentinel" via Google News Archive Search.
  50. "New-York at Gettysburg: The Monument Question Settled at Last" (PDF). The New York Times. March 1, 1891. Retrieved March 2, 2012. Wills indited to the Secretary of War…occupation of any portion of the cemetery by…any particular State for memorial structures.
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  64. "Calvin Hamilton has resigned the principalship of the public schools of this place to accept the office of assistant superintendent of the national cemetery here". The Sun. August 31, 1889.
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  66. "New Oxford Item" via Google News Archive Search.
  67. "Honors for the Hero Dead" (PDF). New York Times. July 3, 1893. Retrieved June 23, 2011. at the spot where Gen. Greene's brigade, 1,300 strong, repelled Johnston's Confederate division, which numbered at least 10,000.
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  73. "A Battlefield Visitor: Sees an Unsightly Object in Going Over Field" (Google News Archive). Gettysburg Compiler. July 26, 1905. Retrieved March 10, 2012. entrance way disfigured for years with a partly dismantled lodge.
  74. "Gettysburg Times" via Google News Archive Search.
  75. "Money for Battlefield" (Google News Archive). New Oxford Item. July 22, 1906. Retrieved February 25, 2012. …appropriation for the construction of roads in Cumberland township, which, owing to the fact that the Lutheran seminary, Pennsylvania college and County Almshouse, as well as the great amount of government property situated therein, gives this township very little or no revenue in the matter of taxation, as all the above institutions are exempt from taxation.
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  81. "Lincoln Memorial to be Scene of Film Feature" (Google News Archive). The Star and Sentinel. May 22, 1915. Retrieved April 12, 2011. for photographing the Lincoln mounment [sic] in the upper end of the National cemetery and as the picture is being taken a number of colored residents of town will pass before it and each will lay a wreath of flowers on the monument of the emancipator of their race.
  82. "Include Gettysburg in Big "Movie"…, Will Bury Skeleton Dug Up…, & Major Jefferys to Resign Soon…" (Google News Archive). The Star and Sentinel. May 7, 1915. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
  83. "Found Soldier's Bones: Will be Given Burial in the National Cemetery" (Google News Archive). Adams County News. May 8, 1915. Retrieved March 12, 2012. repairing a pipe wall at the foot of East Cemetery Hill, unearthed the remains of a Union soldier, Thursday. Embedded in one of the bones of the forearm was a bullet.
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  88. "Comfort Station For Military Park" (Google News Archive). Gettysburg Times. Times and News Publishing Company. September 24, 1928. Retrieved March 21, 2012. The first modern public comfort station in the national military park reservation was opened Saturday in the national cemetery. (reprinted in 1943)
  89. "The Star and Sentinel" via Google News Archive Search.
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  96. Pyle, Michaela S. (April 22, 1965). "Expansion Problem May Curtail Gettysburg Burials" (Google News Archive). The Washington Observer. Retrieved March 22, 2012. Of the 24 sections in the cemetery, 18 are filled with Union Civil War dead.
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Further reading

  • Fuoss, Jarrad; Frederick, Jared (Forward) (2020). Soldiers National Cemetery at Gettysburg. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Press (Images of America). ISBN 978-1467104852.

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