Gettysburg would prove to be the decisive victory the North needed in order to win the Civil War and maintain the Union. The very next day, July 4, 1863, the city of Vicksburg surrendered to U.S. Grant. However, despite these simultaneous and momentous victories, the Civil War was far from over.
By the time of Gettysburg, war had been raging across the United States for more than two years. The fighting would continue for nearly two more. Gettysburg represented the turning point, but only the halfway point of the fighting. It was the single bloodiest engagement of the war, but merely a microcosm of the overall conflict.
Robert E. Lee took full responsibility for the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg and even offered his resignation to Jefferson Davis, who refused. On July 4th, 1863, the defeated forces of the Confederacy retreated south in a pouring rain. The wagon train of wounded, exhausted, struggling soldiers stretched 17 miles. Here, the Union Army had the opportunity to launch a counterattack, which could have potentially brought an expedited end to the Civil War. Major General George G. Meade declined, and the Confederates escaped.
Prior to the battle that would make it famous, the town of Gettysburg had been a peaceable crossroads surrounded by gentle farmland, nestled in the shadow of the Appalachians. Some 2,400 inhabitants called Gettysburg home, and had established a successful community worthy of its position as county seat of Adams County.
More than 165,000 soldiers from both sides descended upon Gettysburg and waged war for three days. When the great armies retracted, as many as 51,000 men had been killed, wounded, or were missing - one-third of the total force involved. The residents of Gettysburg suddenly found themselves caring for 10 times their population of dead and wounded soldiers.
Every available space was commandeered as a hospital. Private residences were immediately overwhelmed, as sick and wounded men were brought indoors. Carpets became saturated with blood and squished underfoot. Books were used as pillows, and were ruined from wounds. Men were certainly not the only casualties during the Civil War - women were known to have disguised themselves to fight as men.
One such woman, Emma E. Edmonds, worked as a nurse and disguised herself to spy behind Confederate lines during the Civil War. In her book, "Nurse and Spy in the Union Army," she addresses the frequently asked request of people to describe the scene of a Civil War battlefield. She quotes the Rev. Mr. Alvord:
"The disgusting details of the field I need not describe. Over miles of shattered forest and torn earth the dead lie, sometimes in heaps and windrows ... Friend and foe, black and white, with distorted features, among mangled and dead horses, trampled in mud, and thrown in all conceivable sorts of places. You can distinctly hear, over the whole field, the hum and hissing of decomposition ..."
Their crops ruined, Gettysburg farmers did their best to recover. For years afterward, while tilling the land they would dig up the bones of soldiers. Lydia Lyster returned to her home to discover 17 dead horses in her front yard (more than 3,000 horses were killed at Gettysburg). She lived with the stench and eventually collected the bones of the animals, selling them for a half-cent per pound. This was the only reparation for the damages to her property.
A sense of normalcy would elude many. A veteran of Gettysburg would remark that for 50 years he had been unable to erase the memory of the battle - the "perfect hell on earth" of exploding artillery, officers shouting orders, horses and soldiers lying on the ground, shrieking and groaning from their respective wounds.
July 1913 marked the 50-year anniversary of the Gettysburg Battle. A ceremony was planned, and attended by veterans of the conflict. According to the Civil War documentary by Ken Burns, the climax of this event was a reenactment of Pickett's Charge. The veterans, now aged a half-century, lined up along their respective positions. When the Confederates advanced across the open field, an audible moan was heard - this time from the Union men.
The Northerners jumped the stone fence, ran across the field, and embraced their former enemy. All along the lines, the veterans from both sides shook hands and wept.
At this, my Australian friends and I said goodbye to our Gettysburg tour guide. For more than two hours he had provided us with incredible insight into the battle, putting it into the greater context of the American Experience.
The individual sacrifice represented at sacred sites like Gettysburg will never be fully realized. However, the greater implication depicted therein is one of human conflict giving way to lasting unity and ultimately, redemption. It is inspiring, humbling, and truly unique to the American Experience.
I was proud to be able to share it with my friends.
- Dan Wegmueller of Monroe writes a column for the Times each Tuesday. He can be reached at dwegs@tds.net.
By the time of Gettysburg, war had been raging across the United States for more than two years. The fighting would continue for nearly two more. Gettysburg represented the turning point, but only the halfway point of the fighting. It was the single bloodiest engagement of the war, but merely a microcosm of the overall conflict.
Robert E. Lee took full responsibility for the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg and even offered his resignation to Jefferson Davis, who refused. On July 4th, 1863, the defeated forces of the Confederacy retreated south in a pouring rain. The wagon train of wounded, exhausted, struggling soldiers stretched 17 miles. Here, the Union Army had the opportunity to launch a counterattack, which could have potentially brought an expedited end to the Civil War. Major General George G. Meade declined, and the Confederates escaped.
Prior to the battle that would make it famous, the town of Gettysburg had been a peaceable crossroads surrounded by gentle farmland, nestled in the shadow of the Appalachians. Some 2,400 inhabitants called Gettysburg home, and had established a successful community worthy of its position as county seat of Adams County.
More than 165,000 soldiers from both sides descended upon Gettysburg and waged war for three days. When the great armies retracted, as many as 51,000 men had been killed, wounded, or were missing - one-third of the total force involved. The residents of Gettysburg suddenly found themselves caring for 10 times their population of dead and wounded soldiers.
Every available space was commandeered as a hospital. Private residences were immediately overwhelmed, as sick and wounded men were brought indoors. Carpets became saturated with blood and squished underfoot. Books were used as pillows, and were ruined from wounds. Men were certainly not the only casualties during the Civil War - women were known to have disguised themselves to fight as men.
One such woman, Emma E. Edmonds, worked as a nurse and disguised herself to spy behind Confederate lines during the Civil War. In her book, "Nurse and Spy in the Union Army," she addresses the frequently asked request of people to describe the scene of a Civil War battlefield. She quotes the Rev. Mr. Alvord:
"The disgusting details of the field I need not describe. Over miles of shattered forest and torn earth the dead lie, sometimes in heaps and windrows ... Friend and foe, black and white, with distorted features, among mangled and dead horses, trampled in mud, and thrown in all conceivable sorts of places. You can distinctly hear, over the whole field, the hum and hissing of decomposition ..."
Their crops ruined, Gettysburg farmers did their best to recover. For years afterward, while tilling the land they would dig up the bones of soldiers. Lydia Lyster returned to her home to discover 17 dead horses in her front yard (more than 3,000 horses were killed at Gettysburg). She lived with the stench and eventually collected the bones of the animals, selling them for a half-cent per pound. This was the only reparation for the damages to her property.
A sense of normalcy would elude many. A veteran of Gettysburg would remark that for 50 years he had been unable to erase the memory of the battle - the "perfect hell on earth" of exploding artillery, officers shouting orders, horses and soldiers lying on the ground, shrieking and groaning from their respective wounds.
July 1913 marked the 50-year anniversary of the Gettysburg Battle. A ceremony was planned, and attended by veterans of the conflict. According to the Civil War documentary by Ken Burns, the climax of this event was a reenactment of Pickett's Charge. The veterans, now aged a half-century, lined up along their respective positions. When the Confederates advanced across the open field, an audible moan was heard - this time from the Union men.
The Northerners jumped the stone fence, ran across the field, and embraced their former enemy. All along the lines, the veterans from both sides shook hands and wept.
At this, my Australian friends and I said goodbye to our Gettysburg tour guide. For more than two hours he had provided us with incredible insight into the battle, putting it into the greater context of the American Experience.
The individual sacrifice represented at sacred sites like Gettysburg will never be fully realized. However, the greater implication depicted therein is one of human conflict giving way to lasting unity and ultimately, redemption. It is inspiring, humbling, and truly unique to the American Experience.
I was proud to be able to share it with my friends.
- Dan Wegmueller of Monroe writes a column for the Times each Tuesday. He can be reached at dwegs@tds.net.
