Gettysburg continued--the Address and more

Today was a less hectic day. We had lectures on the Emancipation Proclamation and Lincoln's motives for issuing it when he did. Also, we discussed whether the Civil War was a revolution or a secession and why there is an important difference. The touring today was focused around the Gettysburg Address.

The David Wills House in Gettysburg. Lincoln visited here and Wills was one of the main men responsible for devising and implementing the plan behind the Gettysburg Cemetery.

The room and bed where Lincoln slept in the David Wills House the night before he gave his address at the Gettysburg Battlefield.

A picture of the Wills House from across the street at the Gettysburg Hotel, where I am staying.

At the entrance to the Cemetery. Sunset over the Cemetery, where the dead from the Civil War, WWI, and WWII are buried.

The Soldiers' Peace Monument below and a state marker for Mass. with the number of soldiers from Mass. buried here in this semi-circle.

As there were so many dead to bury after the Battle of Gettysburg, a plan was made to group the dead soldiers by states and then bury them in all the same type of grave, regardless of rank. The graves are in a semi-circle all around the cememtery's monument to the unknown soldier. Only Union troops were buried here.

Pictures from Gettysburg National Cemetery.

This is the memorial and grave of Jenny Wade, the only civilian killed in the fighting surrounding Gettysburg.

So, obviously the Gettysburg Address was delivered here:) MANY of my students have memorized this famous speech, many more were supposed to!! There are many fallacies that surround the speech. One is that Lincoln wrote it on the back of an envelope. This is untrue; it was written before he arrived from Washington and he refined it upon reaching Gettysburg.

Another educational and illuminating day. Tomorrow is our last full day here and I hope to get to the Longstreet Memorial.