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STATE OF NEW YORK
REPORT OF THE COMMISSION
APPOINTED BY CHAPTER 227. ( /-),
LAWS OF NEW YORK. 1912
TO PLAN AND CONDUCT A PUBLIC CELEBRATION
OF THE
FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG
TRANSMITTED TO THE LEGISLATURE MARCH 26, 1914
ALBANY
J. B. LYON COMPANY, PRINTERS
1914
STATE OF NEW YORK
REPORT OF THE COMMISSION A
APPOINTED BY CHAPTER 227.
I ,|' LAWS OF NEW YORK. 1912
TO PLAN AND CONDUCT A PUBLIC CELEBRATION
OF THE
FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG
TRANSMITTED TO THE LEGISLATURE MARCH 26, 1914
ALBANY
J. B. I-YON COMPANY, PRINTERS
1914
0. «FD,
NOV 7 !IU
State of New York
No. 70
IN SENATE
March 26, 1914
REPORT OF NEW YORK MONUMENTS
COMMISSION
New York, March 26. 1914.
To the Senate, Albany, N. Y.:
Herewith is presented the report of the New York Monuments Com-
mission, covering the proceedings connected with the celebration of the
fiftieth anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg, July 1 to 5, 1913.
The careful auditing of all accounts, especially railroads, has prevented
an earlier report being submitted.
This Commission received from the Legislature, under Chapter
227, Laws of 1912, and Chapter 725, Laws of 1913, the sum of
$165,000.00. Its operations commenced in April, 1912, and are just
concluded, covering a period of nearly two years.
In the months of June and July, 1913, transportation was furnished to
nearly 8,300 Civil War veterans of New York State to the field of
Gettysburg, and return to their respective homes.
Except two deaths from organic diseases, at Gettysburg, not a casualty
occurred to a veteran of this State.
In a brief financial summary, the figures of receipts and disbursements
are as follows:
2 Report of Commission.
Appropriations $1 65,000 00
Disbursements 1 24,224 25
Leaving an unexpended balance in the hands of the
State Treasurer of $40,775 75
All the vouchers for the expenditures are nowr on file in the Comptroller's
office, at Albany.
Respectfully submitted in behalf of the New^ York Monuments
Commission.
Lewis R. Stegman,
Chairman.
REPORT OF COMMISSION CONDUCTING CELE-
BRATION OF FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF
BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG
March 24, 1914.
To the Legislature:
An Act of the Pennsylvania Legislature, approved May 13, 1909,
created a commission, known as the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Battle
of Gettysburg Commission, whose duty it was to consider and arrange
for a proper and fitting observance at Gettysburg of the fiftieth anniversary
of the battle of Gettysburg, with authority to invite the co-operation of
the Congress of the United States and of the other States and Common-
wealths; and by an Act approved June 14, 1 91 1 , to enable the commission
to further carry out these provis.ons m accordance with its report, recom-
mendations and plans, the sum of $50,000.00 was appropriated, provided
that the total amount to be expended by the Commonwealth of Penn-
sylvania in connect'on with this celebration should not exceed $250,000.00.
Governor Hughes of New York appointed Major-General Sickles,
General Nichols and General Horatio C. K :ng commissioners from the
State of New York, as associates from this State, to co-operate with the
Pennsylvania Commiss'on. A.s far as can be ascertained, however, that
commission took no practical official action ;n connection with the work
of the Pennsylvania Commission.
The Congress of the United States entered heart'ly into the plan
suggested by the State of Pennsylvania for conducting the celebration of
the fiftieth anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg, and appropriated the
sum of $150,000.00 in furtherance of the object in view. The State
of Pennsylvania then appropriated the sum of $150,000.00 for the
purposes of a large military camp to be located on the battlefield.
The Congressional and State appropriations combined amounted to
$300,000.00. Thereupon, U. S. A. engineers and quartermasters were
detailed to perform the practical work necessary to estabhsh a camp in
the battlefield of Gettysburg prepared to accommodate 40,000 Civil
War veterans — Union and Confederate. The Pennsylvania State Com-
mission assumed the labor of apportioning the number of veterans to which
each sovereign State would be entitled. New York State, under this
4 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
apportionment, was granted space in the general camp for I 0,000 veterans.
Later on, this apportionment was reduced to 8,000. Upon these fixed
figures, the New York Commission based its action for the larger part of
the time preceding the opening of the encampment. A short time before
the encampment was formally opened, the State of Pennsylvania made a
more extended allowance of tents for the accommodation of New York
veterans, but too late to be of service to this State. It is very doubtful,
though, whether any more New York veterans would have availed them-
selves of any extension of numbers than those who made application and
actually participated :n the encampment. In every relationship of business
connected with the camp, the officers of the Pennsylvania Commission —
General James M. Schoonmaker, chairman, and Colonel Lewis E. Beitler,
secretary — extended every possible courtesy to the New York Commission.
The tentage and subsistence furnished m the camp to the veterans were
excellent, and have been extolled from one end of the country to the other.
By Section 1, Chapter 227, of the Laws of 1912, which became a
law April 9, 1912, with the approval of the Governor, the New York
Monuments Commiss'on for the Battlefields of Gettysburg and Chattanooga
was appointed a commission to plan and conduct a pubHc celebration of
the fiftieth anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg. This commission was
given power to enter into negotiations and co-operate with the State of
Pennsylvania in relation to such celebration.
This Act contemplated a movement of 25,000 veterans and an
expenditure of $265,000.00; and it was apparent at the outset to those
entrusted w!th this enormous task that the responsiblity thereby placed
on them vastly exceeded that of any similar project hitherto undertaken by
the commission. The commission, therefore, felt that the duty confided
to it by the Legislature in this ass'gnment was worthy of its best efforts,
calling for thorough organization and proper circumspection throughout.
The nearest approach to a celebration of this magnitude, conducted
under the direction of the New York Monuments Comm'ssion, was the
dedication, in 1 893, of the New York State monument at Gettysburg.
On April 24, 1912, the New York Monuments Commission held a
spec a 1 meeting for the purpose of considering in every detail the provisions
of Chapter 227, Laws of 1912. General McCook, Colonel Stegman
and General King were appointed an executive committee. Quarters
were secured for the commission on the second floor of No. 1 East Ninth
Street, and on May 1, 1912, they installed their office there. The chair-
man and secretary were authorized to communicate with the State Superin-
tendent of Prisons, with a view of securing from him the office furniture
needed by the commission.
Report of Commission. 5
It was decided at this meeting that there would be two units of organi-
zation,— Grand Army of the RepubHc Posts, and the " unattached "
(those veteran soldiers who did not belong to that organization).
The question as to the particular meaning that should be given to the
words " resident " and " citizen," for the purpose of the commission,
was also taken into consideration, and it was determined, that for an
applicant to be eligible he must be an honorably discharged soldier, sailor
or marine, from the army, navy or marine corps of the United States, or
an honorably discharged soldier of the armies of the Southern Confederacy,
in the War of the Rebellion, and now a resident of the State of New York.
For appl'cat:on form and form for identification of applicants, it was
decided to adopt those which appear on the printed blanks comprised in
this report. On the sheet containing these forms an announcement was
made that no applications would be received by the commission after
May I, 1913.
The issuance of Circular No. I , included herein, also resulted from
deliberations occupying the commission at the meeting held April 24, 1912.
The first instalment of 5,000 copies of this circular, dated June 12, 1912,
was distributed among various Grand Army posts, newspapers and
veterans throughout the State. Subsequently, a second ed.tion of 6,000
copies was procured and distributed.
Following the distribution of Circular No. 1 , the work of distributmg
the application blanks, referred to in paragraph 4 of Circular No. 1 , was
taken up. In all, 25,000 application blanks were printed.
Inqu'ry was made in advance of the G. A. R. posts respecting the
number of application blanks desired by them for the use of their members.
These blanks when sent out were accompanied by a circular letter of
instructions, pointing out, among other things, the importance of selecting
a conveniently central po'nt in the county, or, if preferred, two or three
points, where a large number of veterans might be expected to meet when
starting for Gettysburg. Also, in the case of blanks mtended for veterans
who were not members of G. A. R. posts it was requested that these
veterans be instructed to communicate with this commission direct.
Appl'cations for transportation came in slowly during the year 1912.
At the opening of 1913, however, they began to increase in volume.
The clerks employed were kept busy, many corrections having to be made
in the applications by reason of errors committed by the applicants, requir-
ing the re-mailing of documents and letters of information.
In December, 1912, a meet.ng for the election of officers of the New
York Monuments Commission, and the Gettysburg Fiftieth Anniversary
Celebration Commission, was held at No. 23 Fifth Avenue, Borough of
6 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
Manhattan. Colonel Horatio C. King was elected chairman of the Fiftieth
Anniversary Celebration Commission and Colonel Lewis R. Stegman
chairman of the New York Monuments Commission for the Battlefields
of Gettysburg and Chattanooga. A. J. Zabriskie was appointed engineer
and secretary of both commissions by act'on of the respective commissions.
Extra recompense was promised to the eng.neer and secretary for the addi-
tional arduous labor which it was felt would be entailed on that officer
in connection with the fiftieth anniversary celebration of the battle of
Gettysburg.
Chairman King at once issued circulars of advice as to the methods of
filing applications and rules apphcable thereto. Cop'es of the circulars
are hereto annexed. These circulars were sent to G. A. R. posts and
to every individual soldier who had written for information. Newspapers
throughout the State noted the important po'nts of information for the
benefit of their readers and the veterans of the various localities.
In April, 1913, the office of the commission of the " fiftieth anniversary
celebration " was removed to No. 1 1 6 Nassau street, borough of Man-
hattan, offering as it did more convenience for the transaction of business,
and at a cheaper rental.
During the session of the Legislature of 1913 a new battlefield com-
m'ssion was instituted, the old or former commission being abolished.
This act of the Legislature became chapter 550, Laws of 1913, as
follows :
Report of Commission. 7
AN ACT
To provide for the institution of New York battlefields commission for the
battlefields of Gettysburg, Chattanooga and Antietam.
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and
Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1 . That three civil war veterans shall be appointed by the
governor of the state, and with the adjutant-general shall be known and
distinguished as the New York monuments commission for the battlefields
of Gettysburg, Chattanooga and Antietam, to determine the positions and
movements of the several New York organizations engaged in those battles
of the civil war, and to erect such memorials, monuments and markers
upon such battlefields as may be required from time to time, as directed
by the acts of the legislature of this state. This commission shall have all
the powers and perform all the duties heretofore conferred upon the New
York monuments commission for Gettysburg and Chattanooga, and all
subsidiary commissions composed of members of that commission, and which
commission is hereby abohshed. The said commission shall report annually
its work, receipts and expenditures, to the governor and legislature.
§ 2. The commission so formed and created shall possess all the
powers hitherto granted to the commissions created pursuant to chapter
four hundred and sixty-six of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-six,
chapter two hundred and sixty-nine of the laws of eighteen hundred and
eighty-seven, chapter seven hundred and twenty-six of the laws of eighteen
hundred and ninety-three, chapter three hundred and seventy-one of the
laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-four, chapter three hundred and
seventeen of the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-five, and chapter two
hundred and twenty-seven of the laws of nineteen hundred and twelve,
and all sums of money and all appropriations hitherto made by the legis-
lature under said chapters, and special appropriatons for other monuments
or memorials erected by this commission on other battlefields or historical
grounds or lands, and now in the hands of the state comptroller or state
treasurer, shall be transferred to an account or fund which shall be desig-
nated and known as the account or fund of the New York monuments
commission for the battlefields of Gettysburg, Chattanooga and Antietam,
and all balances of moneys on hand in the possession of the chairman of
former commissions, and belonging to such commissions, and which have
been drawn from the state comptroller or state treasurer, shall be trans-
ferred to the state comptroller and the state treasurer to be placed to the
credit of the fund designated and known as the fund of the New York
8 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
monuments commission for the battlefields of Gettysburg, Chattanooga and
Antietam, and which fund shall only be applied to such uses and purposes
as are defined and required under the present act, and chapter four hun-
dred and sixty-six of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-six, chapter
two hundred and sixty-nine of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-
seven, chapter seven hundred and twenty-six, laws of eighteen hundred
and ninety-three, chapter three hundred and seventy-one of the laws of
eighteen hundred and ninety-four, chapter three hundred and seventeen,
laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-five, and chapter two hundred and
twenty-seven, laws of nineteen hundred and twelve. And all sums of
money so credited to the New York monuments commission shall be paid
out by the state comptroller and state treasurer only upon vouchers from
individuals or corporations for work actually performed, such vouchers to
be duly certified by the chairman of the commission. No moneys appro-
priated to or for the uses of this commission or any state moneys shall be
held in any manner by the chairman or other member of this commission.
^ 3. The comm.ssion hereby constituted shall take and have charge of
the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg, as
provided under chapter two hundred and twenty-seven, laws of nineteen
hundred and twelve.
§ 4. The governor shall duly notify such commissioners of their
appointment on this commission. Thereafter such commissioners shall meet
as speedily as possible for organization, being called to order by their senior
member.
§ 5. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby
repealed,
I 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
Under this law the Governor appointed three Civil War veterans, namely.
Colonel Clinton Beckwith, Colonel Lewis R. Stegman and General Geo.
B. Loud, and the Adjutant-General, Henry D. Hamilton, to act as com-
missioners. General Loud declining the appointment. General Horatio C.
King was appointed in his place.
The new commission organized at the State Arsenal, Thirty-fifth street
and Seventh avenue, borough of Manhattan, on May 22, 1913. Colonel
Lewis R. Stegman was elected chairman and A. J. Zabriskie was
appointed engineer and secretary. The new commission immediately super-
seded the old commission, taking charge of the entire busmess in hand.
Colonel Beckwith at once applied himself to the examination of all
applications of veterans for transportation and so continued until the final
completion of that work.
Report of Commission. 9
The work of the new commission was conducted upon the same Hnes
of procedure as those of the precedmg commission as to rules and apph-
cations.
From the knowledge acquired in the reception of applicat ons, it had
been learned that not as many veteran sold'ers of New York State would
take advantage of the celebration as had been anticipated, under chapter
227, Laws of 1912; and at the suggestion of the members of the new
commission chapter 725, Laws of 1913, was passed. This act appro-
priated $150,000 for the transportation of veterans to the field of Gettys-
burg and return, :n addition to the $15,000 theretofore appropriated for
office hire and all the mcidentals required for so large an enterprise —
making $165,000 in all, or lowering the estimate of 1912 by $100,000.
In the latter part of the month of May, 1913, Colonel Beckwith and
Chairman Stegman visited Harrisburg, Pa., and conferred with the Penn-
sylvania Commission, with headquarters there, in regard to many details
of business; and from thence proceeded to the Gettysburg battlefield to
survey the proposed government camp, then in process of erection. They
also visited Littletown and Hanover, distant from Gettysburg twelve and
fourteen miles, respectively, for the purpose of finding a locat.on for the
proposed specal train of the New York Monuments Commission and its
guests during the celebration. This was an essential necessity, as no rail-
road trans were to be permitted to remain on the tracks at Gettysburg
longer than was necessary to detrain soldiers from the arriving trains.
Hanover was selected as the s te of the proposed New York Commission
train, and arrangements were entered into to provide sufficient automobiles
to transport all guests from the train to Gettysburg, and return, over fair
roads, and within an hour's ride either way.
At a meeting of the commission held in the early part of June a report
on the above conditions was submitted for its consideration. The possible
excessive heat of the weather in July at Gettysburg was discussed, and at
the suggestion of Adjutant-General Hamilton, who kindly offered to lend
tents for the occasion, it was determined that instead of remaining in a
special train at Hanover, if the ground could be acquired at Gettysburg,
the commission and its guests would go into a regular tent camp, furnishing
their own subsistence and material. This suggestion was adopted. There-
upon, Captain Chas. E. Fiske, of the Adjutant-General's staff, and Chair-
man Stegman visited the office of the Pennsylvania Commission, at Harris-
burg, and through the kindness and courtesy of Colonel Beitler, secretary of
that commission, possible locations for a New York Commission camp at
Gettysburg were described. The plot of ground just north of Pennsylvania
10 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
College and containing Stevens Hall — a part of the college — seemed
to offer the best facilities for such a camp as was contemplated. Captain
Fiske and the chairman immed'ately proceeded to Gettysburg, and after
carefully surveying several situations as possibly eligible finally determined
upon the Stevens Hall site as the most convenient place. This site is located
on a square bounded by Carlisle and Washington streets and Lincoln
avenue and Stevens street. Captain Fiske at once devoted himself to the
formation of the camp. This camp was established to accommodate
seventy people, with d'ning tent, kitchen, storehouses and a special shower
bath tent. Tents were provided for the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor
and Comptroller, if required for use while visiting camp or for the
reception of visitors.
Through the courtesy of the Pennsylvania Commiss'on, special rooms
for the accommodation of the Governor and Mrs. Sulzer, the Lieutenant-
Governor and Mrs. Glynn, and the Comptroller had been assigned at the
Pennsylvania College, near the New York Commission camp. These State
officers were to be guests of the Pennsylvania Commission, by special
invitation.
The camp of the New York Commission, as formed and laid out, was
to accommodate the Adjutant-General and his staff, the guests of the
commission. State Senators, Assemblymen, the orators invited for the occa-
sion, newspaper correspondents, clerks, stenographers, military orderlies and
the help required in the subsistence department.
In the meantime, in the New York office the necessities of quick and
expeditious work required for the transmission of the transportation certifi-
cates, identification cards and New York State commemoration badges of
bronze, authorized by the commission, for each of the veterans entitled to
the same, compelled the commission to hire many additional clerks. By
reason of this action, the commiss'on was enabled to mail all the requisite
documents to each individual veteran (at his post-office address) in ample
time for use in his trip to Gettysburg, and return. It is believed that no
veteran in this State who made proper application for transportation was
disappointed in this matter. That many failed to go was due to personal
inclination after the receipt of the transportation certificates, disabilities,
business, and in some cases death.
Although the limit of time for the recept'on of applications had been
set and advertised for May 31, 1913, the commission extended the time
to June, and practically issued transportation certificates to June 28th.
Every legitimate personal call at the office of the commission was accommo-
dated, and all letters promptly answered.
Pursuant to chapter 227, Laws of 1912, the Governor, Lieutenant-
Report of Commission. 1 1
Governor and Comptroller, the Governor's staff, ten Senators and fifteen
Assemblymen, and the New York Monuments Commission, were designated
to proceed to Gettysburg to participate in the celebration of the fiftieth
anniversary of the battle, covering from July I to July 5, 1913. In
addition, the Secretary of State, the Attorney-General, the State Treasurer
and State Engineer were invited to accompany the New York delegation.
President pro tem Wagner, of the Senate, furnished the following list
of Senators to be guests of the commission on the occasion : Wagner —
president pro tem — Herrick, Carswell, Palmer, Murtaugh, Cullen, Brown,
Frawley, Fitzgerald and Ramsperger.
Speaker Smth, of the Assembly, furnished the following list of Assem-
blymen : Smith — Speaker — Sweet, Tallett, Small, Kiernan, Birnkrant,
Fitzgerald, Fallon, Heyman, John J. Kelly, Hinman, Garvey, Joseph D.
Kelly, Kornobis and Levy.
The Governor's staff consisted of the following officers: The Adjutant
General, Brigadier General H. D. Hamilton, Major Foster, Captains Fiske,
Harris, Collins, Costigan, Finke, Teets, Walsh, Berry, Red.ngton, and
L'eutenants Niver, Malone and Walton; of the New York Naval Reserve,
Commander Josephson and four orderl'es, and Mr. Robinson, stenographer
to the Adjutant General.
The newspaper correspondents who accompanied the party were: Mr.
Merriwether, of the New York World, Mr. Sherwood, of the New York
Tribune, and Mr. Jones, of the New York Globe.
Lieutenant-Governor Glynn and Assembly Hinman sent letters of
regret.
With the New York Commissioners — Colonel Beckwith, General
King, Colonel Stegman and the Adjutant General (noted as with his
s^aff) — were A. J. Zabriskie, eng'neer and secretary of the New York
Monuments Commssion, Rev. Newell Dwight Hillis, D. D. — orator of
New York Day " — Captain Albert M. Mills — orator " New York
Day " — and Charles F. Tinkham, reporter.
All the official party to accompany the special train were duly notified
to be present at the State Arsenal, corner Thirty-fifth Street and Seventh
Avenue, Borough of Manhattan, at 8:30 a. m., Monday, June 30th.
The train accommodation was furnished by the Pennsylvania Railroad and
consisted of several Pullman cars and a d ner. The Pennsylvania depot
being but a short distance from the Arsenal, the official party walked to
the train. The train left New York for Gettysburg at I 0 a. m. Breakfast
was served on the departure of the train. Lunch followed en route. The
route followed was by Philadelphia, Lancaster, York and Hanover into
Gettysburg, where the party arrived about 5:30 p. m,
12 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
At the depot at Gettysburg the official party was met by Captain Fiske,
of the Adjutant General's staff, and was seated at once in automobiles
for conveyance to the Commission's camp. The camp was soon reached
and the official party duly installed in the tents allotted to them. Soon
thereafter dinner was served. Many of the guests then visited the town.
Twelve automobiles having been contracted for the use of the guests of
the Commission, they were duly apportioned, and the guests thereafter had
the free use of the automobiles to which they were assigned.
On Tuesday, July 1 , the official party left camp for an inspection of
the battlefield. Several salient po nts were selected for observation, and
from these positions of advantage the chairman of the committee explained
to the party the several movements of the Union and Confederate armies,
with such incidents of interest as occurred upon that particular portion of the
field. Among these stoppages were included the line of Buford's cavalry,
and the infantry lines of the First Corps of the Union Army; thence they
went to the Eleventh Corps hnes, in the first day's fight; thence to Gulp's
Hill and the Twelfth Corps hne, with part of the Sixth Corps in support
on the second and third day's battle; thence to Cemetery Hill, part of
the second day's fight; thence to the Angle, the location of the Second
Corps and the celebrated Pickett's charge of Confederates on the third
day; thence to the Round Tops, where a full view was had of the positions
of the Third Corps, Fifth and Sixth Corps in the second day's fight. The
party then proceeded along Confederate Avenue, covering the positions
occupied by the Confederate army during the second and third day's battle,
and thence to the Commission camp for lunch.
The afternoon was devoted to an examination of the large main camp,
particularly the New York State allotment. The veterans from this State
expressed great admiration for the excellent manner in which they were
being treated, both in tentage and subsistence. Every sanitary precaution
for health known to camp life had been adopted by the United States
authorities. Good roads traversed every portion of the camp. Hydrants,
with ice attachments, abounded, affording plenty of cold water for the
benefit of the veterans.
It may be well to note here that the United States government authorities
and the Pennsylvania Commission had provided complete hospital accom-
modation in Gettysburg, while hospital tents were erected on every road
and byway, in charge of Red Cross nurses, and communicating with each
other and the main hospitals by telephone and telegraph. Ambulances
traversed every road, ready to pick up and relieve any disabled veteran.
To this magnificent service is due the small number of casualties which
occurred during the encampment- It is estimated that 70,000 Union and
Report of Commission. 1 3
Confederate veterans attended the celebration, about 55,000 of whom
were in the large camp. According to the official report of casualties,
only seven veterans died during the encampment — an extraordinary low
percentage for the large numbers who attended, and considering the
excessive heat which prevailed. Two of the death casualties were New
York veterans — John H. Reynolds, of Port Chester, N. Y., and Otto
L. Starn, of Almond, N. Y. Both these veterans died of organic diseases.
The sunstrokes were not many and there were no deaths from that cause.
The roads and streets were patrolled by U. S. cavalry, and the State
Constabulary of Pennsylvania, with police powers, and the utmost order
prevailed.
On Wednesday, July 2nd, the New York official party divided up
into sections, many again visiting portions of the field, while others visited
adjacent towns of historic interest in connection with the field. Adjutant
General Hamilton and staff paid official visits to the United States army
officers and to other State military men on the ground. Governor Sulzer
and Mrs. Sulzer arrived at Gettysburg and were assigned quarters at the
Pennsylvania College. The chairman of the Commission called upon the
Governor and extended a welcome to the commission camp. The
Governor and Mrs. Sulzer participated in the commission dinner at
the camp.
On Thursday, July 3rd, many visitors called at the camp and were
pleasantly entertained. In the morning Governor Sulzer and Mrs. Sulzer,
accompanied by the Chairman and Mrs. Stegman, Colonel Beckwith,
Captain Redington, in automobiles, vis. ted the whole field, returning in
time for lunch at camp. The guests of the Commission journeyed to many
different places. In the afternoon, at what was distinguished as the '* Big
Tent," in the main camp ground, " New York Day " was celebrated.
More than five thousand veteran soldiers participated in the exercises. It
was an occasion that thrilled the hearts of all New Yorkers present and
made them feel very proud of their State. In the evening there was a
grand display of fireworks on Little Round Top, which was viewed by
the guests from advantageous po.nts.
The proceedings of this great meeting are embodied in full in succeeding
pages, under the title of " New York Day at Gettysburg."
Friday, July 4th, was devoted by the guests of the Commission to visits
to the veterans' camp and expeditions to outlymg towns. In the morning
President Wilson delivered an oration to the veterans in the big tent.
Large numbers of the veteran soldiers commenced starting for home.
On Saturday, July 5th, the New York Commission delegation broke
camp at Gettysburg. The automobiles being ready, a start was made for
14 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
Antietam battlefield, in Maryland, at 7 a. m. Proceeding by the
Chambersburg road, the party reached Chambersburg, Pa., about 9 a. m.
After a short stop in this town, the journey was resumed, via Greencastle,
Pa., to Hagerstown, Md., where another short stop was made to gather
the automobiles together. From Hagerstown the party proceeded directly
to the Antietam field, halting at the famous and historic Dunker Church.
At this point the Chairman of the Commission described the battle of
September 1 7, I 862, of the right and center wings of the Union army.
The party then rode over to the scene of the operations of the left wing
of the Union army, where a halt was made at the ** Burnside Bridge,"
also famous and historic, and where a short address was made by the
Chairman, descriptive of the events on that part of the field. The return
irip to Hagerstown was made in a very short time; and the special official
train was found ready at that point to convey the party to New York.
The party was soon entrained and found a most relishable luncheon pre-
pared for them, which was heartily enjoyed, after an automobile ride of
fully eighty miles. The train started from Hagerstown at 3 p. m. and
proceeded by the way of Harrisburg, Lancaster and Philadelphia, reaching
New York at 1 0 p. m., where all the party was safely detrained. En
route dinner had been served.
During the week spent in attending the celebration not an accident
occurred to any of the official party. The itinerary of the Commission was
well preserved, and, as far as could be learned, every guest of the Com-
mission was highly delighted and gratified with the trip.
Great credit is due to Engineer and Secretary A. J. Zabriskie for the
perfect railroad arrangements, and to Captain Charles E. Fiske, of the
Adjutant General's staff, for the splendid success of the commission camp.
Many of the posts of the G. A. R. of the State passed resolutions
commending the Commission for the care and consideration shown the
veterans in every detail that would enhance their comfort and happiness
during the celebration.
New York State has every reason to feel proud of its splendid repre-
sentation at this great celebration. Its veterans conducted themselves in
every possible respect in a way to reflect honor upon their Commonwealth.
V
Report of Commission. 15
NEW YORK DAY AT GETTYSBURG.
New York Veterans Semi-Centennial Celebration
of the
Battle of Gettysburg.
under the directon of
New York Monuments Commission
In the Large Tent on the Battlefield, at 4:30 P. M., Thursday
July 3, 1913.
A cordial invitation Tvas extended to all Union and Confederate veterans
and to the general public.
New York Veterans Celebration, Gettysburg, July 3, 1913.
PROGRAM.
MUSIC CITIZENS BAND.
1. Remarks by CoLONEL LEWIS R. Stegman, U. S. V., Chairman
of the New York Monuments Commission, introducing
Colonel Horatio C. King, U. S. V., the Presiding Officer.
2. Invocation — Rev. W. S. Hubbeli. D. D.
3. Introductory Remarks by CHAIRMAN KiNG.
4. Address — His Excellency, HoN. WiLLIAM SuLZER, Governor
of New York.
MUSIC CITIZENS BAND.
5. Oration — Rev. Newell Dwight Hillis, D. D.. Pastor of
Plymouth Church, Brooklyn.
6. Hymn — " My Country, 'tis of Thee " Smith
(The audience will join in the singing.)
My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty.
Of thee I sing.
Land where our fathers died.
Land of the Pilgrim's pride.
From every mountain side
Let freedom ring.
Our fathers' God to Thee,
Author of liberty.
To Thee we sing.
16 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light.
Protect us by Thy might.
Great God our King.
7. Remarks — John H. Leathers, C. S. A., Sergeant-Major, Second
Virginia Infantry, Stonewall Brigade.
8. Address — CoLONEL ANDREW Cowan, U. S. V.. President of
the Army of the Potomac.
MUSIC — " DIXIE."
9. Poem — Colonel Edmund Berkeley, 8th Virginia Regiment,
C. S. A.
MUSIC CITIZENS BAND.
10. Address — Captain Albert M. Mills, U. S. V.. 8th N. Y.
Cavalry, Gamble's Brigade, Buford's Cavalry.
1 1 . Poem — " Gettysburg " (by request) CoLONEL HoRATIO C.
King, U. S. V.
1 2. Benediction — Rev. W. S. Hubbell, D. D.
I 3. Music — " Star Spangled Banner " Key
Report of Commission. 1 7
REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS.
The special meeting of the New York veterans and invited guests under
the auspices of the New York Monuments Commission was held m the
great tent July 3rd, at 4 :30 p. m. More than five thousand veterans
gathered at the exercises and manifested by their enthusiastx applause the
rare literary treat afforded them.
After music by the Citizens Band, Colonel Lewis R. Stegman, Chairman
of the New York Monuments Commission, called the meeting to order,
and said:
Comrades of the State of New York, Comrades both Un.on and Con-
federate from all the States, who may be present, we bid you a very hearty
welcome to our New York Day Celebration. I do not propose to make
any lengthy remarks. Fifty years ago, upon this field, I made remarks
that are indelibly impressed upon my memory and do not need to be
repeated here.
In the world's history there is no record of such fraternal greeting and
brotherhood between old-time foes as is being exhibited on this great
battle ground. It will never be repeated again. It could not be except
among Americans, the most gallant and dauntless soldiers of the world.
On this field was displayed a valor never surpassed in military annals.
The men who fought here did not realize the tremendous consequences of
the battle. It was the pivotal point of the war. It decided that we should
have but one Government, one Flag and one Destiny for the whole
American people. And I am glad to say, fifty years afterwards, that
New York Boys, Commanders and Men, played an important part in the
terrific engagement which decided this destiny.
I now take great pleasure in introducing to you the presiding officer
of this occasion. General Horatio C. King, of the State of New York.
General King then asked the Rev. Dr. Hubbell, D. D., Chaplain of
the Military Order of the Medal of Honor, to pronounce the Invocation.
PRAYER BY THE REV. W. S. HUBBELL, D. D.
Almighty God, King of kings and Lord of lords, who hast given us
liberty beneath this flag, in righteousness by the will of the people. Grant,
we pray Thee, to the multitudes whom Thou hast ordained in power the
spirit of wisdom and equity, that our Nation may be established in peace,
unity, honor and strength.
Bless with Thy protecting care. Thy Servants, the President of the
United States, the officers and men of the Army and Navy, our Governors,
18 Anni\'ersary of Battle of Gettysburg.
Law-makers, Magistrates, Counsellors and all others entrusted with
authority, so preserving them from evil and enriching them with good that
our people may prosper in freedom and may glorify Thy name in all
the earth.
We ask it for the sake of the Prince of Peace. Amen.
General King: I feel it both a great honor and a great privilege to
pres.de on an occasion of this character, one that has never been paralleled
in all time, and probably never will be hereafter. When I look over this
sea of aged men, I can hardly realize the lapse of time — fifty years —
when you and I, my comrades, mere stripling boys, stood shoulder to
shoulder and elbow to elbow in the greatest contest for the grandest purpose
ever known in all the world. Surely, the time has passed so rapidly that
it seems but yesterday when we were engaged in that awful struggle.
Time flies with all of us, and yet I feel, and you must feel with me, that
in tramping over this field time is obliterated and we are boys once more.
I am reminded of a pert little darky in a Sunday school in Washington,
in her white dress with red furbelows, leaning back in her chair and fanning
herself with a turkey feather fan, while the teacher was telling the class of
of things which occurred in Palestme a long time ago. " Yes, my dear
children, the Saviour came into the world to save sinners, to save you and
to save me — nmeteen hundred years ago." The little darky threw her-
self back and exclaimed, " My! my! how de time do fly."
I am also reminded of another story ; about a Dutchman who, having
obtained a goodly share of this world's goods, went to an art st to have
his father's picture painted. The artist said, " Send him up here." The
Dutchman replied, " Mein fader is dead.' The artist asked, '* Haven't
you a photograph of him?" " Ne'n ! nein! we have no picture of him
whatever." But the Dutchman gave the artist the best description he could
of the deceased parent and the accommodating painter painted him from
the figments of his imagination. When completed the family were invited
to the studio, where they sat for some time in rapt admiration. Finally,
Katrina broke the silence, and ra sing her hands heavenward exclaimed,
" Ya! ya! Zat is mein fader, but mein Gott how he has changed! "
Well, we are somewhat older, boys, and we have changed somewhat,
but our hearts are as young as ever. I realize the fact that a presiding
officer's duty is to preside. I am going to be brief in my remarks. About
this hour, half a. century ago, the last despairing effort was made to carry
Cemetery Ridge. No more splendid valor was shown on any battlefield
than that which determined the fate of the Confederacy, and covered both
armies with imperishable renown. Looking forM'ard fifty years seems an
Report of Commission. 19
interminable vista. Looking backward the incidents are as fresh as if
they had occurred yesterday. I have embodied this in a brief poem that
I have called "A Retrospect " and I will read it to you.
A RETROSPECT.
By General Horatio C. King.
The fleeting years, full fifty now.
Are numbered with the past.
And memory with all its joys
And griefs come trooping fast.
But first and foremost of them all.
Stand forth in bold relief
The days when you and I went forth
To battle — these are chief.
We hear the rattle of the drum.
The bugle's lively play.
The tiresome march, the dusty roads.
The halt at close of day;
The gleaming camp fires' ruddy glow,
The story, jest and song.
And then the hours of blessed sleep
That made the heart grow strong.
The reveille at break of day.
The hurrying to and fro.
The long roll w.th its grewsome call
As facing death we go
Into the storm of leaden hail.
Of screeching shot and shell.
To realize what Sherman said
That war — " Why war is hell! "
The hopes and fears that filled our hearts
As wavering hnes were broke.
And straining eyes peered eagerly
To pierce the veil of smoke
That W.d perchance the advancing line.
The reinforcements true.
That drove the exultant foeman back —
Gave victory to the blue.
20 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
And then, alas! the morning roll
Along the shortened line —
1 he voices now that answer not
Until a power divine
Shall rouse them from their shallow trench
To hear the approving Lord,
" These for their God and Country died!
And great is their reward."
All quiet along the Potomac now.
The mud-stained tents are down.
The fires are out, the drums are dumb —
Of war there is no sound;
But o'er the land that we preserved
Our flag still flies unfurled.
The benison of future years.
The glory of the world.
The comparatively young gentleman who sits upon the stage behind me
had the misfortune to be born too late to enter into the great struggle
celebrated here to-day, but I am sure that the fighting qualities he has
manifested since he became Governor would have put him m the fore front
of the battle. He is the honored Governor of the Empire State, and men
of different political faith are lending him their loyal assistance in the
splendid work he is doing of " making good." It is with great pleasure
I now present Governor William Sulzer.
ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR SULZER.
My Friends: We meet on the far-famed field of Gettysburg, dedicated
to the freedom of man, consecrated to the perpetuity of a reunited country;
and memorable forever in the illustrious pages of our glorious history.
No pen, no tongue, no brush, can ever pxture or describe the scenes
enacted on this field.
Gettysburg is fame's eternal camping ground — an inspiration and a
shrine — the epic of the Union — sacred to the heroic men living and
dead, whose struggle here made Gettysburg immortal, and hallowed this
ground for all the centuries yet to come.
All honor and all glory to the men, from upland and from lowland,
that met here to do or die for Country. Their fame is secure. Their
memory will endure. Their deeds shall never be forgotten.
Report of Commission. 21
Fifty years ago, great captains, with their men in blue and gray —
the bravest of the brave, from North and South, that ever faced a foe —
struggled here and there across this plain, amid the roar of cannon, for
three long weary days, in the mightiest contest that ever shook our land;
and in that clash of steel, and by the trial of battle, it was decided then
and there, that all men must be free, and that the RepubHc of the Fathers
shall not perish from the earth.
Half a century has come and gone since that terrible conflict, but the
intervening years have only added greater splendor to the sacrifice subHme,
and a grander glory to the victory triumphant.
History tells us truly that on this field was fought the decisive battle
of the war between the States; that it was here the flood tide of the fate of
the Union — of all that we are, and all that we hope to be — turned
toward Old Glory; that it was here the triumph of the Stars and Stripes
over the Stars and Bars saved from dissolution the greatest Republic the
sun of noon has ever seen; and that the valor, and the heroism, and the
devotion, and the chivalry here displayed, by the men of Lee and the
men of Meade, will live throughout the years of time — the heritage of
all — in the song and story of America.
MUSIC — CITIZENS BAND.
General King: There is scarcely any one in this audience who has not
heard of Plymouth Church in Brooklyn and of its marvelous master mind,
the late Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, who passed over to the great majority
twenty-six years ago. The service rendered by that Church and by that
Clergyman, during the four years of the war, were most important.
Particularly so were the services of Mr. Beecher in that herculean effort
which prevented the recognition by Great Britain and France of the
Southern Confederacy. Recognition would have greatly prolonged the war
and might have compassed our defeat. Mr. Beecher was rewarded by
President Lincoln who designated him to raise the flag on Fort Sumpter
at the close of the war. We have a noble Church and a very devoted
people. Perhaps I can describe their devotion no better than by citing a
single instance of an elderly lady who was very exact in respect to all
church services. She and her daughter kept a little home together. One
evening after the dinner dishes were cleared away, the lady put on her
things to go to Church. The daughter, knowing her mother's methodical
ways, exclaimed, " Mother! mother! aren't you going to wash the dishes?
" No, no," she replied, " To h — with the dishes, I'm going to prayer
meeting." This devotion is universal with us still.
I now take the greatest pleasure in presenting to you a most worthy
successor of Mr. Beecher, the Reverend Newell Dwight Hillis, D. D.,
Pastor of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn.
22 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
ADDRESS OF REV. NEWELL DWIGHT MILLIS, D. D..
Pastor, Plymouth Church, Brookh"^ ^- ^•
Great battles, like great mounta.ns, demand distance and perspective.
1 ravelers never understand the Alps until they look back from Italy.
Now that fifty years have passed since the battle of Gettysburg, the veterans
of the Army of the Potomac have traveled far enough away to understand
the place of their battle in the history of liberty. Time has cleared the
sun of clouds. Students have had leisure to compare the Civil War w.th
other great conflicts, and Gettysburg with other decisive battles. Foreigners
being the judges, Gettysburg marks the turning point in history. The
historian Mommsen was not an American, but a German, and Mommsen
thinks the Civil War was the greatest conflict in the annals of time. Green
was not an American, but an Engl.shman, and John Richard Green
thinks Gettysburg the most momentous battle in history. The dimensions
of the war stir a note of wonder. The battlefield was a thousand miles
in length; there were 2,000,000 men in arms. More than 2,200 battles
were fought ; every hillside of the South was billowy with the country's
dead ; an army of crippled heroes came home ; another army of widows
and orphans went comfortless through the land. In retrospect we see that
the era of the Civil War was the heroic era in our country. It was an era
of intellectual giants and moral heroes. It was the era of our greatest
statesmen — Webster and Calhoun ; it was the era of our greatest soldiers
— Grant and Sherman, Sher.dan, Thomas and Meade ; Lee and Stonewall
Jackson. It was the era of our greatest orators — Wendell Phillips and
Henry Ward Beecher ; of our greatest authors — Emerson and Whittier,
Longfellow and Lowell; of our greatest editors — Raymond and Greeley.
It was the era of our greatest agitators — Garrison and Lovejoy, and
of our greatest President — the martyred Lincoln. The spectacle is so
wonderful that the histor'an must make room for an Infinite God to enter
the earthly scene.
The history of wars and battles is of two-kinds — narrative history and
philosophic history. The time for the narrative historian has passed by,
and the time for the philosophic historian has fully come. Thoughtful men
distinguished between the occasion of the war and the cause of the
conflict. The occasion of an explosion is a spark, but the cause is in the
powder and the air. The occasion of the Revolution was a ship laden
with tea, sailing into Boston Harbor; the cause was the determination of
the Colonists to achieve self-government. The occasion of the rebellion
was slavery, but the cause of the war was the attempt to overthrow a
government conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all
Report of Commission. 23
men are free and equal. Striking, indeed, the influence of slavery upon
the life and thought of the great South. By a singular coincidence, the
year I 620 brought the Mayflower and the spirit of liberty to Plymouth
Rock, and the same month brought the slaveship to Jamestown, Va. It
was as if the mornmg star of hope appeared in the sky at the self-same
time that the orb of night, of blackness and death stood on the horizon.
From the beginning the institutions and the climate of the North were
unfriendly to slavery. The Puritans believed that the rewards of free
labor were vastly in excess of the profits derived from slave labor. In some
of the Northern colonies slavery d.ed a natural death from inanition; in
others, laws were passed freeing all slaves at the end of ten years. But
on account of the excessive heat of the South white men were not equal
to protracted labor under the August sun. The crops of the South were
cotton, tobacco and mdigo, and white men were not suited to their cultiva-
tion. Meanwh.le, because of her wars, England needed all her own men
at home, and in vain the Southern colonies advertised in London for
English labor. Then it was that slave ships were fitted out, and black
men were brought from Africa to supply the Southern need. At first the
profits were small, but it was soon d scovered that the kidnapping and
selling of slaves was a most lucrative business. Just as the gold mines of
California and Australia became the basis of name and fortune to certain
English fam.lies, so the slave trade furnished the wealth of estates and
titles in the seventeenth century.
In 1713 Queen Anne entered into a treaty with Portugal and Spain
for a monopoly of the slave traffic. This treaty provided that Portugal
should have exclusive right of assembling the slave gangs in the interior ;
that Spain should have the wholesaler's right of purchasing at the sea
coast, wh.le English ships were to have the sole right of carrying the slaves
to the colonies. Between the years 1 620 and 1 820, it is believed that
two million slaves were transported from Africa to the Southern seaports,
of whom two hundred and fifty thousand died upon the voyage. The
time came when the South revolted from the traffic. Virginia passed a
law fixing a time when no slave ships would be allowed to land. But
the profits of the Crown were so large as to appeal to the avarice and
cupidity of King George. The English K ng sent a warship to the
mouth of the James and threatened Virginia with bombardment if the law
was not rescinded.
But despite the rewards of slavery, the ant:-slavery sentiment steadily
grew stronger all over the South. When the first abolition meeting was
held in Baltimore, in 1832, eighty-five Southern abolition societ.es sent
delegates. It was a Southerner, also, Thomas Jefferson, who made the
24 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
strongest protest against slavery at the time of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence. " When I remember the justice of God, I tremble for my
country when I think of slavery, " said the great Virginian. In the conflict
the anti-slavery men were outvoted, and the provision exclud.ng slavery
from the country was lost in I 789 by a single vote. . But from the very
beginning liberty and slavery were two opposing spirits. They fought m
their infancy, quarreled m their youth, and in the.r manhood, in 1861,
entered upon a death grapple. From the beginning it was certam that
the house divided against itself could not stand. That either liberty would
drive slavery mto the Gulf and drown it, or slavery would drive 1 berty
into the Great Lakes and drown freedom. The country had to be all one
thmg, or all the other.
For 210 years liberty and slavery dwelt together in the national house,
but 1 ttle by little the South came to believe that slave labor was peculiarly
fitted to their intense heat of the summer and to the cotton and tobacco
which they cultivated. Slowly, also, the Northern merchants and
manufacturers came to believe that the slave labor starved manufacturing,
because the slave was a poor buyer, while the free laborer, winning a
high wage through his intelligence, was a good buyer of tools, books, arts,
comforts, conveniences. The South produced raw cottom, and sold that
cotton in England, and received in return manufactured goods, and the
South, therefore, inclined toward free trade. The North held that wealth
was not in raw material, but in the amount of mtelligence put into cotton,
wool, brass and steel, and therefore the North was increasingly interested
in manufacturing and in the development of intelligent working men. From
the beginning, therefore, it was inevitable that the two theories should
come :nto collision.
The men who set the battle in array were Webster and Calhoun.
Webster said, " The Union is one and inseparable, and each State sub-
ordinate." Calhoun answered, " The State is sovereign and supreme,
and the National Government secondary." Webster believed that the
Union was 1 ke the sun in the sky, and each State was a planet, revolving
around the central orb. Calhoun held that each State was a planet,
revolving in any orbit that suited it, and always free to break away from
the other planets. Webster's favorite illustration was that of the human
body. The whole body is supreme, and the hand and foot are subordinate
members. Calhoun answered that if South Carolina was the hand or the
foot, it had a right to cut itself away and leave the body to go its own
way. For thirty years the discussion raged in Congress between Webster
and Calhoun and Hayne.
Little by little the discussion was transferred from the Senate Chamber
Report of Commission. 25
to the lecture platform and the pulpit. Finally slavery became the subject
of universal discussion at the fireside, in the schoolroom and on the street
car and in the daily press. Agitators went up and down the land inspiring
in the people the love of liberty ; editors began to sow the land with the good
seed of freedom and love of the Union. The North was turned into one
vast debating society. At length the voices became loud and angry.
Growing more bitter, the slavery men murdered Lovejoy in Alton, 111.
Wendell Phill.ps became a voice for liberty in Faneuil Hall ; Beecher sold
the slave girl from Plymouth pulpit. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote her
" Uncle Tom's Cabin." Charles Sumner answered the murderous attack
of Brooks with the argument that liberty was universal and slavery sec-
tional. John Brown dropped a spark in the powder magazine at Harper's
Ferry. Then Beauregard fired on the flag at Fort Sumter. In a moment
the whole North was aflame, and the movement for the Union and Liberty
swept like a prairie fire across the North. In that hour the discussion between
Webster and Calhoun was submitted to the arbitrament of war. At Bull
Run Calhoun's argument was in the ascendancy. At Gettysburg Web-
ster's plea that the Union was one and inseparable seemed the stronger.
At Appomattox the discussion was concluded. 1 hen Grant and Lee,
representmg the North and the South, wrote with a sword dipped in blood
their approval of Webster's argument that the Union was one and insepar-
able, and that " a government conceived in liberty and ded.cated to the
proposition that all men were free and equal, shall never perish from the
earth." In retrospect, therefore, we see that the occasion of the war was
slavery, but the cause of the war was the love of the Union. Slavery
was a cancer that had fixed itself upon the vitals of the South, and God
annointed the soldier to be the surgeon to cut away the deadly disease, that
liberty might recover her youth and beauty.
There are certain critical moments in history that are big with destiny.
Perilous hours come to the individual, the city and nation, when every-
thing hangs upon a single thread. That was a critical moment for Athens
when her sons met the Persians at Marathon. That was a critical moment
for civilization when Charles Martel met the Saracen with his polygamy
and brute force. That was a critical moment for democracy when Well-
ington met the imperialism of Napoleon at Waterloo. That was a critical
moment for the colonies when Washington set forth from Valley Forge.
Big with destiny also was that hour when Lee set the battle in array at
Gettysburg. For two years the South had been uniformly victorious. The
Army of Virginia had won a series of brilliant victories. The South came
to feel that Lee was invincible — the man of destiny — whose star could
not be eclipsed.
26 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
The news that Lee had invaded Pennsylvania sent a thrill of terror across
the land. On Sunday the cit zens of Carlisle and Harrisburg left the
churches to go forth and throw up breastworks; Philadelphia and New
York were overtaken by panic. And then it was that Meade went up
against Lee and h's victorious host. It was an hour of destiny. Abraham
Lincoln, rising from h s knees in Washington, saw an Invisible Figure
enter his battle scene and take charge of the hosts. It was as if the Infinite
God had said to the invading wave, fretted with fire as it rolled north:
" Here stay thy proud waves; thus far and no further! " From that
moment the cause of secession ebbed away like a reced.ng tide. Gettys-
burg broke the spell of Lee over the army of the South. Southern people
began to lose faith in their cause.
Contrariwise, Gettysburg put new strength into the Northern soldier's
arm, encouraged the banker to take the war bonds and fired the hearts of
the farmers and the women and the workingmen, keeping the stuff at home
that they might support the soldier boy at the front. And it is not too
much to say that it was Gettysburg that enabled the North to win the
victory at Appomattox.
But more striking still the influence of Gettysburg upon the attitude of
England toward the North. From the very beginning of the war, the
motherland was on the side of the South and slavery. The leaders of
Parhament, like Gladstone and Salsbury, had invested in Southern bonds.
Both wanted the South to succeed, that they might obtain their interest and
conserve the capital.. The English patrician who believed in aristocratic
government did not want the Republic and democratic institut'ons to suc-
ceed. Lord Macauley had prohesied the speedy smashup of the Republic.
Carlyle scoffed at us, saying that our Declaration of Independence made
the vote of Judas equal to the vote of Jesus. It seems strange that Carlyle
could have said that the Civil War was simply the burning out of a dirty
chimney.
But if the believers in monarchy wanted the Union to go to pieces,
through the successes of the South, the poor people of England wished the
South to succeed for very different reasons. Several millions of people in
England lived on the cotton industry. Great cities like Manchester bought
their raw cotton in the South, manufactured it at home, and sold the cloth
in Asia. The English spinners had reached the point of starvation — - their
bread, crusts; their raiment, rags; their days, want, and their nights, tears.
Naturally, these working people were on the side of liberty, but starvation
fronted them, and the only hope of obtaining cotton and work was in
the victory of the South. When, therefore, the news of Gettysburg reached
Report of Commission. 27
England, Henry Ward Beecher, traveling abroad in search of health, saw
that the psychological moment had come. Taking advantage of Gettys-
burg, he began a nine days' oration, with its introduction at Manchester,
its first argument at Glasgow, its second in Edinburg, its third in Liver-
pool, and its peroration in London. Statesmen and scholars who were
judges of oratory tell us that the world has heard no such eloquence since
the day when young Demosthenes pleaded the cause of the republic against
Philip of Macedon. The London Times reported his opening speech in
full, but published an editorial full of bitterness against the North, full of
sympathy for slavery and secession and the South. Such was the excite-
ment of the English people that the London Times found it necessary to
publish in full Beecher's remaining speeches.
When nine days had passed, the English nation experienced a revulsion
of sentiment. Queen Victoria sent for her Prime Minister. A messenger
was sent to Paris. George W. Smalley, the representative of the London
Times, is responsible for the statement that England and France had
entered into a secret compact to recognize the South the following January,
and that now the decision was reversed. From that hour the North had
no occasion to criticise the attitude of England. Abraham Lincoln asked
Henry Ward Beecher to lift the flag at Fort Sumter, saying that but for
Beecher's speeches in England there might have been no flag to raise. Let
us be just. One consideration remains to be stated. We must remember
that but for Gettysburg there would have been no speeches by Beecher in
England. It was the Army of the Potomac that spoke through Beecher's
voice, and it was the thunder of victory after Pickett's charge that com-
pelled England and France to stop, and to retrace their steps. For in the
hour of struggle and of victory, at high water mark, it was decreed that
France and England would never recognize the South, but would line
themselves up with liberty and the Union.
Wonderful as was the influence of Gettysburg upon the cause of liberty
and the Union, its mfluence upon eloquence and literature has been not
less striking. It is a singular fact that the world's examples of supreme
eloquence are all related to battles. Our country holds only four examples
of supreme eloquence — Patr'ck Henry at Williamsburg, Wendell Phillips
at Faneuil Hall, Henry Ward Beecher in England, and Abraham Lincoln
at Gettysburg. Marathon gave us Pericle's oration, the sedition of Cati-
line gave us the oration of Cicero, the struggle in India gave us Burke's
indictment of Warren Hastings, and the collision between Un'on and
Secession gave us Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg. In ranking the great
men of history, Bismarck once said there are five supreme statesmen in all
time. Strangely enough, it took all the other nations of the world 5,000
28 Annin'ersary of Battle of Gettysburg.
years to produce three of these leaders, while the young repubhc, in 1 00
years, produced the other two — Washington and Lincoln. Great as has
been the influence of the battle of Gettysburg, it may be doubted whether
in the long run the influence of Abraham Lincoln's speech will not prove
an equally effective force upon democracy and liberty, and the destiny of
the human race. The libraries hold no story so sublime and pathetic as the
story of Lincoln. Be the reasons what they may, when the Ruler of Na-
tions wishes to secure a forward movement of society, he has passed by
the King's palace in favor of the poor man's house. When God wished
a father for the bondman. He went to a log cabin in Kentucky. Calling
to His side heaven's favorite angel — the angel of suffering — He laid the
poor man's child in the arms of the angel — and whispering " Oh, sorrow
— thou best loved child of heaven and earth — take thou this child and
rear him for me, and make him great. Plant his path thick with thorns,
cut his little feet with sharp rocks, load his young back with heavy burdens,
pull out of his arms everything that he loves, break the heart a thousand
times, like a box of alabaster ointment, and when he is strong by burden-
bearing, sympathic through suffering to the sigh of any black child —
when every footprint up the Hills of Difficulty has been made crimson with
his blood, bring h'm back to the throne, and with him there shall be eman-
cipated 3,000,000 slaves." That is how the great God made Abraham
Lincoln to be the greatest man in the history of the Republic.
Our students to-day, in American colleges, translate the orations of
Demosthenes against King Philip and of Cicero against Catiline. Five
thousand years from now, in Chinese universities, these students of the
future may translate some oration out of English literature, but the oration
will not be by Burke or Fox — by Gladstone or John Bright. That which
the Chinese student will translate into his mother tongue will be the ora-
tion of Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg. Wonderful in its simplicity, purity
and sunniness of style, it is wonderful also because of the number of mother
ideas of liberty that it contains. Edward Everett's oration, three hours
long, was a bushel of diamonds carefully pol'shed. Abraham Lincoln's
ten-minute speech was a handful of seed corn that has sown the world with
the harvest of liberty. Gettysburg, therefore, broke the power of Secession,
and freed the slaves on the one hand. But the greatest thing about the
battle of Gettysburg is the fact that it made possible the speech of Abraham
Lincoln, that has changed the history of liberty for all time to come.
Let us now make a large place for the indirect influence of Gettysburg
upon the free institutions of other lands. Certainly the time has come
when all the nations of the world are going to school to the young republic.
One hundred years ago, Sidney Smith scoffed at us. asking derisively.
Report of Commission. 29
Who reads an American book? " Now has come a time when England
has a commission of educators studying our free high school system. Think
of John Milton's country going to school in educational democracy to this
young republic. Rome is 2,500 years old, but the Eternal City has
sent its commission to study the liberty of this new land. Now you have
Rome — Eternal Rome — sitting at the feet of the republic, to learn.
But yesterday ours was the only republic, arising like a new star upon
the western horizon. Then France turned her gaze toward the new planet,
and became herself a democracy. Now Switzerland is a republic. Then
Portugal threw off her swaddling clothes, and came out of the tomb. To
all intents and purposes Holland and Denmark are self-governing. Look-
ing toward the Southern Cross, lo — all the governments of South America
are republics. And last February, postponing their action until the birthday
of Abraham Lincoln, 400,000,000 of people in China cabled the capitals
of civilized nations, saying that one-fourth of the human race had given up
autocracy, and gone over to self-government, under the influence of the
republic. The great watchwords for which Abraham Lincoln stood are
Liberty, Equality, Opportunity, Intelligence, and Integrity. Liberty —
that means political democracy, and every youth a patriot toward his
country. Equality — that means no special privileges to elect persons or
classes, but to every youth the right to climb as high as his industry and
ability will permit. Opportunity — all the barriers in the highways that
lead to the schoolhouse, to land, office and honor must be opened to the
washerwoman's child not less than to the banker's son. Integrity — our
institutions are founded upon obedience to law, and the path of law is the
path to Hberty.
Be the reasons what they may, there is that in the industrial, intellectual
and political progress and good fortune of our people that has captured
the imagination of foreign lands. Your foreign despatches assert that the
Emperor William of Germany, in his address made but yesterday to his
people, affimed his belief that within three generations every country in
Europe would have given up autocracy, government by one ; autocracy,
the government by a few; to go over to democrary, the government by the
many; and to elect their own rulers and presidents under the influence of this
republic.
But the success of this republic and the Union was assumed at Gettys-
burg. The defeat of the Union at high-water mark would have been the
greatest disaster that ever overtook the children of men, and the victory at
Gettysburg, safeguarding the Union, made America the educator of all
foreign lands, by making it certain that a government conceived m liberty,
and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created free and equal,
can permanently endure.
^0 Anniversary of Battle of GettysbuRC.
Comrades and veterans of the Army of Virginia and the Army of the
Potomac :
For all thoughtful men the great days in the history of our country are
that first Independence Day, when the bell rang in Independence Hall in
Philadelphia, and that other July day, fifty years ago, when the Infinite
God entered the earthly scene and chose both for the North and for the
South, and commanded the waves of invasion to stay at high-water mark.
But scarcely less significant this day and this hour. For it is to the minute
just fifty years ago by the stroke of the clock since Pickett's charge came
to an end. Out of 1 6,000 men, 300 leaped over the stone wall and fell
upon the bayonets and the pistols of the Union soldiers, waiting to welcome
them to their graves. Busied with many th'ngs, unfortunately, the
95,000,000 of our people do not to-day understand the full significance of
this Reunion. Never before in the world's history have two armies that
stood over against each other like two castles with cannon shotted to the
muzzle, met in friendship, good will, and with a common enthusiasm for
the same flag — when only fifty summers and winters have intervened.
Now has come a time when we are not two sections, but one nation.
Should Northern soldiers die in this hour, until there was not one man left
who struggled here, you Union men could close your eyes in happiness and
peace, knowng for a certainty that every interest dear to this country and
our flag is safe in the hands of the Army of Virginia, and the sons and the
daughters of the Old Confederate soldiers. They, too, hate slavery with
a bitter hatred. They, too, love the Union and the flag with an immeasur-
able love. If every Northern boy plays false in generations to come. South-
ern boys w!ll stand true, for they have found out how slavery devastates
and saps the industrial life of a people, and how liberty and union feed
the vital forces of manhood. Gone, all the barriers that once separated.
The last fire of hatred has died out into cold ashes. Blood has been red
again, going to the roots that feed the blossoms of the tree of liberty. Now
the whole nation !s proud — proud of the men of the gray and the men
of the blue alike. Though you old veterans live a thousand years, you shall
never witness another day like this, nor another scene so significant and so
glorious. To-day the whole nation is turned into a vast vvhispering gallery,
and there is but one voice that speaks — the voice of liberty.
Ninety-five millions of folk are we, but the nation has but one heart —
and that heart !s very proud. This pilgrim host is vast and immeasurable,
but it has only one thought — that the land is one, and that the flag waves
at the head of the Southern and of the Northern columns alike. It was
said of that old hero, that going down into the river of death, he came up
on the other side, and that all the hosts came out with trumpets and banners
Report of Commission. ^i
to meet him, and not until you, scarred veterans, receive your final w^elcome
and make your great entrance into the City Beautiful, will you know a day
like this. In this hour, the pathos of your years is upon the land. Gone,
your youth and your beauty. After four years in the army, multitudes
of you came forth, shot through and through, invalided, broken, forever.
And for fifty years your life has been one long Gethsemane, one black Via
Dolorosa, when every day the Angel of Success offered a cup overflow-
ing with bitterness. Now your long martyrdom is nearly over. Some
of you say that you are old and broken. How can a soldier be old who
has brought liberty — eternally young, eternally beautiful, into being?
How can a veteran be poor who has achieved eternal riches of freedom for
all the people of the earth? How can an old soldier be obscure when he is
lifted up and made glorious in the presence of the assembled millions of his
native land? Already, for a multitude, the signals are hanged out from
the battlements of heaven. Here you shall " fold your tents and silently
steal away." After all the thunder of life's battle you shall encamp in the
Promised Land, and hang out your signals of victory. But, going in, you
shall not be unknown or unwaited for. Will not your companions in arms
stand expectant? Will not the patriots, the heroes and the martyrs, who
struggled at Marathon, who bled at Marston Moor, who fell at Valley
Forge, or struggled unto death at Gettysburg, stand waiting to receive you?
You have earned a right to come in, to be greeted by the great soldiers.
Grant and Lee ; by the orators who pleaded for liberty ; by the statesmen
who struggled for law; by the heroes who died that the Union might live,
and by the Great Emancipator, the martyred President. And when the
last roll call is heard, and the last page of this chapter of liberty is written,
it shall be said, " I saw an old soldier come up out of the Valley and the
Shadow, and all the heroes came forth to meet and greet him, and with
trumpets and banners they brought him home."
This masterly address was frequently interrupted with enthusiastic ap-
plause. At its close General King said that such a discourse called for
something more than a mere perfunctory vote of thanks and suggested that
its appreciation be manifested by a rising vote. The vast audience arose
and made the great tent ring with their resounding cheers.
All then joined in singmg " My Country, 'Tis of Thee."
General King: The blending of the Blue and the Gray is the distinctive
and most beautiful feature of this great occasion. Many years ago at a
Reunion of the Society of the Army of the Potomac in Burlinton, Vt., a
distinguished orator, Luther B. Marsh, epitomized this commingling in an
exquisite illustration which I quote.
32 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
" From the Helvetian Alps there comes a stream, which, in its progress
of a few hundred miles, leaps down four thousand feet during its turbulent
descent beating its water into foam — enters and maintains its current
through the length of the Geneva Lake, and thence emerges a river of
pure and heavenly blue. From an opposite direction down through the
valley of the Chamouni, come the gray waters of another stream. After
overcoming many obstructions, through valley and wood, through rock and
gorge, over cascade and cataract, to maintain an independent career, these
rivers approach each other near the City of Geneva; and, as they come in
sight, lo ! the Rhone and the Arve — the Blue and the Gray — rush to each
other's arms; and ere they completely blend, you may notice now a tinge
of gray and now a gleam of blue, yet soon their confluent floods, ' like
kindred drops are mingled into one ' ; and thenceforth these mountain tor-
rents, with united force, with single will, with undistinguishable character-
istics, and a common destiny, pursue their harmonious course, till they be-
come one with the azure sea, while the everlasting dome gives back its
correspondmg blue."
Here to-day is exemplified the perfection of that blending in the presence
of our Southern Brethren, in Confederate gray, one of whom, my beloved
friend of many years. Major John H. Leathers, of Louisville, Ky., former
Sergeant-Major of the Second Virginia Infantry, " Stonewall " Brigade,
and who was wounded in this battle of Gettysburg, will now address you.
Address by Major John H. Leathers.
Former Sergeant-Major, Second Virginia Infanir}), " Stonewall "
Brigade, C. S. A.
I feel greatly honored at being invited to take part in the exercises of
this notable occason and on this notable day in American history.
Fifty years ago I was here as a mere boy, as you were who participated
in this battle, trying to fill my little place in one of the bloodiest conflicts
of modern times. I am spared, as you are, to be here again to-day after the
lapse of fifty years. All of us now are nearng the end of Hfe's pilgrimage,
with a heart full of gratitude to the Giver of all good for health and length
of days and the manifold blessings that have crowned the lives of both
the " Blue " and the " Gray " who have survived to this time and are
here to-day, not as enemies as fifty years ago, but to clasp hands as
comrades and friends.
Orators and statesmen and historians have eloquently told to the world
the glory and renown both armies achieved on the bloody field of Gettys-
burg, and I shall not attempt to add anything to what has been said and
written.
Report of Commission. 33
Someone has said that seventy years should be called the ideal age of
man; that at that age he realizes that he has about agcomplished his life's
work and the romance and the fallacies of youth have all vanished and he can
review the past philosophically and await the future with confidence and
composure.
All the bitterness of the war has gone with the flight of years. We
stand here to-day glorying in one common flag — the flag of a reunited
country. We are, as a nation, to-day stronger and greater than ever before
— stronger and greater because fifty years ago great issues were settled
that had to be met. We can all of us now, with one heart and with one
voice, appropriate to ourselves the immortal words uttered here on this
spot fifty years ago, that " this is a government of the people, by the people
and for the people," and that we, the survivors, both the Blue and Gray,
and our children and children's children will see to it that our country
shall grow greater and stronger as time goes on.
We cannot forget the memories of the past — nobody asks us to do that,
or the cause for which we fought and bled and so many of our com-
rades died. These memor'es are part of our lives, but it does not take
away from us the love of our common country or the glory and the valor
of American manhood, no matter on which side it was displayed. We men
of the South did the very best we knew how, and after the lapse of half
a century we have no rep nines or regrets at what the call of duty, as we
believed it to be, bade us dare and do.
Half a century changes the point of view. In 1861 we could not look
forward, but in 1913 we can look backward. Nobody now need discuss
the past. The men of the Confederacy have their faces turned toward the
future. One man in every three who shouldered his gun and went to
battle for the independence of the South died within four years. It was a
dreadful tribute that was demanded from our people in the great war, and
we paid it without a murmur, because we felt that we were battling for a
great principle. We believed we were right. That was cause enough to
call for the best that freemen could give. We give all we had.
There need be no uneasiness as to the future. The sons of the North
and the sons of the South hereafter will stand together protecting whenever
and wherever necessary the flag of our country and our glorious insti-
tutions.
General King: The next topic rem'nds me of a story of General George
H. Sharpe when provost marshal in the Army of the Potomac. It was the
spring of 1 865 when the two armies confronted each other across the
Rapidan. As the campaign was near at hand, it was his duty to discover
2
34 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
what reinforcements had reached Lee's army. So he selected a bright look-
ing Rhode Island private and after coaching him sent him to the picket line.
This was the colloquy which ensued:
" Hello Johnnie, good morning; what regiment do you belong to? "
" I belong to the 24th South Carolina; what regiment is yours?
" I belong to the 137th Rhode Island," was the Yank's reply.
" You are a liar," yelled the Johnnie, " There ain't a hundred
and thirty-seven men in the State!
Many of our brilliant officers, at the close of the war, liked the South so
well that they migrated South, among them the Captain of the First New
York Independent Battery, which did such magnificent work near the Bloody
Angle in repelling Pickett's immortal charge. No citizen of Kentucky is
more respected, and he is beloved by every member of the Society of the
Army of the Potomac, of which he is the honored president. Colonel
Andrew Cowan, of Louisville.
Address of Colonel Andrew Cowan.
Former Captain of the First Nerv York Batter}) at Gett})sburg, and Com-
mander of the Ar tiller}) Brigade of the Sixth Corps.
[The laying of a cornerstone of a peace monument by President Wilson
on July 4th had been a part of the plans of the Pennsylvania Commission
for the celebration. The arrangements made for the final meeting on July 4th
were necessarily canceled, and none of the many speakers of the three big
meetings had mentioned the proposed peace monument.]
Colonel Cowan, before beginning to make his address oh the Army of
the Potomac, spoke as follows:
About the Peace Monument.
Comrades: It is hard to control my emotions when I recall the battlefield
fifty years ago, almost at this moment. Pickett's brave men were in full
retreat and we were holding the ground in the Angle and beyond to the
Emmetsburg road, thickly strewn with their dead and wounded and our
own; we have listened to Major John H. Leathers, of the Stonewall
Brigade (who fought and bled on this battlefield), while eloquently speak-
ing to us of his proud memories of the war; his undying love for the South-
ern flag which led him in the battle; his warm expressions of love for our
united country, and devoted loyalty to the Stars and Stripes. He has been
my friend at our home city, Louisville, for many years. What he said
here endears him to us all, and we proudly call him Comrade. Each day,
Report of Commission. 35
since I came here last week, my spirit has risen until I feel that should I
remain here another week it might soar away to the Eternal Camping
Ground.
Over there on the Cemetery Ridge an equestrian statue of General
George G. Meade, the great commander of the Army of the Potomac,
stands facing Seminary Ridge. Does he look for Hill's 1 0,000 brave
men and Pickett's 5,000 gallant Virginians to return? Or does he look
for the peerless leader of the Southern Army, General Robert E. Lee? A
splendid granite pedestal erected by Virginia is now ready for the bronze
statute of Lee, mounted on his famous war horse. Traveler. Then the
forms of the two great military commanders will stand fronting each other,
while time endures. Behind us, a little way, at the clump of trees, is a
monument which marks the " hightide " of war on this field. This grand
celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the battle marks a high-tide of
peace between the North and the South, which shall never recede while
Americans love liberty and the Union.
The cornerstone of a monument to cost $1,000,000 will be laid to-
morrow, July 4th, on Put-in-Bay, in commemoration of the centennial of
Perry's victory over the British fleet on Lake Erie, September 10, 1813.
Such monuments possess an educat'onal value too great to be measured by
their cost. Teach the youth of America to believe that patriotism is dearer
than life, and there need be no fears for the future safety of our country.
Comrades, should not a Peace Monument be erected on this battlefield
of Gettysburg, in commemoration of this wonderful reunion of more than
50,000 soldiers in blue and gray who fought bravely here and on so many
other battlefields of the Civil War, for the principles in which both sincerely
believed? The survivors of that terrible war, through which it was forever
established that this nation, under God, should not perish, returned to the
paths of peace, and wherever they went they strove to heal the nation's
wounds and make the waste places fruitful again. They and their sons
and daughters have made this the richest and freest land on earth ; and
through them, without regard to sectional lines, the spirit of peace and
good will between us has been growing sweeter and stronger. Shall we
not highly resolve to do all ?n our power to influence Congress and the
States to erect a Peace Monument which shall be grander than any now
here, or which may be erected hereafter on this great battlefield.
Comrades : When I was under twenty-two, and most of you were
younger, fifty years ago, these peaceful fields where our tents are pitched
were swept by shot and shell. More than two years had passed since the
first hostile shot was fired across the sparkling waters of Charleston Bay.
The war had begun. Someone had said that his white cambric handker-
36 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
chief would wipe up every drop of blood that would be shed. Fort Sumter
surrendered after a gallant defense by Major Anderson and his United
States regulars. Our flag had fallen.
I remember how the news came to a little college town in northern
New York. There was no shouting then, but a solemn stillness that could
be felt was upon us. Two impetuous boys caught the early mornmg stage
and enlisted as soon as they reached their homes. A whole company
followed when the call for three-year volunteers was made. Of the two
boys, one fell mortally wounded at Glendale on the Peninsula and died
a few days later in Libby Prison. He was a handsome lad, brave and
sweet, and his name was Deming — Captain Deming. The other boy was
on the same battlefield that night, almost within hail, commanding the
First New \ ork Battery. If there happens to be one here who served at
Glendale on the Peninsula and on this great battlefield with the Sixty-first
New York Regiment, and its noble company of Hamilton boys — Brodie
was their captain — 1 should like to clasp his hand after the meeting
adjourns.
I am to speak of the Army of the Potomac, with which I served from
early December, 1861, until the end of the war in 1865 (with the Sixth
Corps after it was formed). How often that army has been the theme
for writers and speakers of all sorts. Who will come after us to separate
the wheat from the chaff, give credit only where honor was due and sift
the truth from romance and exaggeration? 1 shall attempt to pass the
career of the army in review before you, like a swiftly-moving panorama
as one views it from the window of a Pullman car at rest. They are
fresh pictures drawn mainly from memory. Those who served with me and
observed as keenly would recognize the truth.
The formation of the Army of the Potomac, following the first Bull Run,
began with the arrival of the first three years' regiments in the early fall of
1861. Its camps, across the Potomac from the Capitol, stretched far up
and down the river. General George B. McClellan was the commander
of the army. It was customary, indeed, to speak of the army as
*' McClellan's army," for he organized and trained it. "All quiet on the
Potomac " became a daily message, and " Why don't the army move?
came the response from home. The army moved, in the early spring of
1862, by river and bay to Fortress Monroe, where the little "Monitor"
swung at anchor in the Roads; the huge " Manassas," hidden behind
Sewall's Point beyond, and the wrecks of her victims, the wooden ships
" Congress " and " Cumberland," lay sunken close to the shore above
Newport News.
The campaign on the Peninsula had begun. '* On to Richmond! "
Report of Commission. 37
urged us forward. General Magruder, behind breastworks and forts at
Yorktown, with about 20,000 men, halted our advance. Yorktown must
be taken by siege. Big siege guns were brought up ; engineers talked of
parallels and approaches, and we burrowed and shoveled and built them,
line after line, until all was ready at last for a grand assault. Magruder
evacuated Yorktown that night, leaving us the empty bag.
The First Vermont brigade of Smith's division had charged across the
Warwick River, days before, at Lee's Mills, driving the enemy from the
front line of breastworks, and holding them until General Smith was
ordered not to bring on a battle. The gallant Green Mountain Boys
returned under a murderous fire. If they had been allowed to push
forward, half a mile, the skeleton weakness of Magruder's army would
have been exposed that day. We knew it, when we crossed at the same
place to follow Magruder. Caution, in warfare, has often proved to be
a poor captain.
The battle of Williamsburg began with a costly front attack on Fort
Magruder by Hooker; reconnaissance in force the second day exposed the
enemy's unprotected left flank. Early's attempt to cut off Hancock's
brigade and two New York batteries, of Smith's division. Sixth Corps,
was easily repulsed. The road was agam clear at daylight and we
advanced up the Peninsula, until the church spires of Richmond could
be seen from trees on Hooker's front.
The Chickahommy River, a harmless-lookmg stream, divided our army
in the middle. Soon the rain began to fall in floods and the little river
suddenly overflowed its banks a mile, covering all the bottom land and
sweeping away the weak bridges. Then General Johnson attacked
McClellan. The battle of " Fair Oaks," or *' Seven Pines," was
desperately fought, with odds heavily against the divided Army of the
Potomac, but we held our ground and the victory was ours. The Army
of the Potomac had shown that it could fight.
But we lay down behind breastworks instead of pushing "on to
Richmond " while there was time. We lay there, in poisonous swamps,
waiting for rcnforcements, while thousands sickened and scores died from
fever and other camp diseases, caused by unwholesome water and unsani-
tary conditions. Meanwhile General Johnston, the commander of the
Army of Northern Virginia, who had been wounded, was succeeded by
General Robert E. Lee, the peerless gentleman and accomplished soldier,
destined to command the great Southern army to the end.
General Lee assumed the offensive late in June and attacked McClellan's
right wing, on the left of the Chickahominy, first calling Stonewall Jackson
back from the Shenandoah to pounce on Porter's right flank, while Hill's
38 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
corps assaulted in front. Our left wing across the Chickahominy remained
inert, instead of boldly advancing " on to Richmond," only sending small
reinforcements across a bridge, at the right of Smith's division, to Porter's
relief. Porter's Fifth Corps was beaten, after hard fighting, and withdrew
at night to the south bank of the river.
The retreat to the James River, or a " change of base," as we called it,
had commenced. We fought at Savage Station and White Oak Swamp,
and at Glendale, or Charles City Crossroads, for Lee's army pressed after
us. We fought every day and ran all night. Our last stand was made
at Malvern Hill. There, with the Army of the Potomac on the defensive
and the Army of Northern Virginia recklessly aggressive, was fought the
fiercest battle on the Peninsula. I saw a thrill-ng part of it, for no place
could be found there for the First New York Battery, which had arrived
at Sunrise from Charles City Crossroads, so we stood waiting for orders
in front of the Malvern house.
The Southern army, bleeding at every vein, fought to the Hm!t of courage
and endurance, until brave men could do no more. We won a great
victory that day and held the field in triumph ; but the retreat was resumed,
in black darknes:. and through floods of rain, with loud thunder and fierce
lightning.
The scene that greeted us at Harrison's Landmg, when we reached
there in the gloomy dawn, sick at heart and very weary, could hardly be
described. The broad plain was an ocean of mud, churned deep by
thousands of wagons which had preceded us. We plodded across to the
soaked fields and waited for the usual daily appearance of the enemy, but
they did not appear. Lee's army had gone beyond the limit of human
endurance at Malvern Hill. Even Stonewall Jackson slept. The Army
of the Potomac was nearly demoralized, but it had found itself. Pres.dent
Lincoln paid us a visit and was received with great enthusiasm when he
reviewed the army. General McClellan's plan to transfer his army across
the James and attack Richmond from the South was not approved.
Presently General Pope, with his " headquarters m the saddle," flashed
forth with an army from the defenses of Washington to capture Richmond
and destroy Lee's army, which the Army of the Potomac had failed to
accomplish. General Lee withdrew his army from McClellan's front to
invade Maryland and had soon driven Pope's army to Manassas.
The Army of the Potomac marched down to Fortress Monroe and
embarked for Acquia Creek and Alexandria to re:cue Pope and protect
Washington. Some of us thought that our movements were strangely slow,
but the water transportation was much mixed and wholly inadequate. The
Sixth Corps arrived at Centerville, via Alexandria, only in time to check
Report of Commission. ^0
a second Bull Run stampede, which had begun at sunset. Pope's campaign
ended ingloriously.
General McClellan, who had been partially restored to favor, marched
his army through Washington to meet Lee's army in Maryland. The
Sixth Corps marched down Pennsylvania Avenue late that night and we
sang and cheered when passing General McClellan's headquarters. The
old refrain rang out again:
" McClellan is the man.
Wherever he leads.
We'll show by our deeds
McClellan is the man."
Lee's advance corps was driven from the South Mountain passes and
retired behind Antietam Creek to wait for the balance of the army, which
had captured Harper's Ferry, with its garrison and stores, and was hurrying
to rejoin Lee at Antietam. Every hour's speedy march of McClellan's
army meant victory for us. But the Army of the Potomac was moved so
cautiously that the great opportunity to win a decisive victory was lost.
The battle of Antietam was an indecisive battle, fought by only a part
of the Army of the Potomac, fatally slow to begin at the left, though
grandly fought at the center. The Army of Northern Virginia, greatly
inferior in numbers, withdrew across the Potomac, after a two days' battle,
claiming a victory. I believe that history will record that the battle of
Antietam was one of the greatest ever fought by the Army of Northern
Virginia.
The sunny and crisp days of September and October passed before the
Army of the Potomac crossed over into Virginia to resume active opera-
tions. Priceless weeks of settled weather with fine roads had been lost.
General McClellan was removed in November and Burnside succeeded
to the command. McClellan took leave of the Army with a review of
each corps in turn. The Sixth Corps was reviewed near Acquia Creek.
McClellan was still the idol of the Army, and the enthusiasm which greeted
him as he rode along the lines, in company with Burnside, was thrilling.
General Burnside had a rough road to travel. Unaccountable delay in
bringing up the pontoons prevented him from crossing the army to the south
side of the Rappahannock.
Meantime, Lee's Army had occupied the heights across the river behind
the town of Fredericksburg and far below it along the river. At last, in
December, Burns'de was able to put the army over, and promptly assailed
Lee's already impregnable position. Assault after assault upon Marye's
Heights and a sunken road below a strong stone wall, defended by Barks-
40 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
dale's Mississipians, was repulsed wth great slaughter. The courage of
our men. fighting in the open and dashing themselves again and again
against that wall, was glorious, but it was madness. The attacks made
by the left grand divsion below the town were feeble and ineffective.
The Army of the Potomac was badly beaten, but retreated across the
Rappahannock unopposed. Burnside next planned a winter movement —
to cross the Rappahannock several miles above Fredericksburg and fall
suddenly upon Lees left flank. It was well conceived and started
auspiciously, but the fine weather on which we relied suddenly changed;
the bottom fell out of the roads and the army stuck in the mud before any
considerable force had reached Banks Ford. Burnside beheved that h*s
generals had betrayed him at Fredericksburg; but the "mud march "
disaster was due to weather conditions, which quickly made the Virginia
roads impassable. The wnter passed in reorganization and recruiting the
strength of the army. Burnside's request to be relieved had been granted,
and General Joe Hooker succeeded to the command.
The Chancellorsville campaign opened early in May, as soon as the
weather and roads would permit. For a brief time our hopes of victory
soared skyward. Hooker's published order led us to think that the
enemy must fight us on " our chosen ground or ignoni'niously flee." But
we were sorely defeated, with heavy lojses. The army recrossed the river,
in floods of rain, and marched back through rivers of mud to the old camps
opposite Fredericksburg.
Within a month the proud and victorious army of Northern Virgmia
abandoned Fredericksburg and moved into Maryland and Pennsylvania.
The army of the Potomac followed. Meade succeeded Hooker, who had
asked to be relieved of the command. Here, at Gettysburg, the two
armies met and the great battle of Gettysburg was fought. Our army
acted mainly on the defensive, but the Army of Northern Virg'nia fought
a fiercely offensive battle from start to finish. At the close of the third
day they began retreating to Virginia, defeated but de.'iant still. Gettys-
burg was the first decisive victory won by the Army of the Potomac, which
never again met with a decisive defeat, although we came perilously near
it the evening of the second day's battle in the Wilderness. The Army
of Northern Virgin'a was commanded from bottom to top by the best
manhood of the South; and at the head was General Robert E. Lee, the
South's greatest captain. " The road to Appomattox was to be a long
and bloody one."
We had loved McClellan, we had liked Burnside, and we had admired
Hooker. Almost on the eve of this great battle of Gettysburg we were
given a new commander, an officer almost unknown beyond the Fifth Corps.
Report of Commission. 41
General Meade won our respect, and was the commander of the Army
of the Potomac to the end. General Grant was made commander of all
the armies, and wisely chose to make his headquarters wth the Army of
the Potomac, " far from the madding crowd " at Washmgton. We
received him coldly at first.
The campaign of 1864 was planned by Grant and began May 3rd.
The armies of the East and the West were thenceforth to act together for
a definite and common purpose. We were soon put across the Rapidan
and headed for Spottsylvania ; but Lee attacked our flank in the heart of
the Wilderness, a dense forest growmg out of tangled thickets, a sinister
and gloomy battlefield, and we were compelled to halt and fight. Two
days of terrific fighting followed. The Army of Northern Virginia had
never before fought with such desperation. Longstreet's corps in the fore-
noon of the second day (Longstreet was a great soldier) was sweeping
down the Brock Road withh cyclone speed and fury, smashing in our left
flank and break'ng fine after hne, until he fell from his horse, seriously
wounded by the mistaken fire of some of his own men; just as Stonewall
Jackson was mortally wounded at Chancellorsville. His victorious legions
were halted then, giving Hancock time to rally his disordered forces and
form a new line wh!ch could not be carried. Our left and center were
then safe.
General Sedgwick, who held the right with the first and third divisions
of the Sixth Corps, was fiercely attacked about dusk by Early's division
of Ewell's corps. General John B. Gordon's brigade crept behind our
flank in the thickets, captured two of our generals, Seymour and Shaler,
and fairly rolled us up until General Sedgwick rallied his men and quieted
the threatened panic. Sedgwick was able to check Early's attack, which
had taken us by surprise, but he had to establ'sh a new front during the
night. So, on both the left and right, in the Wilderness, May 6th, we came
perilously near to a decisive defeat.
The Sixth Corps began to leave its breastworks the following night,
after a whole day's rest, disturbed only by slight skirmishes. We thought
that the army was going back across the Rapidan, and we marched with
drooping spirits, until we came to the road, and were turned to the left,
away from the Rapidan. I had never heard such cheer-ng by our men.
The roar was taken up and carried back along the marching column, and
from the forest and thickets on our right flank came the shrill yells of the
Confederates, who didn't know why we were happy.
General Grant had won our confidence, and from that hour he never
lost it during the war, nor afterward. We were marching that night on
the road to Spottsylvania, where our beloved Corps commander. General
42 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
John Sedgwick, was killed May 9th, only two days later. I saw his body
passing in an ambulance behind the First New York Battery, which was
in position close to the place where he was killed by a sharpshooter. That
was a sad day for the Sixth Corps. There were several assaults on the
enemy's breastworks the following day, but none gained more than a
temporary advantage. Rain began to fall about 6 p. m. on the I 1 th and
it was a wild night. Hancock's great corps charged, in the wet, foggy
dawn of the 1 2th, capturing the enemy's breastworks, with most of General
Edward Johnson's division and about eighteen guns. Two guns of the
First New York Battery, serving that day with Hancock, as it had served
at Gettysburg, July 3rd, were then placed at the Landrum house. General
Hancock's headquarters, and the two were concealed in a ravine behind
the hill.
Lee struck back at Hancock about 9 a. m., and regained a bold salient
in the line, with strong breastworks, which we had not time to overturn.
Our infantry fell back before the furious rush, but rallied within a hundred
yards, and held fast there on the open field below the breastworks. Their
rapid fire poured over the Confederate trenches constantly until after dark.
Supplies of ammunition were repeatedly carried to the infantry on
stretchers. A battery, which had many of its horses killed at the first
deadly volleys from the enemy, hastily withdrew. Then the two guns of
the First New York Battery galloped from the ravine behind the Landrum
house and took position on a ridge a hundred yards behind the infantry.
Those two guns fired over the heads of our infantry all day, and into the
night while the rain never ceased. A battery of brass Coehorn mortars
was placed later in the day a hundred yards behind the two guns and
fired over them to drop shells in the salient. The Confederates slipped
away about midnight. Next morning, in the raw dawn, I stood on top
of the salient and looked down into its trenches. I was wet and very
weary myself, but those men in ragged gray clothes had stood in that
trench, amid dead and dying comrades, for half a day, half way up to
their knees in water that became dark with blood.
I saw an oak tree, nearly two feet in diameter, prostrate on the ground,
a few yards behind the breastworks. It had been cut down by bullets
alone which had streamed over the salient for hours, from the rifles of our
infantry. The army again advanced, " sideways," from Spottsylvania to
Cold Harbor, with engagements every day. Cold Harbor had been a
part of McClellan's battlefield in June, 1 862.
Now the Army of the Potomac was to fight another and deadlier battle
on the same ground. From the breastworks of the First New York
Battery, a stone could be thrown into the mouths of the enemy's guns, so
Report of Commission. 43
close were the two lines at that place. Heavy assaults were made at
several points; one assault after another was made against breastworks,
where the enemy caught our line with a murderous fire on both flanks and
front, far short of its goal, and we were repulsed with great slaughter.
The losses sustained at Cold Harbor were terrible. A retrogade move-
ment of the army from Cold Harbor and over to the south side of the
James River, to the vicinity of Petersburg, accomplished another " change
of base." Part of Lee's army had already occupied Petersburg before
our advance could take the town. We got an outer line of redoubts,
which were found deserted. The siege of Petersburg began.
General Lee soon detached Early's division with orders to clear the
Shenandoah Valley again; give Washington a bad scare at least, and
compel Grant to detach a larger force from his front to oppose Early, who
swept everything before him until General Lew Wallace, with a force
of odds and ends, and two brigades of Rickett's division of the Sixth
Corps from Grant, checked and held him fast for two days at Monocacy
in Maryland. Early then marched on, unopposed, to the outskirts of
Washington, which, apparently, was at his mercy. But the second division
of the Sixth Corps and the First New York Battery arrived in Washington
from City Point in the nick of time to blast Early's hopes. After a short
engagement in front of Fort Stevens that evening, Early retreated, followed
closely to the Shenandoah by the Sixth Corps, with several batteries from
its artillery brigade.
It became necessary for Grant to form the Army of the Shenandoah,
from the Sixth, Eighth and Nineteenth Corps, and two divisions of
cavalry to protect Washington and destroy Early. General Sheridan was
sent from City Pomt to command the new army. The battles of Wm-
chester, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek followed and practically finished
Early's career. The Sixth Corps, without its batteries, which were
detamed at Washington until navigation opened down the Potomac,
returned to City Point. A wmter of intense cold passed slowly.
The final campaign of the Army of the Potomac began late in March,
and after a severe battle at Five Forks, a successful assault was made
April 2nd along the entire Petersburg line of fortifications. Petersburg
was taken. Richmond was evacuated and occupied by our forces under
Weitzel. The Army of Northern Virginia was retreating to the south,
followed closely by the Army of the Potomac. The sanguinary batti**
of Sailor's Creek was fought April 6th. Ewell's corps surrendered on
the battlefield to the Sixth Corps, commanded by General H. G. Wright
since Sedgwick's death.
Three days later General Lee surrendered h'-s army to Grant, when
44 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
there was no longer any hope of escape and further shedding of blood
was useless. Rations were promptly issued to the starving Confederates.
Our esteemed comrade, General Horatio C. King, had a part of that
rehef work, which was generously performed. The " Yankees " emptied
their haversacks for the "Johnny Rebs." A feeling of sympathy and of
admiration for the brave and dauntless men in gray, who had fought us
for four years and beaten us so often, was manifested in a hundred ways.
Grant's terms allowed the men to keep their horse: and the officers their
horses and side arms. Each Confederate command was marched to a
designated place, stacked their arms and banners and received their parole.
The war for them and for us was over.
One incident of the surrender I may be allowed t'me to describe:
General Joshua L. Chamberlain, commanding the Fir;t Brigade, First
Division, Fifth Corps, was directed to receive the surrender of the guns and
flags. Hie troops were standmg at the roadside when General Gordon's
command approached, marching to stack their arms and banners. General
Gordon, a prince of soldierly courage, rode at its head. Chamberlain,
from the old Pine Tree State, where brave men are born and bred, with
adm'ration for Gordon and his ragged men in gray, gave the orders:
"Attention! Carry A.rms! Present Arms! " The gray column halted.
Gordon swept his horse in front of Chamberlain and called to his command:
Front into line! Attention! Present Arms! " The Southern flags
returned the salute of Old Glory. You may long search the records of
chivalrous deeds in warfare to find a match for Chamberlain's and Gordon's
at Appomattox.
Old comrades and fr'ends of the blue and gray: Fifty years after the
great battle of Gettysburg, there is peace and good will between us. We
are united in love for our country, " the land of the free and the home of
the brave; " we are devoted to our country's flag, which soni of the South
and of the North followed unitedly and bravely in the War with Spain.
We are afloat on the stream of time, which runs to the land of peace
and rest.
Row, Brothers, Row!
Fa'ntly as tolls the evening chime.
Our voices keep tune and our oars keep time.
Row, brothers, row !
"Row brothers, row; the stream runs fast;
The rapids are near and the daylight's past.
Row, comrades, row! "
Report of Commission. 45
General King: The Eighth Virginia Regiment, Confederates, had the
unique distinction of having three brothers as its field officers. One of
them is with us on this platform and is within a few months of the
ninetieth anniversary of his birth. We have been warm friends for a decade
and it is with affectionate interest and enjoyment that I now present to you
the surviving brother, a soldier on this field, Colonel Edmund Berkeley,
who will recite an original poem.
Colonel Berkeley, clad in Confederate gray, and as erect as he was
fifty years ago, advanced to the front and with clear ringing voice, that
reached beyond the great audience, rec.ted this poem:
Oh Lord of love bless Thou to-day
This meeting of the blue and gray;
Look down from heaven upon these ones.
Their country's tried and faithful sons;
As brothers side by side they stand.
Owning one country and one land.
Here, half a century ago.
Our brothers' blood with ours did flow;
No scanty stream, no stunted tide.
These fields it stained from side to side;
And now to us is proved most plain
No single drop was shed in vain.
But did its dest'ned purpose fill
In carrying out our Master's will.
Who did decree that war should cease
And this his chosen land have peace
And to achieve this glorious end
We should four years in conflict spend.
Which done, the world would pla'nly sec
Both sides had won a victory;
And then this reunited land
In the first place should ever stand
Of all the nations far and near.
On east or western hemisphere.
Brothers, to-day in love we've met.
Let us all bitterness forget.
And with true love and friendship clasp
Each worthy hand in fervent grasp.
And in remembrance of this day
Let one and all devoutly pray,
46 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
That when our earthly course is run
And we our final victory won.
Together we'll pass to that blessed shore
That ne'er had heard the cannon's roar.
And where our angel comrades stand
To welcome us to heaven's bright strand.
Music — Citizen's Band.
General King : The lateness of the hour limits me to the mere presenta-
tion of another gallant Union soldier. Captain Albert M. Mills, of Little
Falls. N. Y.. formerly of the Eighth New York Cavalry, of Buford's
Division.
ADDRESS OF CAPTAIN ALBERT M. MILLS,
Eighth Nerv York Cavalry, Buford's DivisioTX.
Comrades and Fellow Soldiers: It is not worth while to add anything
to what has been said. Indeed words are superfluous now. The solemn
utterance made by you here fifty years ago is still heard in every corner
of the world.
We are exceedingly fortunate all of us. both the Blue and the Gray,
to be permitted to be here at this time, tenting on the old camp ground.
This is not the first time we have come to this place, but it is our first visit
to Gettysburg. We came here fifty years ago. We did not heed the place
to which we came or heed the name it bore. Now the whole civilized
world knows that fifty thousand veteran soldiers are mak'ng their devout
pilgrimage to the immortal spot. Gettysburg.
Fifty years ago we came here under different conditions than those
which now prevail. Then we were stern soldiers in arms seeking only a
conflict with the enemy. Now we are only peaceful p'lgrims to one of
the most sacred shrines in our sanctified land. And vastly a more essential
difference attends our footsteps here at this time. Now we are not expecting
a foe. we can discover no enemy.
Comrades on both sides: The joy of this day does not imply a forget-
fulness of the fearful battles of carnage and blood through which we passed.
The sectional conflict in which we were engaged was at the time bitter,
fierce and fearful. There was on both sides much of prejudice, intolerance
and animosity, but there was also on both sides the Army of the Potomac
victorious. It seems as though almost the only thing that remained to be
done, to establish the Confederacy as one of the nations of the earth and
sever the LInion of the States, was the recognition of the Confederate
Government by Great Britain. The English Government was doubtless
Report of Commission. 47
anxious, for reasons of commerce and on other grounds, to recognize the
Confederate States. The sympathies of the British Government were
against us in the war at that time. It was before Mr. Beecher performed
the glorious service of turning the popular mind of the English people
toward the Union side in the war. There were some exceptions in the
House of Lords, but the ministers of England, including Mr. Gladstone,
were in sympathy with the effort to dissolve our Union. We had two
friends in England, John Bright in the Commons and Queen Victoria on
the throne.
Mr. Bright's friendship was prompted by his great love for the human
race and his ardent desire that all men should be free. The Queen
was moved by the tender sentiments of her mother love. She remembered
the loyal reception and kind treatment that were given by the United States
to her son, the Prince of Wales, in 1 860. Victoria took pains to see that
in the diplomatic correspondence between England and our government
there should be no offensive utterances which would provoke an open
breach. A gentleman who was, after the war, a minister to the Court
of St. James told me that he saw in the archives of the British government
a draft of a d'spatch to our government which had been prepared by the
English ministers concerning the Trent affair, which was so offensive in its
tone as to have necessarily provoked war. The Queen with her own hand
had erased the irritating expressions and left the matter susceptible of
peaceful settlement.
I remember vividly, too, how the anxieties increased and passed almost
to consternation during the first day's fight when the Confederate troops
gradually pressed us back, gaining every successive foothold, and drove
the Union Army almost in disorder through the town of Gettysburg. At
night fall, when the fighting had ceased and the Confederates held the
ground of the day, there were many anxious hearts on our side in great
fear lest the battle would be lost. The second day was the decisive one.
It was the most critical day of the three. When at the dark of that day
Confederate forces were repulsed, new courage arose on our side, for we
felt sure that the decisive event of the war would be with our flag. On the
third day there was bloody fighting, but it accomplished nothing. It was
simply a waste of human life.
There were two years of campaigning and fighting after that, but the
great battle of Gettysburg, followed by the capture of Vicksburg, turned
the tide of the war, which flowed from that time on to the ultimate
negotiation of peace and the re-establishment of the Union. That happened
two years later, in 1865. As we contemplate all this history and con-
gratulate ourselves upon the fact that of it all we were a part, it is no
48 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
wonder that we meet to live over again those days and commemorate the
deeds of that time. It seems to me, however, comrades and fellow soldiers,
that the greatest cred't of it all came at the end when the fighting in the
field was over. At that time there came the greatest glory to the Army
of the Potomac and the same glory came to he Army of Northern
Virginia. When all the suffering had been endured, when all the martial
glory had been won, these two armies which had been for four years
learning the science of war, constituted two of the greatest instruments of
destruction the human race ever knew. They could have turned on the
Republic of America and no power on earth could have prevented them
from usurping the government and all that it meant. The Army of the
Potomac was equipped with the most approved style of arms. It was
organized and accustomed to obey implicitly the orders of its commanders.
Might there not be a repetition of so many instances in history when the com-
mander of the army should proclaim himself dictator and the soldier follows
him to the establi.-hment of a despotism. No such thing occurred. No
thought of it ever arose. No leader dared to proclaim himself for any
such purpose, and if he had the loyal guns of the soldiers would have been
immediately turned against him. On the contrary, we behold the inspiring
spectacle, silently as the mist fades before the rising sun, that vast army
of almost two hundred thousand armed men melted away and is lost in
the community of peaceful law abiding citizens. The same is true of the
Army of Northern Virginia. Had that army been composed of Mexicans,
or of some Latin races, the chances are that it would have broken up
into bands of guerillas, to make war in scattered sections upon organized
society, but they were not Mexicans, they were chevalliers and covenanters,
and when at Appomattox Grant said, " Let us have peace," these grim
trained veterans of war, oppressed somewhat by the disappointment they
must have felt, went quietly to their homes and resumed the ways of peace,
and the Republic of America lived. Thus the Army of the Potomac and
the Army of Northern Virginia in the space of a single day passed from
the destroying avocation of war to the productive pursuit of peace. As
soon as peace was proclaimed, peace in fact prevailed, and then there
were exhibited what seems to me to be the most sublime spectacle of all
that period. It was demonstrated and proclaimed to the world every where
that we of the North and you of the South were in fact one homogeneous
people; the true custodians of the most orderly, self-restrained law abiding
libert\', with which mankind was ever blessed.
My friends, I have been asked to say a word about the State of New
York in this great battle, but it is not necessary to say it, because its part
is amply revealed on the pages of history, and you yourselves were part of
it. \ ou know that the State of New ^ ork contributed to this battle about
Report of Commission. 49
one-third of all the forces engaged on the Union side. No word, I say,
can ever be construed as disparaging any other State, or any other portion
of our army. We recognize that the State of New York sustained a little
more than one-third of the whole loss, and there is to that an added glory
which attaches to the record of our State and its part in this battle. I
refer to the deeds of General Daniel E. Sickles, and General Henry W.
Slocum. It is not too much to say that those two valiant sons of New
York on the critical second day of this battle saved both flanks of the Union
Army. General Sickles, with great military skill and remarkable fore-
sight, placed the forces on the left and directed their movements so as to
foil the plan of General Lee to turn our left flank, the plan by which he
expected to win this battle. And General Slocum by his skill in disposing
forces and his persistent courage and ability held and saved the position of
Gulp's Hill, which was at one time almost lost. If lost it would have
meant the complete rout of our forces. It was my good fortune to have
known General Slocum well, and to know him was a benediction. He was
one of the most amiable and agreeable gentlemen I have ever met. In war
he was a whirlwind, but in peace he was as gentle as a woman. More
could be said about the State of New York in this struggle, but it is not
necessary at this time. These few suggestions which I have made are
enough to recall some port-on of the history of our State in this conflict,
and to revive your recollections upon that subject.
It is not my intention to make a speech on this occasion. I am not
going to say more about the battle of Gettysburg, but I want to draw your
attention to one thing, that is, that in the face of this glory which was
won here, in view of the fact that from this dec'sive battle there flowed
those remarkable blessings which have been so ably portrayed by Dr.
Hillis, there comes home to us, or ought to co.me to each one of us, the
fact that our duties as a loyal army, and secondly as individual citizens
of this great Republic, are yet to be performed. In these declining years
of our lives, some may say that we have done enough. Some say that
the Repubhc owes to the soldiers a lasting debt, but this my friends is a
false view. No matter what any citizen has done, the Republic and the
government owe him nothing. Some generations of our people are called
upon to render more patriotic services than others, but what ever servce the
occasion demands it is our duty to render it, and until we lie down for
the last time and pass over to the great majority, our patriotic duty is not
and will not be done. To preserve these great blessings we and those who
come after us are called upon to render services to the government and
the institutions under which we live, which are in some ways more difficult
than were the services rendered on the battlefield. There have arisen
50 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
economic questions and social conditions in this land which call for the
greatest wisdom, the most patriotic zeal and fidelity to the organization of
the government and the foundations upon which its institutions rest. The
time has come when it is necessary that the people should revive a keen
sense of justice in public affairs, of that justice to all men and their legiti-
mate interests, without which an intelligent self-governing people cannot
long exist.
It behooves the people of this land to stop for a moment and see whether
they are not going pretty fast in public and semi-public affairs. The public
atmosphere is filled with the very spirit of injustice. The time has come
when a simple accusation exploited in public places is received as an argu-
ment for the adoption of some public policy. A mere epitaph flung at a
public character or group of citizens is accepted as a reason for pursuing
some indicated course of action. The public sense and disposition steered
and fostered through the channels of public information are inclined all too
hastily to make judgment precede the trial and conform to the prejudices
that have been aroused by the charge, instead of waiting until the facts
are ascertained and a dispassionate decision can be made. I believe these
tendencies of the public mind threaten harm to all. It is high time that
this trend should be recognized and corrected. You have been here cele-
brating this remarkable event of the battle of Gettysburg, and as you go
to your homes your patriotism will be undoubtedly refreshed, and I beg
you to remember that changes have come in the conditions of the people.
Our society has become more highly organized than it was fifty years ago.
A rapid multiplication of people and the introduction of new races have
brought in new theories, many of which are rank heresies to the Anglo-
Saxon race. Conflicting aims and desires have been introduced, and we see
that almost everywhere there is prevalent social strife and contention among
men which were unknown to us in our earlier days and with which former
generations of our people were wholly unacquainted. It devolves upon us
to exercise the greatest wisdom and the most conservative restraint to the
end that full justice shall be done all. Agitators and those who in public
places seek to accomplish selfish ends by the demagogue's art must be
rebuked and suppressed by the stern and resolute enforcement of salutary
laws. It is of the utmost importance ^Iso that we see to it that the laws
shall not become distorted or poisoned with injustice. The demagogue is
too apt to appear and arouse the resentment of the populace to serve his
selfish end.
This is the danger which Lord Macauley meant when he prophesied
that the American Republic would not last beyond a 1 00 years, but would
fall ruined by the passions and injustice of its own people. The prophecy,
Report of Commission. 5\
happily, did not come true, within the time set by the learned statesman,
and it is incumbent upon us to see to it that it never comes true. It seems
to me that the plain principle by which this Nation must live and this people
with its government endure, is the one I have sought to inculcate, and that
is justice — orderly, patient justice to all.
Let us endeavor then from now on to appreciate and observe the
patriotic duty that still lies before us. Let us so act as citizens of this
Republic that all our people and their interests shall be served alike; that
in public affairs there shall be truth and righteousness; that in private life
there shall be peace and comfort and happiness. Let us see to it that wise
rulers are placed in public positions charged with no economic duty, that
some laws shall be passed and some others defeated, to the end that there
may be the widest opportunity in this land of ours for all men to live and
live well.
General King: By request of the New York Monuments Commission, I
will now read an original poem appropriate to the occasion.
GETTYSBURG.
By General Horatio C. King.
Fair was the sight that peaceful July day
And sweet the air with scent of new-mown hay.
And Gettysburg's devoted plain serene
Resplendent shone with waves of emerald green.
The western heights, where close embowered stood
The sacred shrine, near hidden in the wood.
Recked not of war, but echoed with the tread
Of God's meek messages of peace, who led
The thoughts from earthly things to things above.
And taught the wayward heart that God is love;
While far across wide fields of golden gra'n
Another ridge uprose from out the plain ;
And in its bosom, freed from earthly woes.
The dead of ages lie in calm repose.
The bloody days across the stricken field,
Two angry hordes in ghastly combat reeled.
And welcome night its dusky mantle threw
In pitying love to hide the scene from view.
52 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
A^'ain the Iniglo with its piercing call
Awoke the soldier trom deep slumber's thrall ;
W ith anxious waiting, nerved by conscious power.
All stood impatient through the morning hour.
1 ill (ro:n the throat ol every shotted gun
The smoke ot hell obscured the bla/ing sun:
1 hen silence deep, and every soldier knew
I he charge was near, and tight his buckle c^rew.
Lo ! trom their midjt a stern command. And then
The quick advance ot tNventy tliousand men;
A solid line of veterans clad in gray,
\\ ith iron nerves and earnest for the fray.
In tliought a new-born nation rose to sight.
W ith ■■ stars and bars " unfurled in glorious light.
On. on they came, nor faltered in their tread.
Each man a hero — giants at their head.
We stood amazed at courage so subbme.
No braver record on the page of time.
With bristling bayonets glistening m the sun.
The stubborn ranks, inspired by victories won.
Pressed grimly on. unmindful of the storm
Cf shot and shell t!iat telled full many a form:
The maddened roar of angry cannon massed
Rocked the red field as if an earthc^uake pas:ed.
Still on they came; the gaps they quickly close;
" Now steady, men! " and from our ranks there rose
A mighty cry. and thick the leaden hail
Fell on the wavering lines. "See! how they quail!
" Strike! strike! for freedom and your native land! "
And bayonets clashed in conflict hand to hand.
Oh. fierce the struggle; but they break! they fly!
And God to freedom gives the victory.
The Benediction was pronounced by the Rev. Dr. Hubbell; the band
played the Star Spangled Banner and the great meeting passed into history.
Report of Commission. 53
RAILROAD STATIONS AT WHICH TRANSPORTATION
REQUESTS, ISSUED BY NEW YORK MONUMENTS
COMMISSION, WERE EXCHANGED FOR TICKETS TO
GETTYSBURG. PA., AND RETURN.
No. of
Station. Railroad. Tickets.
Adams New York Central Lines 49
Addison Erie R. R 37
Alton Delaware & Hudson Co 17
Akron New York Central Lines 12
Albany New York Central Lines 182
Albany Delaware & Hudson Co 2
Albion New York Central Lines 25
Alden . Erie R. R 2
Alfred Erie R. R 5
Allegany Erie R. R I
Amenia New York Central Lines 4
Amityville Long Island R. R I
Amsterdam New York Central Lines 54
Andover Erie R. R II
Angola Pennsylvania R. R 8
Antwerp New York Central Lines 6
Apulia D., L. & W. R. R 8
Arcade Pennsylvania R. R 14
Atlanta Erie R. R 9
Attica Erie R. R 18
Auburn Lehigh Valley R. R 53
Auburn New York Central Lines 19
Aurora Lehigh Valley R. R 3
Au Sable Forks Delaware & Hudson Co 5
Avoca D., L. & W. R. R 12
Avoca Erie R. R 1
Avon Erie R. R 8
Bainbridge Delaware & Hudson Co 9
Baldwinsville D., L. & W. R. R 50
Ballston Delaware & Hudson Co II
Barker New York Central Lines 9
Batavia New York Central Lines 68
54 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
No. of
Station. Railroad. Tickets.
Batavia Lehigh Valley R. R 2
Bath D.. L. & W. R. R 50
Bath Erie R. R 15
Bayshore Long Island R. R 2
Belfast Pennsylvania R. R 12
Belmont Erie R. R 17
Binghamton . . Erie R. R 20
Binghamton . . D.. L. & W. R. R 1 49
Boonville New York Central Lines 7
Buffalo Pennsylvania R. R 311
Buffalo Erie R. R I
Brewster New \ ork Central Lines 2
Broadalbin F.. j. & G. R. R 15
Brockport New York Central Lines 28
Brocton Pennsylvania R. R 11
Brooklyn Long Island R. R 1
Callicoon Erie R. R 1
Cambridge Delaware & Hudson Co 11
Camden New York Central Lines 22
Campbell Erie R. R 4
Canajoharie New York Central Lines 8
Canandaigua Pennsylvania R. R 62
Canaseraga Erie R. R 14
Canastota Lehigh Valley R. R 5
Candor D.. L. & W. R. R 10
Caneadea Pennsylvania R. R 6
Canisteo Erie R. R 34
Canton New "^'ork Central Lines 28
Cape Vincent New ^'ork Central Lines 1
Carthage New York Central Lines 34
Castile Erie R. R 13
Cato Lehigh Valley R. R 1
Catskill New York Central Lines 24
Cattaraugus Erie R. R 9
Cazenovia Lehigh Valley R. R 17
Central Square New ^ ork Central Lines 1
Chadwicks D.. L. & W. R. R 2
Chatham New York Central Lines 16
Report of Commission.
55
Station. Railroad.
Chenango Forks D., L. & W. R. R
Cherry Creek Erie R. R
Cincinnatus D.. L. & W. R. R
Clayton New York Central Lines.
Clayville D.. L. & W. R. R
Clifton Springs New York Central Lines.
Cobleskill Delaware & Hudson Co.
Cohocton Erie R. R
Cohoes Delaware & Hudson Co.
Cooperstown Delaware & Hudson Co .
Corinth Delaware & Hudson Co.
Corning Erie R. R
Cornwall New York Central Lines.
Cortland D., L. & W. R. R
Corydon, Pa Pennsylvania R. R
Coxsachie New York Central Lines .
Crown Point Delaware & Hudson Co.
Cuba Pennsylvania R. R
Cuba Erie R. R
Dalton Erie R. R
Dansville D.. L. & W. R. R
Dayton Erie R. R
De Kalb Junction New York Central Lines .
Delevan Pennsylvania R. R
Delhi N. Y.. Ont. & West. Ry .
Deposit Erie R. R
Dobbs Ferry New York Central Lines .
Dryden Lehigh Valley R. R . . . .
Dunkirk Pennsylvania R. R
Earlville D.. L. & W. R. R
East Aurora Pennsylvania R. R
East Branch N. Y., Ont. & West. Ry.
Ellenville N. Y.. Ont. & West. Ry .
Elmira Pennsylvania R. R
Elmira Lehigh Valley R. R . . . .
Evans New York Central Lines .
Fairhaven Lehigh Valley R. R . . . .
Fallsburg N. Y., Ont. & West. Ry .
No. of
Tickets.
1
8
I
12
3
9
14
15
40
13
9
45
22
68
3
12
7
14
44
8
30
15
19
24
1
8
42
6
23
24
15
159
I
5
14
22
56 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
No. of
Station. Railroad. 1 ickets.
Fillmore Pennsylvania R. R 6
Fonda New ^ ork Central Lines 1
Fort Ann Delaware & Hudson Co 8
Fort Edward Delaware & Hudson Co 18
Fort Plain New ^ ork Central Lines 14
Franklinville Pennsylvania R. R 16
Freeport Long Island R. R 17
Friendship trie R. R 26
Fulton D.. L & W. R. R 45
Fulton New "*i ork Central Lines I
Geneva Lehigh Valley R. R 3
Germantown New ^'ork Central Lines 4
Glen Cove Long Island R. R 6
Glenora Pennsylvania R. R 1
Glens Falls Delaware & Hudson Co 57
Gloversville F.. J. & G. R. R 32
Goshen Erie R. R 8
Gouverneur New ^ ork Central Lines 29
Gowanda Erie R. R II
Granville Delaware 6c Hudson Co 7
Greene D., L & \V. R. R 20
' GreenpKjrt . . ." Long Island R. R 20
Greenwich Greenwich & Johnsonville Ry .... 21
Groton Lehigh X'allev R. R 9
Hadley Delaware & Hudson Co 10
HaTnilton N. ^'.. Ont. & West. Ry 18
Hancock N. ^'., Ont. & West. Ry 16
Haverstraw New ^ ork Central Lines 13
Herkimer New ^'ork Central Lines 11
Highland New ^'ork Central Lines 64
Homer D.. L & W. R. R 20
Hornell '. . Eric R. R 47
Hubbardsville D.. L & W. R. R I
Hudson New ^'ork Central Lines 30
Hudson Falls Delaware ^i Hudson Co 10
Interlaken Lehigh Valley R. R 9
Ischua Pennsylvania R. R 5
Ithaca Lehigh X^allev R. R 70
Report of Commission. 57
No. of
Station. Railroad. Tickets.
Ithaca D.. L. & W. R. R 12
Jamestown Erie R. R I / o
Johnstown F.. J. & G. R. R 14
Katonah New York Central Lines 10
Kennedy Erie R. R 14
King's Ferry Lehigh Valley R. R 6
Kingston New York Central Lines 79
Lacona New York Central Lines 14
Liberty N. Y., Ont. & West. Ry 16
Little Falls New York Central Lines 44
Livingston Manor N. Y., Ont. & West. Ry 3
Livonia Erie R. R 8
Lockport New York Central Lines 88
Lowville New York Central Lines 26
Lyons New York Central Lines 14
Lyons Falls New York Central Lines 1
Machias Junction Pennsylvania R. R 2
Malone New York Central Lines 50
Mannsville New York Central Lines 1
Marathon D., L. & W. R. R 7
Massena Springs New York Central Lines 10
Mayville Pennsylvania R. R . 13
Mechanicville Delaware & Hudson Co 16
Medina New York Central Lines 42
Mexico New York Central Lines 6
Middletown Eric R. R 35
Montour Falls Pennsylvania. R. R 17
Mooers Forks Rutland R. R 3
Mooers Junction Rutland R. R 17
Moravia Lehigh Valley R. R 28
Morristown New York Central Lines 4
Morrisville N. Y., Ont. & West. Ry 7
Mt. Kisco New York Central Lines 8
Mount Morris Pennsylvania R. R 26
Mount Morris Eric R. R 1
Nanuet Eric R. R 1
Newark Pennsylvania R. R 62
Newburgh New York Central Lines 68
58 Anni\'ersary of Battle of Gettysburg.
No. of
Station. Railroad. Tickets
New Rochelle N. Y.. N. H. 6< H. R. R 1
New ^ ork City Pennsylvania R. R 932
New ^'ork City Central R. R. Co. of N. J 225
Niagara Falls New ^ ork Central Lines 4
Nichols D., L. & W. R. R 9
Nineveh Delaware 6: Hudson Co 3
North BrookBeld D.. L. & W. R. R 8
North Collins Erie R. R 6
North Ilion New ^ ork Central Lines 28
Northport Long Island R. R 4
North Tonawanda Lehigh X^alley R. R 26
Northville F.. J. & G. R. R 3
Norwich D.. L. 6< W. R. R 44
Norwood Ne^v ^ ork Central Lines 12
Nunda Pennsylvania R. R 20
Nyack Erie R. R 7
Ogdersburg Ne\\ ^ ork Central Lines 23
Glean Pennsylvania R. R 72
Glean Eri.- R. R 21
Gnativia D.. L. & W. R. R 2
Gneida New ^ ork Central Lines 4
Oneonta Delaware & Hudson Co . 91
Crleans Corner? New ^ ork Central Lines I
Cssining New ^ ork Central Lines 17
Oswego D.. L. & W. R. R 65
CKvego Lehigh X'alley R. R 37
Gwego D., L. & W. R. R 7
Gxford D.. L. c^ W. R. R 17
Patchogue Long Island R. R 12
Pawling New ^ ork Central Lines 2
Peekskill 'New York Central Lines 28
Penn ^ an Pennsylvania R. R 58
Phelps Junction Pennsylvania R. R 16
Philadelphia. N. ^' New ^'ork Central Lines 9
Philmont New "^'ork Central Lines 6
Plattsburg Delaware & Hudson Co 26
Portageville Pennsylvania R. R 3
Port Chester N. Y.. N. H. c\ H. R. R 10
Report of Commission. 59
No. of
Station. Railroad. 1 ickets.
Fort Henry Delaware & Hudson Co 7
Port Jefferson Long Island R. R 7
Port Jervis Erie R. R 10
Port Kent Delaware & Hudson Co 6
Port Leyden New York Central Lines 2
Potsdam New York Central Lines 18
Poughkeepsie New York Central Lines 65
Preble D., L. & W. R. R 1
Prospect New York Central Lines 13
Pulaski New York Central Lines 21
Randolph Erie R. R 23
Ravena New York Central Lines 1
Redwood New York Central Lines 5
Rhinecliff New York Central Lines 7
Richfield Springs D., L. & W. R. R 9
Richland New York Central Lines 8
Riverside Delaware & Hudson Co 4
Rochester New York Central Lines 282
Rochester Erie R. R 2
Rock Stream Pennsylvania R. R 1
Rome New York Central Lines 2
Roscoe N. Y., Ont. & West. Ry 12
Roseburg Pennsylvania R. R 5
Sag Harbor Long Island R. R 5
St. Johnsville New York Central Lines 5
Si. Regis Falls New York Central Lines 14
Salamanca Erie R. R 55
Salamanca Pennsylvania R. R 16
Salem Delaware & Hudson Co 2
Saranac Lake New York Central Lines 5
Saratoga Delaware & Hudson Co 41
Saugerties New York Central Lines 14
Sauquoit D.. L. & W. R. R 6
Savona Erie R. R ] 7
Schenectady New York Central Lines 60
Schenevus Delaware & Hudson Co 5
Seneca Falls Lehigh Valley R. R 22
Seneca Falls New York Central Lines 8
60 Anni\ersarv of Battle of Gettysburg.
No. of
Station. Railroad. 1 ickets.
Shelldrake Springs Lehigh Valley R. R 12
Sherburne D., L. & W. R. R 18
Sherman Pennsylvania R. R 2
Sidney Delaware & Hudson Co 19
Silver Creek Pennsylvania R. R 11
Silver Springs Erie R. R 24
Smith's Basin Delaw^are & Hudson Co 7
South Dayton Erie R. R 6
Springwater Erie R. R 16
Stanley Pennsylvania R. R 44
Starkey Pennsylvania R. R 5
Steamburg Eric R. R 5
Suffern Eric R. R 4
Suspension Bridge New York Central Lines 9
Syracuse D.. L. & W. R. R 303
Syracuse New York Central Lmes 18
Tarrytown New York Central Lines 7
Theresa New York Central Lines 10
Ticonderoga Delaware &: Hudson Co 10
Troy New York Central Lines 78
Tully D.. L. & W. R. R 3
Unadilla Delaware &r Hudson Co 13
Union Springs Lehigh Valley R. R 7
Utica New ^'ork Central Lines .• 87
Utica D., L. & W. R. R 70
Van Etten Lehigh Valley R. R 10
Vestal D., L. & W. R. R 10
Wallington Pennsylvania R. R 10
Walton N. Y., Ont. & West. Ry 49
Warsaw Erio R. R 20
Warwick Lehigh & Hudson River Ry 9
WashingtonAille Eric R. R 9
Wassaic New York Central Lines 8
Waterloo Lehigh Valley R. R 29
Watertown New \'ork Central Lines 10
Waterville D.. L. & W. R. R 9
Watkins Pennsylvania R. R 48
Waverly Lehigh Valley R. R 34
Report of Commission. 61
No. of
Station. Railroad. 1 icicets.
Wayland D., L. & W. R. R 11
\\/aylancl Erie R. R 9
Weedsport Lehigh Valley R. R 29
Wellsville Erie R. R 42
Westport Delaware & Hudson Co 9
Whitehall Delaware & Hudson Co 11
White Plains New York Central Lines 16
Whitney Point D., L. & W. R. R 7
Windsor Delaware & Hudson Co 3
Wolcott New York Central Lines 37
Worcester Delaware & Hudson Co 16
Yonkers New York Central Lines 43
Totals. (310 Stations) 8117
RAILROADS BY WHICH TICKETS WERE EXCHANGED
FOR TRANSPORTATION ORDERS FURNISHED TO VET-
ERANS WHO ATTENDED THE GETTYSBURG FIFTIETH
ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION.
No. of No. of
Railroad. Station. Tickets.
Central R. R. Co. of New Jersey 1 225
The Delaware & Hudson Co 35 5 37
Delaware, Lackawanna &c Western R. R 37 I 1 08
Erie R. R 53 . 925
Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville R. R 4 64
Greenwich & Johnsonville Ry 1 21
Lehigh & Hudson River Ry I 9
Lehigh Valley R. R 24 435
The Long Island R. R 10 75
New York Central Lines 92 24! 5
New York, New Haven & Hartford R. R 2 11
New York, Ontario & Western Ry 11 201
Pennsylvania R. R 37 207 1
Rutland R. R 2 20
Totals 310 8117
62
Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
WHOLE TICKETS AND PORTIONS OF TICKETS RE-
TURNED UNUSED.
Railroad.
Central R. R. Co. of New Jersey . .
The Delaware & Hudson Co. . . .
Del., Lackawanna & W. R. R. . .
Erie R. R
Fonda, Johnstown & G'ville R. R.
Lehigh Valley R. R
The Long Island R. R
New York Central Lines
New York, Ontario & Western Ry.
Pennsylvania R. R
Rutland R. R
Whole.
Portions.
No.
1
1
Value.
$8.90
11 .00
No.
Value.
5
56.45
2
$6.29
7
80.90
1
4.41
1
14.85
1
13.66
2
1
21.30
11 .71
1
3.26
12
1
164.95
9.91
7
44.12
18
173.20
4
16.04
2
43.10
51 $596.27 16 $87.78
Total Value $684.05
STATEMENT OF REFUNDS MADE TO VETERANS WHO
PAID THEIR RAILROAD FARES TO GETTYSBURG,
AND RETURN.
Catskill . .
Dunkirk . .
Ft. Edward
Friendship .
Greene . . .
Herkimer .
Interlaken .
Lockport .
New York .
Ogdensburg
Schenectady
Total, 25 Tickets.
1 Ticket, at $12.85
13
14
16
11
10
13
10
13
8
17
14
25,
35
60.
25
14
80
55
90.
70.
40.
$12.85
14
25
16
35
23
20
10
25
26
28
10
80
13
55
115
70
17
70
14
40
$275
33
Report of Commission. 63
COPIES OF DOCUMENTS.
The circulars annexed hereto were issued by the Commission from time
to time to instruct veterans in the methods of procedure necessary to secure
transportation orders to Gettysburg, and return.
Two different forms of appHcation — copies of which are also annexed
— were printed by the Commission for the use of veterans, to enable them
to secure transportation certificates required by the railroads before issuing
tickets. The blue form was gotten up for G. A. R. posts, or members
of G. A. R. posts; and the pink form for such veterans as were entitled
to transportation to Gettysburg though not members of the G. A. R.
Every application was carefully examined when received at the office of
the Commission and the record given in it verified as far as possible. All
feasible precautions were taken to prevent impositions.
On the issuance of a transportation certificate to a veteran a card of
identification, to be worn by him in case of disablement from any cause, as
well as a bronze badge — presented by the Commission, and commemorative
of the celebration — were sent to each veteran. A copy of the identifica-
tion card and of the certificate, issued by the Commission, are also included
herein.
The bronze badge consists of two pieces — an upper and a lower
piece — hung together by a wire. A pin forms a part of the upper piece.
The upper piece bears the inscription: " 1863 — 1913 New York —
Gettysburg ", and on it a Northern and a Southern soldier, clasping each
other's hand, are represented. On the lower piece ■ — made in the form
of a cross - — there is a medallion, containing portraits of General Meade,
of the Union army, and General Lee, of the Confederate army. These
souvenirs were eagerly sought for and are treasured by those who secured
them.
64 Anni\er:arv of Battle of Gettysburg.
NEW YORK COMMISSION
FOR THE
BATTLEFIELDS OF GETTYSBURG AND CHATTANOOGA
23 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK.
Maj.-Gex. Daniel E. Sickles, U. S. A., A. J. Zabriskie,
Chairman. Engineer and Secretary.
June 12, 1912.
Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.
Circular No. 1.
By Chapter 227 of the Laws of New York 1912, this Commission
was appo.nted to plan and conduct a public celebration of the Fiftieth
Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, to be held July 1,2,3 and 4,
1913, on the battlefield, and was also given power to enter into negotia-
tions and co-operate with the State of Pennsylvania in relation to such
celebration. The Commission is authorized to arrange for the transpor-
tation of 25,000 Union veterans of the War of the Rebellion, residing
in this State, from points within the State to and from Gettysburg, Pa.
As a large number of the veterans of the State are members of the
Grand Army of the Republic, and in view of the familiarity and personal
touch of this organization with its membership, which would prove of
much value in the dissemination of information, the preparation and
transmission of applications for transportation, and the distribution of the
transportation orders, it has been decided by the Commission to avail itself
of the facilities afforded by this state-wide organization in the Department
of New York in so far as the members of the various posts are concerned.
Those veterans who are not members of any Grand Army Post in the
Department of New York will communicate with and apply by letter
^addressed to this Commission, or personally at this office.
Application blanks are in course of preparation and will be forwarded
to each Post Adjutant for the use of the members of the Post. Other
veterans will be furnished direct by this Commission in response to their
request.
To be eligible for free transportation the veteran must be an honorably
discharged soldier, sailor or marine from the army, navy or marine corps
of the United States in the War of the Rebellion, and now a resident of
the State of New York.
Report of Commission. 65
It is proposed to unite in a camp upon a section of the battleaeld New
York's representation at the celebration, grouped by counties, to enable
inquirers to readily locate those for whom they may be seeking. For this
and other reasons apparent upon considering the conditions obtaining,
where large numbers are assembled and accommodated under canvas, the
Commission desires that the veterans from each county assemble as far as
practicable and entrain al; some conveniently central point in the county,
or, if preferred, at two or three points where there are large numbers of
veterans and where, if the aggregate of passengers be sufficient, special
train service could be arranged by the local officers.
Section 1 of Chapter 144 of the Laws of 1912, provided that
" Every honorably discharged soldier, sailor or marine from the army
or navy of the United States in the late Civil War holding a position or
employment in the civil service of the state or of any city, county, town
or village therein, shall be entitled to a leave of absence with full pay for
a term beginning July 1, 1913, and ending July 7, 1913, in commemora-
tion of the fiftieth anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg."
Touching the question of suitable quarters and necessary subsistence
for visiting veterans while at Gettysburg during the occasion of the celebra-
tion, the Secretary of War was authorized and directed by Senate Con-
current Resolution No. 1 9, sixty-second Congress, second session :
1 . To cause to be made such surveys, measurements and estimates as
will be necessary in regard to providing for a sufficient supply of good
water for the use of honorably discharged veterans of the Civil War who
shall attend the celebration.
2. To investigate as to the necessary and proper provision required to
be made for sewerage, sanitation, hospital and policing during such
celebration.
3. To estimate upon tents, camp equipment, supplies and rations that
in his judgment will be necessary to properly accommodate and provide
for the honorably discharged veterans of the Civil War who shall attend
such commemoration * * *.
4. To estimate the quantity of camp equipment such as tents, bedding,
and cooking outfits necessary to accommodate the honorably discharged
veterans of the Civil War attending, together with the cost per unit of a
suitable ration to be issued, and as to the best method of providing and
issuing such rations * * *,
5. To prepare a plan of camp arrangement suitable to the occasion.
In accordance with these directions, the War Department has caused to
be prepared plans, surveys and estimates covering the several features
3
66 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
required to be investigated. The data are embodied in the reports of the
Quartermaster General and Commissary General, which the Secretary of
War transmitted for the information of Congress under date of May 1 0,
1912.
This Commission anticipates that the National Government will arrange
to furnish free of expense to our visiting veterans the necessary quarters,
under canvas, and suitable rations for the period contemplated by the
Senate Resolution above outlined.
In your correspondence with this Commission clo not fail, when giving
your address, to include the name of the county in which you reside.
This request likewise applies to the G. A. R. officers when givmg the
addresses of Post Headquarters. This information will be of much
assistance to our filing clerks in assorting the correspondence at this office.
Additional copies of this circular will be mailed on receipt of appHcation
to that effect from officers of the Grand Army Posts or other interested
veterans.
By order of Major-General D. E. Sickles, U. S. A., Chanman.
A. J. Zabriskie,
Engineer and Secretary.
COMMISSIONERS
Major-Gen'l Daniel E. Sickles, U. S. A. Col. Clinton Beckwith
BvT. Brig.-Gen'l Anson G. McCook Bvt. Col. Horatio C. King
Col. Lewis R. Stegman Bvt. Major Tho.mas W. Bradley
Brig.-Gen"l Henry D. H.\milton, Adj.-Gen'l S. N. Y.
Brevet Colonel Horatio C. King, A. J. Zabriskie,
t hairmun Engineer and Secretary
NEW YORK COMMISSION
FOR THE
BATTLEFIELDS OF GETTYSBURG AND CHATTANOOGA.
APPOINTED A COMMISSION TO PLAN AND CONDUCT A PUBLIC
CELEBRATION OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF
GETTYSBURG, JULY i, 2, 3, 4, 1913
1 EAST 9TH STREET. NEW YORK CITY
Telephone, 92 Gramercy
Dear Sir and Comrade:
The National Congress has made provision for the accommodation oi
of only 40,000 veterans at Gettysburg, and no provision is made for theit
famiHes. It was found by the Railroad Companies and the War Depart-
ment, that it would be impossible to provide transportation and accommO"
dations for a greater number. Although the Legislature of our Stat*
expressed its willingness to send 25,000 veterans if accommodations coulc
Report of Commission. 67
be provided, the Pennsylvania Commission which has primary charge of
the celebration, will take under consideration the quota which may be
allotted to each State, but a decision cannot be reached until the meeting
of the entire Commission on January 23, 1913. It is estimated that
New York's quota will not exceed 5,000. The application is therefore
returned for additional information should it be decided that preference
will be given to those who participated in the battle, and if there be less
than 5,000, then to those whose terms of service antedated and followed
that engagement.
Your application is herewith returned and your attention is invited to
section of this communication. A compliance therewith is
necessary to a proper consideration of your application. Please return
this with your reply.
APPLICATIONS FOR MEMBERS OF THE G. A. R.
DEPARTMENT OF NEW YORK.
1 . Adjutant should fill in upper left hand column only.
2. Application should be fully dated.
3. Name of applicant should be given in full, and should correspond
with that of the signature.
4. Give the nearest important railroad station and the name of the
railroad.
5. Give day, month and year of original enlistment.
6. Give the company and regiment and State to which it belonged and
also the State in which you originally enlisted, together with the arm of
the service and your rank. If light or heavy artillery, state which.
7. Give the company and regiment and State to which it belonged
and also the State from which you were finally discharged, together with
the arm of the service and your rank. If light or heavy artiller>% state
which.
8. Give day, month and year of final discharge.
9. Give your place of residence.
I 0. Give the number of the Post of which you are a member.
I I . Applicant must sign the application and his address in full should
be given. If applicant signs by mark, the signature and addrecs of one
witness must be given.
1 2. The name of the applicant, corresponding with that of the sig-
nature, should be written in the certificate of identification.
1 3. Post commander should fill in the number of years he has known
applicant. The application must then be certified by the Post Commander
in his own handwriting, and attested, with the date, by the Adjutant of the
68 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
Post. If the Commander is the appUcant, the application should be
certified by the Senior Vice-Commander.
1 4. State whether or not you were connected with a regiment that was
actually in the Battle of Gettysburg. (See back of application.)
15. State whether or not you were with that regiment in that battle.
(See back of application.)
APPLICATIONS FOR NON-MEMBERS OF THE G. A. R..
DEPARTMENT OF NEW YORK.
A. Do not fill in the columns at the top of the application.
B. Apphcation should be fully dated.
C. Name of applicant should be given in full, and should correspond
with that of the signature.
D. Give the nearest important railroad station and the name of the
railroad.
E. Give day, month and year of original enlistment.
F. Give the company and regiment and State to which it belonged and
also the State in which you orginally enhsted, together with the arm of the
service and your rank. If Hght or heavy artillery, state which.
G. Give the Company and regiment and State to which it belonged
and also the State from which you were finally discharged, together with
the arm of the service and your rank. If light or heavy artillery, state
which.
H. Give day, month and year of final discharge.
I. Give your place of residence.
J. Applicant must sign the application and his address in full should be
given. The signature of one witness and his address should also be given.
K. The name of the applicant, corresponding with that of the signature,
should be written in the certificate of identification.
L. Applicant's pension certificate number should be given. The appli-
cation must then be certified by either the Postmaster, Justice of the Peace,
Notary Public or President of a duly organized New York State Civil
War Veteran Association of which the applicant is a member, inserting
the number of years he has known the applicant, and giving his official
title, address and the date of such certification.
M. State whether or not you were connected with a regiment that was
actually in the Battle of Gettysburg. (See back of application.)
N. State whether or not you were with that regiment in that battle.
(See back of application.)
Fraternally yours,
HCRATIO C. KING.
Chairman.
Report of Commission. 69
COMMISSIONERS
Major-Gen'l Daniel E. Sickles, U. S. A. Col. Clinton Beckwith
BvT. Bbig.-Gen'l Anson G. McCook Bvt. Col. Horatio C. King
Col. Lewis R. Stegman * Bvt. Major Thomas W. Bradley
Brig.-Gen'l Henry D. Hamilton, Adj.-Gen'l S. N. Y.
Brevet Colonel Hor.\tio C. King. A. J. Zabriskie,
Chairman Engineer and Secretary
NEW YORK COMMISSION
FOR THE
BATTLEFIELDS OF GETTYSBURG AND CHATTANOOGA.
APPOINTED A COMMISSION TO PLAN AND CONDUCT A PUBLIC
CELEBRATION OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF
GETTYSBURG, JULY i, 2, 3, 4, 1913
I EAST 9TH STREET. NEW YORK CITY
Telephone, 92 Gramercy
Special Notice.
Dear Sir and Commander:
The National Committee will meet in Philadelphia on January 23,
when each State Chairman will be required to report at that meeting as
accurate an estimate as possible of the probable attendance from each State.
Please, therefore, if not already sent, forward your appHcations before
January 2 1 , and do not await the time l.mit named m the original circular.
The maximum number from all States combined that can be transported
and provided for has been fixed at 40,000, and the General Committee,
it is expected, will designate the quota allowed for New York and all
other States.
If you have no time in which to secure and send in your applications,
then please give as accurate an estimate as possible, of the number who
will attend.
Fraternally yours,
Horatio C. King,
Chairman.
70 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
CIRCULAR No 4
COMMISSIONERS
Major-Gen'l Daniel E. Sickles, U. S. A. Coi.. Clinton Beckwith
BvT. Brig.-Gen'l Anson G. McCook Bvt. Col. Horatio C. King
Col. Lewis R. Stegman Bvt. Major Thomas W. Bradley
Brig.-Gen'l Henry D. Hamilton, Adj.-Gen'l S. N. Y.
Brevet Colonel Horatio C. King,, A. J. Zabriskie,
Chairman Engineer and Secretary
NEW YORK COMMISSION
for the
BATTLEFIELDS OF GETTYSBURG AND CHATTANOOGA.
APPOINTED A COMMISSION TO PLAN AND CONDUCT A PUBLIC
CELEBRATION OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF
GETTYSBURG, JULY i, 2, 3, 4, 1913
NO. 116 NASSAU STREET. NEW YORK CITY
Telephone, Beekman 2SS3
Dear Sir and Comrade:
Answering your favor just received, I beg to call your attention to the
marked sections of the following circular.
Fraternally yours,
Horatio C. King,
Chairman.
1 . Congress has limited the attendance to 40,000 Union and Con-
federate veterans from all the States as the officials of the railroads entering
Gettysburg have decided that they cannot provide transportation for a
greater number.
2. At a meeting of the General Commission having in charge the
arrangements for the Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration, held in Philadelphia,
January 23-'25, 1913, the number of veterans allotted to the State of New
York was 1 0,000. In view of this act'on the New York Commission at a
meeting held January 27, 1913, decided to grant a preference:
(a) to surviving soldiers now residing in this State who served in
regiments or other commands that participated in the Battle
of Gettysburg.
(b) to those veterans of the War of the Rebellion now residing in
this State not connected as above, who had the longest term
of service.
3. No provision is made by law for the transportation of families of
veterans, nor for shelter and subsistence for them by the Federal Govern-
ment.
Report of Commission. 71
4. Veterans will be quartered under canvas, eight to a tent, and pro-
vided with rations by companies practically as issued in the time of the
Civil War. To each veteran will be given blankets, a tin plate, cup, knife
and fork and two spoons, and he will take his meals at a table con-
tiguous to the open air kitchen.
5. There will be a general hospital for the s!ck and several mfirmaries
in the cair.p.
6. The camp is located about one-eighth of a mile north of the clump
of trees known as " The High Water Mark." It is expected that the
railroad trains will be run into this camp and arriving veterans will be
detrained there.
7. Veterans arriving as Posts or !n special groups will be assigned to
tents together; all others will be assigned to tents set apart for New York
veterans.
8. The passenger a:sociation of the trunk hnes has announced that
Gettysburg terminal lines will not park any cars.
9. Public exercises to be announced later, will be held on each day
from July I to 4, inclusive.
I 0. The State of New York will hold special ceremonies in the National
Cemetery near the New York State Monument, at which Rev. Newell
Dwight Hillis, D.D., Pastor of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, N. Y., will
be the orator. The full program will be issued at a later date.
1 I . Automobiles. For information regarding accommodations for
automobile parties, address Col. Lewis E. Beitler, Secretary, Harris-
burg, Pa.
12. This Commission is informed that every available room in Gettys-
burg has already been engaged. Parties may be accommodated at Carlisle,
Chambersburg, Flanover and other smaller towns which are distant about
twenty miles from Gettysburg.
1 3. All applications must be filed at the office of this Commission by
April I, 1913.
1 4. Transportation will be furnished by direct lines over which and
from thore stations where one-way tickets are regularly sold. Tickets will
be good going June 25 to July 4, 1913, and to return so as to reach
original starting point not later than July 15, 1913. Tickets will be good
going and returning via same route only.
If there are two or more routes from the same starting point the applicant
may take his choice, provided the fare is the same as by the direct line or
lines.
I 5. Transportation orders will be issued in ample time.
1 6. Although no definite action has been taken by the Pennsylvania
Commission, it is understood that the veterans w 11 wear what they wish. It
72 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
must not be forgotten, however, that the garb should be suitable for
extremely warm weather.
1 7. Round trip tickets can be purchased by the general public at special
excurs.on fares, which will be at the same rate as that paid by the State
for the transportation of veterans, but shelter and subsistence cannot be
provided for any but veterans and only to those presenting at Gettysburg
Identification Cards which will be issued through the Pennsylvania Com-
mission.
I 8. Camp. The camp will be under the exclusive and absolute control
of the U. S. Government and this Commission is without authority to make
assignment of quarters. Requests for reservations should be forwarded
direct to the Quartermaster's Department, U. S. A., Gettysburg, Pa.
1 9. The State of New York provides transportation only to all veterans.
Union and Confederate, residing in this State, no matter where they enlisted,
so far as they can be accommodated at Gettysburg. It is hoped that other
States will show a like courtesy to New York veterans residing within their
limits.
20. If you are a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, make
your application through your Post.
2 1 . This Commission does not issue transportation to any battlefield but
Gettysburg.
22. Confederate veterans residing in New York State will please trans-
mit their applications through General Henry T. Douglass, Commander
U C. v., 165 Broadway, New York City.
23. The Commission does not arrange for special trains. Posts or
other organizations must deal directly with the railroad agent.
24. For price of round trip tickets apply to the ticket office at your
point of departure.
25. Transportation can be furnished by the Commission only by direct
line and continuous route. For any modifications apply to your railroad
agent.
26. Application for railroad tickets must be made at the stations where
such tickets are sold. Inquiry of the agent a week in advance will save
much inconvenience and delay.
27. The Secretary of the Pennsylvania Commission which has general
charge of the celebration is Col. Lewis E. Beitler, Harrisburg, Pa.
28. All applications received after A.pril 1st (the tine limit) will be
[held in abeyance until it is determined whether or not New York will be
permitted to send more than 1 0,000 veterans. More than tnat number
have already filed applications, but it is anticipated a considerable propor-
tion of these may not be able to attend because of feebleness or other
causes.
Report of Commission. 73
CIRCULAR No 5
COMMISSIONERS
Major-Gen'l Daniel E. Sickles, U. S. A. Col. Clinton Beckwith
BvT. Bbig.-Gen'l Anson G. McCook Bvt. Col. Horatio C. King
Col.- Lewis R. Stegman Bvt. Major Thomas W. Bradley
Brig.-Gen'l Henry D. H.\miltox, Adj.-Gen'l S. N. Y.
Brevet Colonel Hor.a.tio C. King, A. J. Zabriskie,
Chairman Engineer and Secretary
NEW YORK COMMISSION
FOR THE
BATTLEFIELDS OF GETTYSBURG AND CHATTANOOGA.
APPOINTED A COMMISSION TO PLAN AND CONDUCT A PUBLIC
CELEBRATION OF THE soTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF
GETTYSBURG, JULY i, 2, 3, 4. 1913
ROOM 1015, 116 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK CITY
Telephone, Beekman 2883
May 1, 1913.
To Commanders of G. /K. R. Posts and Special Notice to All New York
Veterans :
Dear Comrades:
Up to date this Commission has received about 1 1 ,000 applications. Of
these, a little over 4,000 applicants were connected with regiments that
participated in the battle of Gettysburg.
Many applications returned for correction will increase this number if
sent back by May I st. Otherwise they may not receive any consideration.
New applications received later than May I st will be considered only if
there is accommodation for the applicants at Gettysburg.
From many sources comes the assurance that a very considerable pro-
portion of the applicants, because of physical disability, will not be able to
attend the celebration. In a single case the Post Commander infor.Tis us
that out of sixty-nine applicants only thirty will go.
This Commission is most anxious to provide transportat'on to every veteran
in this State, Union and Confederate, who can go. It is therefore of the
utmost importance that we may be informed as early as practicable of
all deaths and of all who are incapacitated. The applicant should not
wait until the last minute for transportation and then not use it.
The transportation certificate is not transferable, and the use of such a
certificate by another is a misdemeanor and punishable by fine and imprison-
ment or both.
74 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
The identincation card which will be issued with the transportation cer-
tificate and executed when the ticket is obtained, will prevent the use of the
certificate by any one except its lawful holder.
In justice to those who can go ana may not be accommodated because
some who are incapacitated do not decline, please notify Ihu office at once
or as soon as practicable if, for any reason, you are unable to attend the
celebration.
Post Commanders are respectfully urged to give this circular as wide
publicity as po:sible through your local papers and otherwise.
Fraternally yours,
Horatio C. King
Chairman.
Col. Clinton Beckwith ] executive committee ,
Col. Lewis R. Stegman | Col. Clinton Beckwith
BvT. Col. Horatio C. King } commissioners Brig.-Gen'l H. D. Hamilton
Brig.-Gen'l Henry D. Hamilton, I
THE ADJUTANT GENERAL J
Col. Lewis R. Stegman, A. J. Zabriskie,
Chairman Engineer and Secretary
NEW YORK MONUMENTS COMMISSION
for the
BATTLEFIELDS OF GETTYSBURG, CHATTANOOGA AND
ANTIETAM.
ROOM 1015, 116 NASSAU STREET. NEW YORK CITY
June 2, 1913.
Dear Comrade :
Your application for tiansportat'on to Gettysburg dur.ng the period
of the celebration there on the days of July 1-4, 1913, duly received. The
quota of the State of New York for transportation to the field has been
limited by the Pennsylvania and United States authorities to 1 0,000, over
which number we cannot go. We have at the present time on file 1 1 ,700
appl'cations. The time limit fixed for applications was up on April 1 ,
1913. This Commission has endeavored to bs as generous as possible
in the reception of applications since that time, but it has reached its lim't.
At this late date we cannot receive any further appHcations and the one
which you have made is herewith returned to you. It is too late to be
taken into consideration. Very sorry.
Yours fraternally,
Lewis R. Stegman,
Chairman.
Report of Commission. 75
IMPORTANT — READ CAREFULLY NOTICE ON OTHER
SIDE.
(Post Adjutant will fill out only this column.)
File No
Post No Order No
Location Railroad
County R. R. Station
APPLICATION FOR TRANSPORTATION TO GETTYS-
BURG, Pa.
50th Anniversary of the Battle, July 1 , 2, 3, 4, 1913.
191. .
(Date)
New York Commission, I East Ninth Street, New York:
I, , hereby make application for trans-
( Write clearly name in full)
portation from on
(Railroad line)
to Gettysburg, Pa., and return, via direct line only, to attend the public
celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg to take
place on that battlefield on the 1st, 2d, 3d and 4th days of July, 1913.
I am an honorably discharged Union veteran of the War of the Rebellion,
having enlisted 1 86 , in
(Give rank, company and command in Army, Navy or Marine Corps)
and was honorably discharged from
(Give rank, company and command in Army, Navy or Marine Corps)
at on the day of 1 86 .
I am a resident of in the State of New York; my
post office address is given below. I am a member of G. A. R. Post
No Department of New York.
The number of my Pension Certificate is
(Veteran himself must sign here)
If signed by mark, one witness : Stveet and. number
City or town
(Signature and address of witness to mark)
County New York
76 Anninersarv of Battle of Gettysburg.
CERTIFICATE OF IDENTIFICATION, .
To be signed by the Commander and Adjutant of G. A. R. Post of which
applicant is a member.
I hereby certify that I am personally acquainted with
(Nanii' of applicant)
the applicant; that he was honorably discharge:! from the command above
mentioned, as appears in the descr ptive list in the records of this Post;
that he re:ides as above stated; that I have known him for years
and know him to be the person named in said discharge, as appears in the
records of the Post and in this application.
Attest: Fo; I Commander.
Post Adjutant.
Dated 1913.
IMPORTANT NOTICE— READ CAREFULLY
If the applicant cannot write plainly, he will request some one who writes
legibly to fill in the blank spaces on this applicat'on, but he must sign this
application personally.
If he served in two or more commands he need only give those in which
he enlisted and from which he received an honorable discharge, giving in
each case the dates of his enlistment and discharge; also designating his
rank, company and command in the Army, Navy or Marine Corps.
This Commiss'on desires that the veterans from each County assemble,
as far as practicable, and entrain at some conveniently central point in
the county, or, if preferred, at two or three points where there are a large
number of veterans and where, if the aggregate of passengers be sufficient,
special train service could be arranged by the officers of the Grand Army
Post. It is therefore hoped that the applicant, before naming his selection of
railroad station and railway line on this blank, will confer with his com-
rades with a view of securing harmony of action and a mutually satisfactory
determination upon this important question.
Notice must be promptly sent to the Comm'ssion of any change of
address. If by reason of illness or from other causes the veteran, after
filing h!s application for transportation, is unable to go, notice to that
effect must be mailed without delay to the office of this Commission.
Enclose a self-addressed postal card if applicant wishes the receipt of
this application acknowledged by the Commission.
Report of Commission. 77
This application will be filed, but action thereon is subject to an
appropriation by the State providing the moneys required to meet the
expenditure.
No application will be received after May 1 , 1913.
Was your regiment in the battle of Gettysburg?
Were you with the regiment in that battle?
IMPORTANT — READ CAREFULLY NOTICE ON OTHER
SIDE.
Locat'on File No
County Crder No
Railroad R. R. Station
APPLICATION FOR TRANSPORTATION TO GETTYS-
BURG, Pa.
50th Anniversary of the Battle, July 1 , 2, 3, 4, 1913.
191 . .
(Date)
New York Commission, 1 East Ninth Street, New York:
I, , hereby make application for trans-
( Write clearly name in full)
portation from on
(Railroad line)
to Gettysburg, Pa., and return, via direct line only, to attend the public
celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg to take
place on that battlefield on the 1st, 2d, 3d and 4th days of July, 1913.
I am an honorably discharged Union veteran of the War of the Rebellion,
having enlisted 1 86 , in
(Give rank, c-onipany and command in Army, Navy or Marine Corps)
and was honorably discharged from
(Give rank, company and command in Army, Navy or Marine Corps)
on the day of I 86 .
I am a resident of in the State of New York; my
post office address is given below. I am a member of G. A. R. Post
No Department of New York.
(Veteran himself must sign here) ,
One witness : Street and. number
City or town
(Signature and address of witness)
County New York
78 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
CERTIFICATE OF IDENTIFICATION,
To be signed by either the Postmaster, Justice of the Peace, Notary
Public, or President of a duly organized New York State Civil War
Veteran Association of which the applicant is a member.
I hereby certify that I am personally acquainted with
(Name of applicant)
the applicant; that I have examined the official certificate of his honorable
discharge from the command above mentioned; or his pension certificate
No ; that he resides as above stated; that I have known him
for years and know him to be the identical person named in
said discharge or pension certificate, and in this application.
Address
(Signature)
Dated
(Official title)
IMPORTANT NOTICE — READ CAREFULLY
If the applicant cannot write plainly, he will request some one who writes
legibly to fill in the blank spaces on this applicaton, but he must sign this
application personally.
If he served in two or more commands he need only give those in which
he enlisted and from which he received an honorable discharge, giving in
each case the dates of his enlistment and discharge; also designating his
rank, company and command in the Army, Navy or Marine Corps.
This Commiss-on desires that the veterans from each County assemble,
as far as practicable, and entrain at some conveniently central point in
the county, or, if preferred, at two or three points where there are a large
number of veterans and where, if the aggregate of passengers be sufficient,
special train service could be arranged by the officers of the Grand Army
Post. It is therefore hoped that the applicant, before naming h's selection of
railroad station and railway line on this blank, will confer with his com-
rades in the locality where he resides, with a view of securing harmony of
action and a mutually satisfactory determination upon this important question.
Do not write in the blank spaces at the top of the application as these
will be filled in at the office of the Commission for ready reference by our
office force.
Notice must be promptly sent to the Commission of any change of
address. If by reason of illness or from other causes the veteran, after
Report of Commission. 79
filing h!s application for transportation, is unable to go, notice to that
effect must be mailed without delay to the office of this Commission.
Enclose a self-addressed postal card if apphcant wishes the receipt of
this application acknowledged by the Comm'ssion.
This application will be filed, but action thereon is subject to an
appropriation by the State providing the moneys required to meet the
expenditure.
No application will be received after May 1, 1913.
80
Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
VOID
IF ALTERED
OR PRESENTED
AFTER
JULY 3, 1913
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Report of Commission. 81
To be Carried in Your Pocket During the Gettysburg Reunion
Member G. A. K. Post Xo
Member U. C. V. Camp Xo. .
*^ H Post Office Address of G. A. R.-,
^ -' Post or U. C. V. Camp J^'*-^' '"'^^te.
^ i^ In case of SICKNESS or ACCIDENT please communicate with
■H
o
pq Post Office Address
Number and Street
X"^ame in Full .
I Xo Street .
City State
To be Carried in Your Pocket During the Gettysburg Reunion
To be Carried in Your Pocket During the Gettysburg Reunion
fiA Xame in Full .
H
X'umber and Street j
^ '^ Post Office Address ")
H * xT„_i — .,„,! «<-.„..+ J-^'o Street.
H ^
h J City State
O
n
Age years, Height ft in., Weight lbs.
To be Carried in Your Pocket During the Gettysburg Reunion
82 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
New York Veterans Semi-Centennial Celebration
OF the
Battle of Gettysburg,
under the direction of
The New York Monuments Commission
In the Large Tent on the Battlefield, at 4:30 P. M., Thursday
July 3, 1913.
A cordial invitalion is extended to all Union and Confederate veterans
and to the general public.
New York Veterans Celebration, Gettysburg, July 3, 1913.
PROGRAM.
MUSIC CITIZENS BAND.
1. Remarks by CoLONEL LEWIS R. SteGMAN, U. S. V., Chairman
of the New York Monuments Commission, introducing
Colonel Horatio C. King, U. S. V., the Presiding Officer.
2. Invocation.
3. Introductory Remarks by CHAIRMAN KiNG.
4. Address — His Excellency, HoN. WiLLIAM SuLZER, Governor
of New York.
MUSIC CITIZENS BAND.
5. Oration — Rev. Newell Dwight Hillis, D. D., Pastor ot
Plymouth Church, Brooklyn.
6. Hymn — " My Country, 'tis of Thee " Smith
(The audience will join in the singing.)
My country, 'tis of thee. Our fathers' God, to Thee,
Sweet land of liberty. Author of Liberty,
Of Thee I sing. To Thee we sing.
Land where our fathers died. Long may our land be bright
Land of the pilgrims' pride. With Freedom's holy light.
From every mountain side Protect us by Thy might.
Let freedom ring. Great God our King.
7. Address — CoLONEL Andrew Cowan, U. S. V., President of
the Society of the Army of the Potomac.
MUSIC — " dixie."
Report of Commission. 83
8. Poem — Colonel Edmund Berkeley, 8th Virginia Regiment,
C. S. A.
music ■ — CITIZENS BAND.
9. Address — CAPTAIN ALBERT M. Mills, U. S. V., 8th N. Y.
Cavahy, Gamble's Brigade, Buford's Cavahy.
10. Remarks — JoHN H LEATHERS, C. S. A,, Sergeant-Major, Second
Virginia Infantry, Stonewall Brigade.
MUSIC CITIZENS BAND.
I 1 . Poem — " Gettysburg " (by request) CoLONEL HoRATIO C.
King, U. S. V.
2. Doxology — Benediction.
3. Music — " Star Spangled Banner " Kelj
STATE OFFICERS:
Hon. William Sulzer, Governor.
Hon. Martin H. Glynn, Lieutenant-Governor.
Hon. Mitchell May, Secretary of State.
Hon. William Sohmer, Comptroller.
Hon. Thomas Carmody, Attorney-General.
Hon. John J. Kennedy, Treasurer.
Hon. John A. Bensel, Engineer.
NEW YORK STATE MONUMENTS COMMISSION
for the
BATTLEFIELDS OF GETTYSBURG. CHATTANOOGA AND
ANTIETAM.
Colonel Lewis R. Stegman, U. S. V., Chairman.
Colonel Clinton Beckwith, U. S. V.
Colonel Horatio C. King, U. S. V.
Brig.-Gen. Henry D. Hamilton,
The Adjutant-General.
A. J. Zabriskie,
Engineer and Secretary.
84 Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg.
RESUME.
From the time that the Commission for the Celebration of the Fiftieth
Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg opened its office, in May, 1912,
until the end of June, 1913, over 12,000 applications for transportation
to Gettysburg were received by it from veterans in the State of New York.
Several hundreds of these applicants finally declined to attend the celebra-
tion for various reasons.
There were 10,691 transportation orders issued to veterans, of which
2,574 were returned unused, for reasons of declination, disability, and in
some cases death.
For the purpose of verification, index cards were used by the Commission
and constant comparisons made of applications as they were received.
Every transportation order was duly numbered, and on the stubs of the
books containing the transportation certificates the contents of the applica-
tions were written. The applcations, index cards, stubs of transportation
certificates, and all business letters in connection with the Gettysburg
fiftieth anniversary celebration, are on file in this office. The transportation
certificates issued to the railroads, and which were returned to this office
as vouchers by the railroads for payment of their bills, are also on file here.
Before payments were made to the railroads of the amounts claimed by
them, every transportation order was carefully compared with the original
application, the index card and the stub in the transportation books, and
duly verified.
The railroads furnished rates from all points of the State to Gettysburg,
and return, and gave ample time for excursions to outside points. Many
veterans took advantage of this privilege.
A summary of the statements shows that fourteen railroads exchanged
for transportation orders, from 310 stations, 8117 tickets. Of these, 51
whole tickets and 16 portions of tickets were forwarded to the office of
this Commission " unused " by their holders, and the redemption values
of same were deducted from the b'lls of the railroad companies issuing them.
There were 25 refunds made to veterans who paid their own fares to
Gettysburg, and return, to attend the fiftieth anniversary celebration.
The sum total of the appropriations for the fiftieth anniversary celebration
of the battle of Gettysburg was $165,000.00.
There was disbursed by this Commission on account of the celebration
$124,224.25.
This leaves an unexpended balance in the State Treasury of $40,775.75
All vouchers for the above expenditures are on file in the Comptroller's
office at Albany, N. Y., and have been duly examined and audited by
Report of Commission. 85
%
that department. The Commission's accounts agree in every particular
with the books of the Comptroller.
Respectfully submitted, in behalf of the New York Monuments
Commission.
Lewis R. Stegman,
Chairman.
114 8 1 /"I
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