The+Story+of+the+Gettysburg+Address

In the 1850s the United States was in turmoil over slavery. Tension and anger over this issue spread throughout the country. The men in the Senate and the House of Representatives voiced the people's feelings. The North was against slavery and the South favored it. Arguments continued and when the time came to elect a president in 1860, the country was confused and divided. With four candidates to choose for the presidency, confusion and tension increased.

Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate, was opposed to slavery. The southern states did not like Lincoln and threatened to leave the Union if he were elected. When Lincoln won, seven stated seceded from the Union in 1861: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. They formed their own country, the Confederate States of America. Anger grew in the northern states because the people felt the southern states had no right to leave the Union.

President Lincoln was distressed because the United States was on the brink of war. Lincoln wanted to save the Union. The Confederate States asked for surrender of all federal forts within their territory. April 12, 1861, the Confederates fired upon Fort Sumter (SC), which was the start to the Civil War.


 * Fort Sumter in South Carolina**

In the first two years of the Civil War, thousands of men died. It seemed as if the fighting would never end. However, in 1863, Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his Confederate soldiers invaded the North. Lee wanted to move the fighting to the North to threaten some of the larger cities. Most of the battles had been in Virginia and Tennessee. Lee was hoping that by winning a battle on northern soil, the South would have its independence. General Lee led his troops across Maryland and invaded Pennsylvania. By splitting his forces, he was able to capture several small towns.


 * General Robert E. Lee** (Confederate)

Union General George G. Meade knew that Lee's forces were scattered. However, he did not know that Lee's forces were heading toward Gettysburg. Meade had stationed a small infantry outside Gettysburg to keep watch. Union soldiers discovered a Confederate infantry brigade advancing on a small, country town on July 1, 1863. The Union opened fire and the Battle of Gettysburg began.


 * General George Meade** (Union)

The fighting grew intense when Lee and other Confederate troops arrived. The Union soldiers retreated to the top of Cemetery Ridge, a long hill.


 * Cemetery Hill**

That night, Union soldiers dug defensive positions on the ridge and on Culp's Hill. Meade and his commanders planned a strategy for the next day's battle.


 * Culp's Hill**

On the second day of fighting the Union men held to their positions no matter where the Confederates struck. The third day of battle was when the fighting was at its worst. With supplies low and many men wounded or killed, Lee knew that his only hope was a direct frontal attack on the Union lines. More than 140 Confederate cannons began to fire. The Union on Cemetery Hill returned the fire. For two hours, the guns on both sides fired. However, the Union stopped in order to conserve ammunition. The Confederate soldiers formed a line a mile long and marched across the open field.


 * Confederate Troops**

The Union soldiers opened fire on the Confederates. The Confederates, led by General George Pickett, kept moving forward. The two armies crashed together in hand-to-hand combat. The Union soldiers sent for more troop; however, the Confederates had not more troops in which to call. More than half of the Confederate ranks lay wounded or dead on the battlefield. The Battle of Gettysburg was the turning point of the Civil War. The Confederates had lost. July 4, 1863, the Confederates began their retreat South. Although the war lasted for nearly two more years, the Confederacy had lost its chance to win a decisive battle and threaten the North. The people of the North knew the Union would be preserved.


 * General George Pickett** (Confederate)

Once both armies had left Gettysburg, many visitors came to see the battlefield. The land, trees, fences, and buildings lay in ruins. There were thousands of shallow graves throughout the battlefield. Soldiers were buried where they had fallen. There was not time for a proper burial. People wanted to do something to honor these men. Mr. David Wills of Gettysburg wanted to create a new cemetery and name it Soldier's National Cemetery.


 * David Wills**

Wills wrote a letter to Governor Curtin of Pennsylvania and told him about the idea for a cemetery. Wills had the governor's approval, and states that lost men during this battle sent money. Seventeen acres of land was purchased. The new cemetery would be laid out in a half circles with the graves arranged in rows. Each state would have its own section based by each state in the Union. A headstone would mark each grave stating the name, regiment, and company. The headstone would read "Unknown" if the soldier could not be identified. Burial teams began to bring the bodies to their new resting place. The men who had died during this battle now had an honorable resting place. Mr. Wills wanted to have a ceremony to dedicate the cemetery.


 * Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin**

Wills wrote President Lincoln asking him to come speak at the dedication of the Soldier's National Cemetery. Lincoln found the time to come since he knew the importance this battle had in preserving the Union. Lincoln began preparing for his speech. He knew the main speaker at the ceremony would be Edward Everett of Massachusetts, the famous orator in America. Knowing this and that there would be other speakers, Lincoln decided to make his speech very short. Lincoln really wanted people to understand the sacrifices these soldiers made to preserve the Union. He worked on the speech the night before the ceremony and finished writing it past midnight. It was less than 275 words.


 * Edward Everett**

On November 19, 1863, at eleven o'clock, the parade to the cemetery began. A platform had been built for the speakers and was decorated in red, white, and blue bunting. Everett spoke for nearly two hours, followed by a choir that sang a hymn written especially for the occasion, and then Lincoln was introduced. He read from two handwritten pages. The people burst into applause and sang a hymn. A final prayer was given and the ceremony ended.


 * The Gettysburg Address - November 19, 1863**

Lincoln's words went down in history as one of the most powerful speeches in American history.

Source: Richards, Kenneth. //The Story of the Gettysburg Address//. Chicago: Childrens Press, 1969. Print.