Fiftieth Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg; Report of the Pennsylvania Commission December 31, 1913
Harrisburg, PA: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1915. Revised Edition. Hardcover. x, 281 pages. Illustrations. Maps. Some fold-outs. Index. Revised edition is preferred from a content perspective. Some repairs to fold-out with tape noted. Ex-library. Usual library markings. Boards weak with some hinge separation. Spine worn, torn and chipped. Map of Great Camp at back is NOT PRESENT. Index. The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. The battle involved the largest number of casualties of the entire war and is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Meade's Army of the Potomac defeated attacks by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, ending Lee's attempt to invade the North. On November 19, President Lincoln used the dedication ceremony for the Gettysburg National Cemetery to honor the fallen Union soldiers and redefine the purpose of the war in his historic Gettysburg Address. The 1913 Gettysburg reunion was a Gettysburg Battlefield encampment of American Civil War veterans for the Battle of Gettysburg’s 50th anniversary. The June 29–July 4 gathering of 53,407 veterans (~8,750 Confederate)[1] was the largest ever Civil War veteran reunion, and "never before in the world's history [had] so great a number of men so advanced in years been assembled under field conditions" (Chief Surgeon). All honorably discharged veterans in the Grand Army of the Republic and the United Confederate Veterans were invited, and veterans from 46 of the 48 states attended. Despite concerns "that there might be unpleasant differences, at least, between the blue and gray" (as after England's War of the Roses and the French Revolution), the peaceful reunion was repeatedly marked by events of Union–Confederate camaraderie. President Woodrow Wilson's July 4 reunion address summarized the spirit: "We have found one another again as brothers and comrades in arms, enemies no longer, generous friends rather, our battles long past, the quarrel forgotten—except that we shall not forget the splendid valor." The Great Camp opened for supper on June 29 with Pennsylvania veterans from the state reunion that adjourned on June 28 and other early veterans (e.g. 2 Confederate vets of Culp's Hill had arrived on June 26). The 21,000 arrivals on the 29th instead of the 6,000 expected by Capt McCaskey of the Quartermasters Corps resulted in initial shortages (some veterans left without staying). After the 1912 base of the Virginia Monument was dedicated on June 30, official reunion events began on July 1, Veteran's Day, and included a speech by John Wanamaker.
July 2 Military Day included an address recommending a stronger military ("we ought to build two battleships for every one laid down by Japan"), a reading of the Gettysburg Address, and a Seminary Ridge review of the VA division by their governor. At night, an impromptu Union raid on the Confederate side of the Great Camp resulted in joint parades and camp fires following the "charge".
July 3 Civic/Governors' Day had 65 unit reunions, the Wells statue dedication, and a Webb/Pickett flag ceremony at the Bloody Angle on the hour of Pickett's Charge. In the Great Tent from 4:30-6 P.M. was the New York Veterans' Celebration, which included a speech by Colonel Andrew Cowan in which he again called for a Gettysburg peace memorial. The fireworks by the Pain Fireworks Display Company at 9 p.m. included "gigantic set pieces covering the entire face and crest of Little Round Top".
July 4 On National Day, the Pennsylvania State Memorial with 8 statues installed in April was dedicated, and President Woodrow Wilson arrived at 11 a.m. in a special train car, traveled through the borough, and entered the Great Tent through 2 rows of Boy Scouts. Wilson addressed the audience in the Big Tent about national unity and departed the camp after the National Anthem that followed (attendees similarly returned to their quarters). The subsequent Tribute to Our Heroic Dead with "a silent, solemn, sacred five minutes at 'Attention' by" people throughout the Gettysburg area, e.g., at the "College Hotel" & "Seminary Hotel". The Tribute began with a bugle salute over the camp while the Gettysburg bells tolled noon in the distance, followed by the remaining minutes of silence punctuated by periodic artillery firing from the distance. From 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., 7,147 automobiles (at least 1 from each state) used the national park roads.
Departures included 12,000 veterans on July 2 and about the same number on July 3, and dismantling of the Great Camp began immediately after the July 4 Tribute. The hospital closed on July 5, and the last veteran left on July 8. The annual military instructional camp (250 college students) used a few tents of the veterans camp while encamped at the "Meadeboro" camp (Newspaper Row) from July 7-August 15. The Quartermaster headquarters on Baltimore St. closed on August 13, and by August 15 the entire Grand Camp had been removed except "four great water storage reservoirs". A movie, United at Gettysburg, documented the reunion, and Lt. Col. Lewis E. Beitler, Secretary of the Commission, completed the compilation of the organizations' reports on the December 31, 1913. Condition: Fair.
Keywords: Battle of Gettysburg, Fiftieth Anniversary, Reunion, Grand Army of the Republic, William Taft, Joshua Chamberlain, Lindley Garrison, Hunter Liggett, James Schoonmaker, Henry Stimson, Daniel Sickles, John Tener, United Confederate Veterans, Woodrow Wi
[Book #72518]
Price: $75.00