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