Gettysburg National Cemetery

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania High 72 Low 55

Today we went to visit the National Cemetery, but first some more pictures of the area and some more monuments. This will be the last of them.

We weren't aware, but the Cemetery is for all soldiers, not just Civil War Soldiers. With that being said, more than half are from the Civil War. We saw some that were from the Vietnam War. There are about 6000 soldiers buried there with 3580 being Union Soldiers that died in the Civil War, with almost half being unknown. The unknown have a simple block with a number on it as markers.

There were also rows of what at first looked like a concrete ribbon going through the cemetery in a large arch. upon closed examination, we could see names and rank written into the concrete.

There were several monuments, one of which in the center Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address. It is a large monument placed as a tribute to the soldiers buried there.

The principal speaker was a former governor of Massachusetts., and his exhausting speech lasted 2 hours. Then Abraham Lincoln gave his 2 minute speech, to a stunned audience. He thought his words were not well received, but who can remember the words of Edward Everett? A hundred and fifty years later, most, if not all of us, have at least heard the Gettysburg Address.

We listened to a Park employee tell a little about the Cemetery, and he told that 2 Confederate soldiers were buried in the active cemetery adjacent to the National Cemetery and the town people didn't like it so much that the 2 soldiers were moved outside the Cemetery in unmarked graves. As the Cemetery grew, it finally included the resting place of the 2, and since they weren't exactly sure where they were, they finally put up markers for them.

We then drove through the downtown, and a lot of the buildings have a simple sign on them that says Civil War Building.

We haven't decided for sure about tomorrow, but will probably drive to Hanover to see a couple of factories.

Thanks for visiting.