Almost 8,000 dead dotted the fields of Gettysburg after the guns
grew silent. The Confederate dead were hastily buried, but what of
the Union dead? Several men hatched the idea of a new cemetery to
bury and honor the Union soldiers just south of town. Their task
was difficult to say the least. First, appropriate land needed to
be identified and purchased. After the State of Pennsylvania
purchased the 17 acres, a renowned landscape architect designed the
layout of the cemetery. All was now ready for the bodies to be
interred from their uneasy resting places around the battlefield,
placed in coffins, marked with their names and units, and
transported to the new cemetery to be permanently reinterred. More
than 3,500 men were moved to the Soldiers National Cemetery. As
these tasks gained momentum, so too did planning for the cemetery's
consecration or dedication. A committee of agents from each state
who had lost men in battle worked out the logistics. Most of the
program was easily decided. It would be composed of odes, singing,
prayers, and remarks by the most renowned orator in the nation,
Edward Everett. The committee argued over whether President Abraham
Lincoln should be invited to the ceremony and, if so, his role in
the program. The committee, divided by politics, decided on a
middle ground, inviting the President to provide "a few appropriate
remarks." To the surprise of many, Lincoln accepted the invitation,
for the most part crafted his remarks in the Executive Mansion, and
headed to Gettysburg, arriving on the evening of November 18, 1863.
The town was filled with thousands expecting to witness the "event
of the century." Lincoln completed his remarks and, the following
day, mounted a horse to join the procession heading for the
cemetery. The program was unremarkable, except for Lincoln's
remarks, whose reception was split along party lines. Lincoln Comes
to Gettysburg: The Creation of the Soldiers' National Cemetery and
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address by Bradley M. Gottfried and Linda I.
Gottfried recounts the events surrounding the creation of the
Soldiers' National Cemetery, its dedication, and concentrates on
Lincoln's visit to Gettysburg on November 18- 19, 1863.
General
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