This image is the cover for the book Lincoln Comes to Gettysburg, Emerging Civil War Series

Lincoln Comes to Gettysburg, Emerging Civil War Series

New York Times–Bestselling Author:The story of the battle’s aftermath—the burial of the dead, and Lincoln’s appearance to make “a few appropriate remarks.”

Almost 8,000 dead dotted the fields of Gettysburg after the guns went silent. The Confederate dead were hastily buried, but what of the Union dead? Several men hatched the idea of a new cemetery to bury and honor the Union soldiers just south of town. Their task was difficult to say the least.

After the State of Pennsylvania purchased seventeen acres, a renowned landscape architect designed the cemetery’s layout. All was now ready for the bodies to be taken from their uneasy resting places around the battlefield, placed in coffins, marked with their names and units, and transported to the new cemetery to be permanently reinterred. More than 3,500 men were moved to the Soldiers’ National Cemetery.

As these tasks gained momentum, so too did planning for the cemetery’s consecration or dedication. A committee of agents from each state that had lost men in battle worked out the logistics. Most of the program was easily decided—it would be composed of odes, singing, prayers, and remarks by the nation’s most renowned orator, Edward Everett. The committee argued over whether President Abraham Lincoln should be invited to the ceremony and, if so, his role in the program. Divided by politics, it decided on a middle ground, inviting the president to provide “a few appropriate remarks.” To the surprise of many, he accepted the invitation, for the most part crafted his remarks in the Executive Mansion, and headed to Gettysburg, arriving on the evening of November 18, 1863. The town was filled with thousands expecting to witness the “event of the century.”

The next day, Lincoln mounted a horse to join the procession heading for the cemetery. The program was unremarkable, except for Lincoln’s remarks—whose reception was split along party lines. Lincoln Comes to Gettysburg: The Creation of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address recounts the events in vivid historical detail.

Includes photographs

Praise for Bradley M. Gottfried’s previous books:

“Engrossing . . . Civil War buffs will delight in this gripping addition to the literature of Gettysburg.” —Publishers Weekly

“An intimate picture of life with the brigade.” —The New York Times

Bradley M. Gottfried, Linda I. Gottfried, Doug Douds

Dr. Bradley M. Gottfried holds a Ph.D. in Zoology from Miami University. Brad, who is recently retired, worked in higher education for more than four decades, beginning as a full-time faculty member and ending as president of the College of Southern Maryland. He also serves as a board member of the Central Virginia Battlefield Trust. Brad and his wife Linda have four children and five grandchildren. He has recently finished his manuscript on The Maps of Spotsylvania, North Anna, and Cold Harbor Campaigns. He is hard at work on two projects: The Maps of Petersburg and Appomattox and the story of the creation and consecration of the Gettysburg National Cemetery that will be published as part of the Emerging Civil War Series. An avid Civil War historian, Dr. Gottfried is the author of eleven books, including Stopping Pickett: The History of the Philadelphia Brigade (1999), Brigades of Gettysburg (2002), Kearny’s Own: The History of the First New Jersey Brigade (2005), and five previous Savas Beatie Military Atlas Titles (First Bull Run, Antietam, Gettysburg, Bristoe Station/Mine Run, and Wilderness). Brad and his wife recently published a history of the Point Lookout Civil War Prisoner of War Camp for Confederates. He is currently finalizing (with Theodore P. Savas) The Gettysburg Campaign Encyclopedia.

Savas Beatie