Okla-homey
11/19/2007, 06:36 AM
November 19, 1863 : President Lincoln delivers Gettysburg Address
http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/33615/2002880532947220424_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002880532947220424)
On this day 143 years ago, Abraham Lincoln spoke in the small hamlet of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, delivering a short dedicatory speech for the cemetery of soldiers killed during the battle there on July 1 to 3, 1863. The address he gave became perhaps the most famous speech in American history.
Lincoln had given much thought to what he wanted to say at Gettysburg, but he nearly missed his chance to say it. On the day before, November 18, Lincoln's son, Tad, became ill with a fever. Abraham and Mary Lincoln were, sadly, no strangers to juvenile illness: they had already lost two sons. Prone to fits of hysteria, Mary Todd Lincoln panicked when the president prepared to leave for Pennsylvania.
http://aycu23.webshots.com/image/31742/2003564576884232672_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003564576884232672)
Lincoln and son Thomas he called "Tad." This image was struck in April 1865 in the White House just days before the president's assassination.
Lincoln felt that the opportunity to speak at Gettysburg and present his defense of the war was too important to miss. Although the Union had won a great victory at Gettysburg the pervious summer, the Confederacy was still a dangerous threat and had recently won a biggie itself at Chickamauga in late September. Lincoln resolved to go over his wife's protests and boarded a train at noon on Nov. 18 in Washington and headed for Gettysburg.
Despite his son's illness, Lincoln was in good spirits on the journey -- personally, I've always felt getting away from the wierd and wacky Mrs. L. had a lot to do with that happy mood.
He was accompanied by an entourage that included Secretary of State William "Icebox" Seward (remember him as the guy who later bought Alaska from the Russkies), Postmaster General Montgomery Blair, Interior Secretary John Usher, Lincoln's personal secretaries John Hay and John Nicolay, several members of the diplomatic corps, some foreign visitors, a Marine band, and a military escort.
During one stop, a young girl lifted a bouquet of flowers to his window. Lincoln kissed her and said, "You're a sweet little rose-bud yourself. I hope your life will open into perpetual beauty and goodness."
http://img495.imageshack.us/img495/4853/zzzzgettysburgnationalcemetery.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Shortly after the Battle of Gettysburg in early July 1863, with the support of Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin, the cemetery site had been purchased and starting within a month of the battle, Union dead were moved from shallow and inadequate burial sites on the battlefield to the cemetery.
When Lincoln arrived in Gettysburg, he was handed a telegram that lifted his spirits: "Tad was feeling much better". Lincoln enjoyed an evening dinner and a serenade by Fifth New York Heavy Artillery Band before he retired to the home of David Wills (who as mentioned had been the local driving force behind the cemetery) to finalize his famous Gettysburg Address.
http://aycu03.webshots.com/image/34362/2003576760123657109_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003576760123657109)
The exact spot where Lincoln delivered his remarks are memorialized by this at the cemetery. The main speaker at the ceremony was Edward Everett, a famous orator d00d who droned on for over two hours before Lincoln spoke.
Local attorney David Wills was the man primarily responsible for acquiring the land, overseeing the construction of the cemetery, and planning its dedication ceremony. The landscape architect William Saunders, founder of the "National Grange," designed the cemetery. It was originally called Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg.
The cemetery was not completed until March of 1864 when the last of 3,512 Union dead were reburied. It became a National Cemetery on May 1, 1872, when control was transferred to the War Department. It is currently administered by the National Park Service as part of Gettysburg National Military Park and contains the remains of over 6,000 individuals who served in a number of American wars, from the Mexican-American War to the present day
Despite what you may have heard or been taught in school, Lincoln didn't scribble the speech on the back of an envelope on the train on the way up. He worked hard on the speech and although he himself didn't think it very good when he gave it, we all know better now.
http://aycu28.webshots.com/image/34307/2003515222569565663_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003515222569565663)
An actual image of the crowd attending Lincoln's speech shot by a local photographer. If you're good, you can probably make Lincoln out in the center, he's hatless and his prominent forehead is shining.
http://img495.imageshack.us/img495/1844/zzzlincoln5tt.gif (http://imageshack.us)
Here's an enhancement of this same image showing Lincoln to better effect.
No other writer has since been able to describe what we're all about as a nation so succintly as this self-taught Kentucky born hillbilly who grew up in rural Indiana and Illinois.
http://aycu08.webshots.com/image/35327/2003579268754417932_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003579268754417932)
Here's page one of the original first draft, written on White House stationary in pen. The second page is written on foolscap in pencil which suggests that it was written after arrival in Gettysburg on this night in 1863 because the president wasn't completely happy with what he had previously written
http://img495.imageshack.us/img495/3091/zzzzzabraham20delivering20the2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Romanticized image of Lincoln delivering his "speech written on the back of an envelope" by Norman Rockwell. The painting was a Saturday Evening Post cover. Rockwell deliberately shaded the president's face in a a subtle attempt to denote he was not long for this world nor did he seek to glorify himself but only sought to celebrate the great sacrifice by those who fought at Gettysburg.
Lincoln's tragic death, while celebrated by hard-core Confederates, was in fact a very unfortunate event for the defeated South. Historians are reasonably certain Federal "reconstruction" policies would have been much less severe under Lincoln's leadership since he had already begun to share he intended to welcome home the rebellious states and treat their citizens as full members of the republic with all their rights restored.
It's also worth noting, that even today, lots of folks consider Lincoln a tyrant. This is due mostly to the fact the Republican president took measures including the infringement of Constitutional liberties and the suspension of habeas corpus, holding many US citizens accused of being Southern sympathizers without trial.
http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/34055/2002894734469973132_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002894734469973132)
The famous speech is included on an interior wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.
http://aycu38.webshots.com/image/34557/2003561482003180842_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003561482003180842)
http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/33615/2002880532947220424_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002880532947220424)
On this day 143 years ago, Abraham Lincoln spoke in the small hamlet of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, delivering a short dedicatory speech for the cemetery of soldiers killed during the battle there on July 1 to 3, 1863. The address he gave became perhaps the most famous speech in American history.
Lincoln had given much thought to what he wanted to say at Gettysburg, but he nearly missed his chance to say it. On the day before, November 18, Lincoln's son, Tad, became ill with a fever. Abraham and Mary Lincoln were, sadly, no strangers to juvenile illness: they had already lost two sons. Prone to fits of hysteria, Mary Todd Lincoln panicked when the president prepared to leave for Pennsylvania.
http://aycu23.webshots.com/image/31742/2003564576884232672_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003564576884232672)
Lincoln and son Thomas he called "Tad." This image was struck in April 1865 in the White House just days before the president's assassination.
Lincoln felt that the opportunity to speak at Gettysburg and present his defense of the war was too important to miss. Although the Union had won a great victory at Gettysburg the pervious summer, the Confederacy was still a dangerous threat and had recently won a biggie itself at Chickamauga in late September. Lincoln resolved to go over his wife's protests and boarded a train at noon on Nov. 18 in Washington and headed for Gettysburg.
Despite his son's illness, Lincoln was in good spirits on the journey -- personally, I've always felt getting away from the wierd and wacky Mrs. L. had a lot to do with that happy mood.
He was accompanied by an entourage that included Secretary of State William "Icebox" Seward (remember him as the guy who later bought Alaska from the Russkies), Postmaster General Montgomery Blair, Interior Secretary John Usher, Lincoln's personal secretaries John Hay and John Nicolay, several members of the diplomatic corps, some foreign visitors, a Marine band, and a military escort.
During one stop, a young girl lifted a bouquet of flowers to his window. Lincoln kissed her and said, "You're a sweet little rose-bud yourself. I hope your life will open into perpetual beauty and goodness."
http://img495.imageshack.us/img495/4853/zzzzgettysburgnationalcemetery.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Shortly after the Battle of Gettysburg in early July 1863, with the support of Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin, the cemetery site had been purchased and starting within a month of the battle, Union dead were moved from shallow and inadequate burial sites on the battlefield to the cemetery.
When Lincoln arrived in Gettysburg, he was handed a telegram that lifted his spirits: "Tad was feeling much better". Lincoln enjoyed an evening dinner and a serenade by Fifth New York Heavy Artillery Band before he retired to the home of David Wills (who as mentioned had been the local driving force behind the cemetery) to finalize his famous Gettysburg Address.
http://aycu03.webshots.com/image/34362/2003576760123657109_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003576760123657109)
The exact spot where Lincoln delivered his remarks are memorialized by this at the cemetery. The main speaker at the ceremony was Edward Everett, a famous orator d00d who droned on for over two hours before Lincoln spoke.
Local attorney David Wills was the man primarily responsible for acquiring the land, overseeing the construction of the cemetery, and planning its dedication ceremony. The landscape architect William Saunders, founder of the "National Grange," designed the cemetery. It was originally called Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg.
The cemetery was not completed until March of 1864 when the last of 3,512 Union dead were reburied. It became a National Cemetery on May 1, 1872, when control was transferred to the War Department. It is currently administered by the National Park Service as part of Gettysburg National Military Park and contains the remains of over 6,000 individuals who served in a number of American wars, from the Mexican-American War to the present day
Despite what you may have heard or been taught in school, Lincoln didn't scribble the speech on the back of an envelope on the train on the way up. He worked hard on the speech and although he himself didn't think it very good when he gave it, we all know better now.
http://aycu28.webshots.com/image/34307/2003515222569565663_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003515222569565663)
An actual image of the crowd attending Lincoln's speech shot by a local photographer. If you're good, you can probably make Lincoln out in the center, he's hatless and his prominent forehead is shining.
http://img495.imageshack.us/img495/1844/zzzlincoln5tt.gif (http://imageshack.us)
Here's an enhancement of this same image showing Lincoln to better effect.
No other writer has since been able to describe what we're all about as a nation so succintly as this self-taught Kentucky born hillbilly who grew up in rural Indiana and Illinois.
http://aycu08.webshots.com/image/35327/2003579268754417932_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003579268754417932)
Here's page one of the original first draft, written on White House stationary in pen. The second page is written on foolscap in pencil which suggests that it was written after arrival in Gettysburg on this night in 1863 because the president wasn't completely happy with what he had previously written
http://img495.imageshack.us/img495/3091/zzzzzabraham20delivering20the2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Romanticized image of Lincoln delivering his "speech written on the back of an envelope" by Norman Rockwell. The painting was a Saturday Evening Post cover. Rockwell deliberately shaded the president's face in a a subtle attempt to denote he was not long for this world nor did he seek to glorify himself but only sought to celebrate the great sacrifice by those who fought at Gettysburg.
Lincoln's tragic death, while celebrated by hard-core Confederates, was in fact a very unfortunate event for the defeated South. Historians are reasonably certain Federal "reconstruction" policies would have been much less severe under Lincoln's leadership since he had already begun to share he intended to welcome home the rebellious states and treat their citizens as full members of the republic with all their rights restored.
It's also worth noting, that even today, lots of folks consider Lincoln a tyrant. This is due mostly to the fact the Republican president took measures including the infringement of Constitutional liberties and the suspension of habeas corpus, holding many US citizens accused of being Southern sympathizers without trial.
http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/34055/2002894734469973132_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002894734469973132)
The famous speech is included on an interior wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.
http://aycu38.webshots.com/image/34557/2003561482003180842_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003561482003180842)