As some of my readers may remember, September is my birthday month. I was the unlucky kid who would start school every year during the week of her birthday. As an adult this hasn't been a problem, though, and I usually take some kind of a day trip to mark the occasion. This year was a minor milestone, so my husband Kevin and I fulfilled a standing wish of mine to visit Gettysburg. After all, what kind of a Pennsylvania historian doesn't make at least one pilgrimage to the site of one of the biggest battles of the Civil War?
I will admit that, growing up, I never quite grasped the full significance of Gettysburg. I know we covered it in school, but my memories of the lessons have mostly faded; but I stuffed my brain with all kinds of interesting discoveries during this trip and I truly enjoyed myself. Much like Brother Genitivi in the Dragon Age games, I don't know how to take a vacation without learning as much as I can about wherever I am.
A quick shout-out to Larry at the For The Historian bookshop on York Street! Larry was kind enough to express interest in my blog as I was buying research materials and even accepted a small pile of my business cards to give to his regulars. If you're in Gettysburg, definitely drop in on the store.
Of course, the big thing that everyone in this country remembers about Gettysburg is a little two-minute speech known as the Gettysburg Address. It has its own marker, which I photographed and will be covering on another occasion, but today I'm going to tell you about a related location. Abraham Lincoln slept here.
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| The marker stands just outside the house at 8 Lincoln Square |
Wills was a very important figure in the little borough. He was elected burgess (basically the mayor) and also the first Superintendent of Schools in Adams County, so it became his job to draw up plans for the school system. Additionally, he was a director of the Bank of Gettysburg and a trustee of three different schools, including his alma mater Pennsylvania College; later in life he became a judge. He lived in and worked out of a large and very beautiful brick house, built in approximately 1814, on the southeast corner of the town's main square.
And then history came knocking.
There were two things in particular that I never understood about the battle of Gettysburg. One was just how big it was; it's well known that the battle ran for three whole days, but I guess in my head I always imagined that the battlefield was roughly the size of a football field, and that the town sort of sprang up afterward. Turns out that the battlefield is literally miles across, and the community was already there when the fighting started. The other thing I never understood was, well, why Gettysburg? As it was explained to us on the tour we took, Gettysburg was not a significant community; it was small and had no particularly notable industries or resources that the Confederates wanted to commandeer. What it had instead was roads. There were ten well-traveled roads leading into and out of Gettysburg, making it a significant location in terms of troop movements, commerce, and travel, and General Lee's plan was to basically interfere with that. I know I'm oversimplifying, but that's the gist of it.
It was Wills who came up with the idea of turning the battlefield into a national cemetery, a place of honor where current and future generations of Americans could come and pay their respects to those who made the ultimate sacrifice. He suggested to Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin that Pennsylvania establish "a common burial ground" for the dead, an idea supported by all of the states who had lost valiant sons in the three days of battle. He was put in charge of procuring the land on behalf of the commonwealth, making all the arrangements and settling all the details. 17 acres of Adams County soil would be forever preserved as the Soldiers' National Cemetery, the first of its kind in the United States.
A great dedication ceremony was planned, and Edward Everett was invited to speak. This was kind of a big deal; Everett was a former president of Harvard College and, at the time, was the single most sought-after speaker in the country. They actually delayed the ceremony until he had an opening in his speaking schedule and could be there. While they waited for that, Wills had the idea that maybe they should also invite the President to speak at this ceremony. Lincoln was a busy guy, seeing as how the war was still in progress and everything, but they reached out to him and he decided to take a train up to Pennsylvania and be on hand for the event, accepting the burgess's invitation to stay in his home.
Outside of the house, on Lincoln Square, stands a unique statue known as Return Visit. Lincoln holds his famous hat in one hand and has his other hand on the shoulder of a modern man, who holds a copy of the Gettysburg Address. This is regarded as the single most authentic statue of Lincoln ever produced. The sculptor, J. Seward Johnson, Jr., used actual casts of Lincoln's face and hands to form those parts, and the suit and shoes Lincoln wears are patterned after items from his actual wardrobe. It was dedicated on November 19, 1991, the 128th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address. At the dedication, Johnson explained that he regarded Lincoln as "a person of great dignity and vision" and that he wanted to sculpt him so that he might "live amongst us and among the coming generations of Americans. We welcome him back here today, to breathe new life into his message of equality and dignity for all."
In many ways, Lincoln never really left Gettysburg.
Sources and Further Reading:
Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.
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