Thursday, April 28, 2011

The Soldier's National Cemetary - Gettysburg

On Easter morning we visited the Soldier’s Cemetery at Gettysburg.  We were the only ones there other than an European jogger who asked me if it was ok for him to run.  (Sure, why not?)

More than 3500 Civil War soldiers are buried here, almost half of them marked as “unknown”.  The graves of the generals have bigger monuments, like the one below.
A few days after the Gettysburg battle, Andrew Curtin, Governor of Pennsylvania, visited the site and was deeply moved by what he saw.  Bodies of soldiers had been hurriedly buried on the battlefield, and some had not been buried at all.  Curtin and representatives of Northern states took steps to create a national cemetery.  Beginning in October 1863, bodies were carefully removed from the field and re-buried at the cemetery.  The work took 5 months.

The cemetery was dedicated on November 19, 1863.  President Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg address from here.
From the cemetery we returned to the battlefield.  This is the stream that flowed red with blood.
 Devil's Den ...
 A view of Little Round Top ...

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