iLTNCOLNATi I iGEITYSmJRGp 5 ^m^m. BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF Hettrg W. Sage 1891 ^...z.^Q..^.e.2. 7/1//.0.: 6896- 1 CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 1924 095 644 211 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924095644211 LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG Bt Cuvrk E. Carr THE ILLINI: A Stort or the FBAIRIE8. With many portraits. Sixth Edition. 8to, $2.00 net. A. C. McClukg & Co., Publishers Chicago ABRAHAM LINCOLN Lincoln at Getttsbueg Att AhJirjBa BY CLARK E. CARR AUTHOR OP "the IlilNl" ILLUSTRATED SECOND EDITION CHICAGO A. C. McCLURG & CO. 1906 COFTRIQHT, 1906 Bt CLARK E. CARR Published September 22, 1006 Second Edition, December 22, 1906 P\«a-^o-^-'^'7 ■ DOSNELLEY & SONS COMPANV CHICAGO ILLUSTKATIONS FAOB Portrait of Abraham Lincoln Frontispiece Portrait of Gteneral Eobert E. Lee . 6 Portrait of Governor Andrew G. Chirtin 10 Map of the Soldiers' National Cem- etery, Grettysbiirg . . 16 Portrait of John Hay . . .26 The National Monument at Gettys- burg Cemetery . . . 34 Portrait of Edward Everett . . 40 Portrait of General George G. Meade 46 Portrait of William H. Seward . 62 Portrait of John G. Nicolay . . 74 A Wavh CT^HE essential features of this work were brought out hy me in an ad- dress delivered January 25, 1906, "before the Illinois State Historical Society at Springfidd, in the State Capitol. The address attracted corir siderahle attention and I have been freguenUy called upon to r^eat it. So much interest has been manifested in it that I have been constrained to revise it and to enlarge its scope beyond the limits of an ordinary address, and thus piiblish it in book form. The members of the Commission who had charge of the Gettysburg National Cemetery when the consecra- tion ceremonies were held, had all, at that tim£, exc&pt myself, either entered A WORD upon or passed middle life, while I was hut twenty-seven years old, and I now knoio of no other survivor than myself. If, after the lapse of nearly half a century, there he another, I shall he glad to hear from him, in the hope that he may he able to add his recollec- tions of the interesting event to my own. C. E. C. GALESBURG, ILL., June SO, 1906. LINCOLN AT GETTYSBUEG LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG "TjlOTJR score and seven years -*- ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. [1] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBUEG We are met to dedicate a por- tion of it as the final resting place of those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fit- ting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate — we cannot consecrate — we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our power to add or de- tract. The world will little [2] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfin- ished work that they have thus far so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedi- cated to the great task remain- ing before us, — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to the cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, — that we here highly resolve that the dead [3] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG shall not have died in vain; that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of free- dom, and that the government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth. [4] LINCOLN AT GETTTSBUEG An Aitlur^BB THE BATTLE THE battle of Gettysburg was fought on the first, second, and third of July, 1863. The Confederate army, under the command of General Eobert E. Lee, elated with success, had entered Pennsylvania, menacing Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Bal- timore, and Washington. Even New York was threatened, for, had the advance of Lee not been checked, the great metropolis would have been at his mercy, and there can be little doubt but that the Southern rebellion would have been successful. [5] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG Under these circumstances, with the invading hordes upon them, the consternation and terror of the loyal people of Pennsylvania can be better imagined than described. That this invasion of the North was not successful is due to the heroism and forti- tude of the Union soldiers, who, under the command of General George G. Meade, met the in- vader in mortal combat, and, after three days of desperate fighting, in which many thou- sands were killed and a vast number wounded, hurled him back across the border, never to return. ILLINOIS OPENED THE BATTLE It is not generally known [6] GENERAL EGBERT E. LEE LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG that Illinois soldiers were the first to meet the onset of the enemy and fired the first shot in the great battle. This is the fact, brought out clearly by Colonel William Gamble, of the Eighth Illinois cavalry, in a letter to the Honorable William L. Church and myself, March 10, 1864, the truth of which, so far as I know, has not been questioned. This regiment be- longed to Buford's cavalry di- vision, and fired the first shot in meeting and checking the advance of the Confederates under General A. P. Hill. This shot precipitated and brought on the three days' conflict which turned the tide of war. [7] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG THE NATIONAL CEMETEEY Scarcely had the reverber- ations of the guns of the battle died away when the Hon- orable David Wills, a citizen of Gettysburg, wrote to the Honorable Andrew G. Curtin, the great war Governor of Penn- sylvania, suggesting that a plat of ground in the midst of the battlefield be at once purchased and set apart as a soldiers' na- ional cemetery, and that the re- mains of the dead be exhumed and placed in this cemetery. He suggested that the ground to be selected should be on what was known as Cemetery Hill, so called because adjoining it is the local cemetery of Gettysburg. [8] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG WHY CEMETEEY HILL WAS SELECTED As a reason why that ground should be chosen, Mr, Wills said : " It is the place where our army had about forty pieces of artillery in action all Thursday and Friday, and for their pro- tection had thrown up a large number of earthworks. It is the point where the desperate attack was made by the Louis- iana brigades on Thursday eve- ning, when taking possession of them, and were finally driven back by the infantry, assisted by the artillerymen with their handspikes and rammers. It was the key to the whole line of defences, the spot of the [9] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG triangular line of battle. It is the spot above all others for the honorable burial of the dead who have fallen on these fields." Governor Curtin at once ap- proved of the recommendation of Mr. Wills, and correspond- ence was opened with the gov- ernors of the loyal States whose troops had engaged in the battle, asking them to co- operate in the movement. The grounds proposed by Mr. Wills, seventeen acres, which em- braced the highest point of Cemetery Hill, and overlooked the whole battlefield, were at once purchased. The governors of fifteen of the [10] GOVERNOR ANDREW G. CURTIN LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG States immediately responded, foremost among whom was Illinois's great war Governor, known and recognized every- where as " the soldiers' friend," Richard Tates. THE CEMETEEY INCOEPOEATED The Legislature of Pennsyl- vania passed an act incorporat- ing "The Soldiers' National Cemetery," naming one trustee for each State cooperating, who was suggested by its Gov- ernor. I was named for Illi- nois. When the first meeting was held, supposing that each State would have two on the board, the Governor appointed the Honorable William L. Church, [11] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG of Chicago, then clerk of the Cir- cuit Court and recorder of Cook county, and myself, and to- gether we attended the first meeting, after which I alone represented Illinois on the board. When Governor Tates retired from the executive office, I was reappointed by Governor Oglesby. The board was organized by the election of Mr. David Wills of Gettys- burg — who had initiated the movement — president, and Mr. John E. Bartlett, Secretary of the State of Ehode Island, also one of our commissioners, secretary. FIEST NATIONAL CEMETEEY It must be remembered that when this board was establish- [12] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG ed the general Government had not entered upon, nor even con- sidered, the policy of establish- ing soldiers' national cemeter- ies. This came afterwards, and I think that the suggestion of such a policy came from the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg. Our board con- tinued in charge there until the Government system was in- augurated. We then turned the cemetery over to the general Government, which, having a fund for that purpose, has since cared for it. As is the case with the other national cemeteries, an officer of the army and a squad of men are always kept there in charge. [13] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG The appropriations given us by the different States amount- ed in the aggregate to nearly a hundred and forty thousand dol- lars, Illinois contributing, not- withstanding the small number of our dead buried there, — only six,— $11,774.84. Illinois had but three regiments in the bat- tle, the Eighth and Twelfth cavalry and the Eighty-second infantry. The first action necessary, after the movement to inaugu- rate a national cemetery had been determined upon and the ground purchased, was to lay out a plat for graves, and to take up and remove the re- mains of the dead, which were [14] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG scattered over a radius of many miles. The dead had been hastily buried in the fields where they had fallen, and bodies were frequently found with scarcely any covering. THE CEMETEEY LAID OUT The cemetery was laid out in the form of a half-circle, the centre of which was reserved for the imposing monument which has since been reared, from which the haK-circles of the graves radiate, the inner half-circle, of course, being very smaU, and the half-circles increasing in length and capac- ity as they extended. On this inner semicircle — that nearest [15] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG the momiment — I was able to have placed the Illinois section, which, of course, is very small. On one side of our Illinois sec- tion is a large one, containing the graves of the unknown, and on the other that of the State of Virginia. It was upon the ground in the centre re- served for the monument that the platform from which the addresses were delivered was placed. This platform fronted away from the cemetery proper, giving room for the vast audi- ence of people in front of and facing it, to be near to, but not upon, the graves. At the head of every grave was placed a headstone of gran- [16] MAP OF THE GROUNDS and DESIGN FOR THE IMPROVEMENT THE SOLDIERS' NATIONAL CEMETERY GETTYSBURG, PA. 1863 WILLIAM SAUNDERS Landscape Gardener, Germantown, Penn 6-i 9" UNKNOWN ILLINOIS VIRGINIA DELAWARE RHODE ISLAND NEW HAMPSHIRE VERMONT NEW JERSEY WISCONSIN CONNECTICUT MINNESOTA MARYLAND U. S, REGULARS UNKNOWN MAINE MICHIGAN NEW YORK PENNSYLVANIA MASSACHUSETTS OHIO INDIANA UNKNOWN MONUMENT GATE HOUSE FLAGSTAFF, ETC. FROM THE BOOK ISSUED BY THE COMMISSIONERS OF THE SOLDIERS' NATIONAL CEMETERY, 1874. LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG ite, rising nine inches above the ground, upon which was sculp- tured the name, company, and regiment of each soldier, so far as could, be ascertained, while those who could not be identi- fied were marked, "unknown." Of the known there were 2,585, and of the unknown 979, making ia the aggregate 3,564. Large as this number is, it does not nearly represent the number of fatalities among the Union soldiers. Many of the wounded died in the hospitals and else- where, and the remains of quite a large number had been re- moved from the field by rela- tives and friends and taken to their respective homes. [17] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG DEDICATOEY EXEECISES PEOPOSED It was proposed, as the work proceeded, that memorial ded- icatory exercises be held to consecrate this sacred ground, which was finally determined upon. The day first fixed upon for these exercises was the twenty-third of October, 1863. EDWAED EVEEETT INVITED TO DELIVEE THE OEATION The Honorable Edward Ever- ett, of Massachusetts, was then regarded as the greatest living American orator, and it was decided to invite him to deliver the oration; and this was done. But he replied that it was wholly out of his power to make the [18] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG necessary preparation by the twenty-third of October. So desirous were we all to have Mr. Everett, that the dedication was postponed to Thursday, the nineteenth of November, 1863, — nearly a month, — to suit Mr. Everett's convenience. The ded- ication took place on that day. mVITATIONS SENT TO PEESIDENT LmCOLN AND OTHEES A formal invitation to be present was sent to the Presi- dent of the United States and his cabinet, to Major General George G. Meade, who com- manded our troops in the battle ' of Gettysburg, and to the of- ficers and soldiers who had par- ticipated in, and gained, the [19] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG memorable victory. Invitations were also sent to the venerable Lieutenant General Winfield Scott and to Admiral Charles Stewart, the distinguished and time honored representatives-of the army and navy, to the dip- lomatic corps, representing for- eign governments, to the mem- bers of both Houses of Congress, and to other distinguished per- sonages. All these invitations and all arrangements for the dedicatory exercises — as was the case with everything relating to the cem- etery — were considered and de- cided upon by our board of Commissioners, and were, in so far as he was able, under the [20] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG direction of the board, carried into effect by Mr. Wills, our president. As we were all rep- resenting and speaking for the governors of our respective States, by whom we were ap- pointed, we made all the in- vitations in their names. ASKING LINCOLN TO SPEAK WAS AN AFTEETHOUGHT The proposition to ask Mr. Lincoln to speak at the Gettys- burg ceremonies was an after- thought. The President of the United States had, like the other distinguished personages, been invited to be present, but Mr. Lincoln was not, at that time, invited to speak. In fact, it did not seem to occur to any [21] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG one that he could speak upon such an occasion. Scarcely any member of the board, excepting the member representing Illinois, had ever heard him speak at all, and no other member had ever heard, or read from him, anything ex- cept political discussion. When the suggestion was made that he be invited to speak, while all expressed high appreciation of his great abilities as a polit- ical speaker, as shown in his debates with Senator Douglas, and in his Cooper Institute ad- dress, the question was raised as to his ability to speak upon such a grave and solemn occa- sion as that of the memorial [22] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG services. Besides, it was said that, with his important duties and responsibilities, he could not possibly have the leisure to prepare an address for such an occasion. In answer to this it was urged that he himself, better than any one else, could determine as to these questions, and that, if he were invited to speak, he was sure to do what, under the circumstances, would be right and proper. It must be remembered that Mr. Lincoln had not then proved to the world his ability to speak upon such an occasion. He had not yet made a Gettysburg address, and he had not then made that other great address, [23] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG which for sublimity and pathos, ranks next to it, his second in- augural. LINCOLN NOT INVITED TO SPEAK UNTIL SIX WEEKS AFTER MR EVERETT It was finally decided to ask President Lincoln "after the oration" (that is to say, after Mr. Everett's oration), as chief executive of the nation, "to set apart formally these grounds to their sacred use by a few appro- priate remarks." This was done, in the name of the governors of the States, as was the case with others, by Mr. Wills; but the invitation was not settled upon and sent to Mr. Lincoln until the second of November, more [24] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG than six weeks after Mr. Ever- ett had been invited to speak, and but a little more than two weeks before the exercises were held. The President arrived at Get- tysburg upon a special train about dusk on the evening be- fore the exercises, November 18, accompanied by Secretary Seward and other distinguished personages, including those two Illinois boys who afterwards became distinguished — John G. Nicolay, his private secretary, and his assistant private secre- tary, John Hay. He was driven at once to the residence of Mr. Wills, where he was entertained during his stay in the town. [25] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG "We all, headed by a brass band, marched to Mr. Wills's house and serenaded Mr. Lin- coln, who appeared upon the veranda, but said little more than to excuse himself from speaking. After this we sere- naded Secretary Seward, who made quite an extended ad- dress, and afterwards we sere- naded others, who also spoke. WHEN AND WHEEE LINCOLN PKEPAEED THE ADDEESS As to the time and manner of preparation of President Lincoln's address, I think that the best authority is that of Mr. Mcolay, who published an article on "Lincoln's Gettys- burg Address," which I find in a [26] JOHN HAY LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG bound volume of "The Century Magazine," running from Nov- ember, 1893, to April, 1894. After saying that there is no decisive record of when Mr. Lincoln wrote the first sen- tences of his proposed address, Mr. Nicolay speaks of Mr. Lin- coln's usual custom of "using great deliberation in arranging his thoughts and moulding his phrases, mentally, waiting to reduce them to writing until they had taken satisfactory form." THE ADDEESS NOT INTENDED TO BE LONG There was greater necessity of precaution in this case, be- cause the invitation specified [27] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG that the address should only be " a few appropriate remarks." After saying that "brevity in speech and writing was one of Lincoln's marked characteris- tics," and that "Mr. Everett would be quite certain to make a long address, "and after speak- ing of "the want of opportunity for Mr. Lincoln even to think leisurely," Mr. Nicolay con- cludes the remark by saying: "All this strongly confirms the correctness of the statement made by the Honorable James Speed, in an interview published in the 'Louisville Commercial,' in November, 1870, that the President told him that the day before he left Washington he [28] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG found time to write about half of the speech." PEEPAEATION OF THE ADDEESS COMPLETED Mr. Nicolay continues as fol- lows: " It was after the breakfast hour, on the morning of the nineteenth (the day the address was delivered), that the writer, Mr. Lincoln's private secretary, went to the upper room in the home of Mr. Wills, which Mr. Lincoln occupied, to re- port for duty, and remained with the President while he finished writing the Gettysburg address, during the short leisure he could utilize for this purpose before being called to take his place in the procession, which [29] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG was announced on the pro- gramme to move at ten o'clock. "There is neither record evidence nor well founded tradition," Mr. Mcolay contin- ues, "that Mr. Lincoln did any writing or made any notes on the journey between Washing- ton and Gettysburg. The train consisted of four passenger coaches, and either composition or writing would have been ex- tremely troublesome amid the movement, the noise, the con- versation, the greetings and the questionings which ordinary courtesy required him to under- go in these surroundings ; but, still worse would have been the rockings and joltings of [30] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG the train, rendering writing virtually impossible. Mr. Lin- coln carried in his pocket the autograph manuscript of so much of his address as he had written at Washington the day before." THEEE VEESIOl^S OF THE ADDEESS Mr. Nicolay's article contains a facsimile reproduction of the address, which, as he declares, he then " for the first time made public and printed in this article, one page of which is written in ink in the Presi- dent's strong, clear hand, with- out blot or erasure, and the remaining pages written with a pencil. The latter were no [31] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG doubt written at Gettysburg." Mr. Mcolay says that there are three versions of authority for Lincoln's Gettysburg ad- dress : First — The original auto- graph manuscript draft, writ- ten by Mr. Lincoln, partly at Washington and partly at Gettysburg. This is the version to which reference is made above. Second — The version made by the shorthand reporter on the stand at Gettysburg, when the President delivered it, which was telegraphed and was print- ed in the leading newspapers of the country on the following morning. [32] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG Third — The revised copy made by the President a few days after his return to Wash- ington, upon a careful compari- son of his original draft, and the printed newspaper version, with his own recollections of the exEict form in which he deliv- ered it. AUTHENTIC TEXT OF THE ADDKESS Mr. Mcolay says that "four days after Mr. Lincoln's return to Washington," Mr. Wills, president of our board of Com- missioners, wrote him "on be- half of the States interested in the National Cemetery here," requesting "the original manu- script of the dedicatory remarks [33] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG delivered by you here last Mon- day, — we desire them to be placed with the correspondence and other papers connected with the project"; and that, to comply with this request, the President, after comparing the "Associated Press report as it appeared in the newspapers with his original draft," made a new autograph copy — a care- ful and deliberate revision — which has become the standard and authentic text. It will be observed that four days after he spoke at Gettysburg Mr. Wills designated the produc- tion as merely "dedicatory re- marks." I have in my pos- session a book published by the [34] THE NATIONAL MONUMENT AT GETTYSBURG CEMETERY LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG secretary of our board of Com- missioners, under the direction and at the expense of the board, entitled " The Soldiers' National Cemetery at Grettysburg," which contains the address made from that copy. It does not differ from those generally published. CEOWDS COME TO THE DEDICATION New York, Philadelphia, Bal- timore, Washington, Pittsburg, and all the towns and country round about were represented at the dedicatory exercises. It was estimated that there were a hundred thousand people who attended. The crowds be- gan to arrive two days before the exercises were held. I went [35] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG over from Harrisburg on the day before and rode from there in a box freight car, which was seated with rough boards for the occasion. I think that most of the passengers had similar accommodation, as the passen- ger coaches could not begin to carry the people who attended. The town, which then had a population of about two thou- sand, did not begin to be able to take care of the people, many of whom sat up all night. Fortunately for us, Mr. Wills had reserved quarters for the mem- bers of our board at the hotel. THE PEOCESSION It was expected that there would be a great number in a [36] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG procession to follow the Presi- dent's party to the grounds, in which we were disappointed, as most of the people chose to go out by themselves over the battlefield and through the cem- etery. At about ten o'clock in the morning President Lincoln ap- peared at the door of Mr. Wills's house. Horses had been pro- vided for him and his party, and for some other distinguished personages, and for the mem- bers of the board of Commis- sioners. The procession was delayed for some time by people pressing forward to shake hands with the President after he was mounted upon his horse, which [37] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG continued until stopped by the marshals. Following those already men- tioned came civic and military organizations on foot, and final- ly the people at large. One of the most interesting features of the procession was a large company of veteran soldiers who had been wounded in the battle. The procession was under the direction of Major General Couch, marshal of the day. THE PEESIDENT AS HE APPEAEED ON THE MAECH President Lincoln, as we moved slowly forward, sat at first erect upon his horse, hand- ling the reins of the bridle in [38] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG the white gauntlet gloves he wore, in such a stately and dig- nified manner as to make him appear the Commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, which he was. Before he reached the grounds he was bent forward, his arms swinging, his body limp, and his whole frame swaying from side to side. He had become so absorbed in thought that he took little heed of his surround- ings and was riding just as he did over the circuit in Illinois, during the years of his early practice of law, with his saddle bags, which contained all of his possessions, dangling upon each side of his horse. [39] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG Seats were reserved on the platform for the President, the board of Commissioners, and the invited guests. I have no recollection of when Mr. Everett reached Get- tysburg nor of how he got out to the grounds, but I distinctly remember that we waited for him a half-hour before the exercises commenced, during which the bands of music play- ed airs that were solemn and impressive, THE OPENING EXEECISES The exercises were opened with an invocation by the Eev. Dr. Stockton, who was, I think, then chaplain of the United States Senate. Letters of regret [40] HON. EDWABD EVERETT LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG were read from General George G. Meade, who commanded our troops in the great battle and who was still in command of the army at the front; from the venerable General Winfield Scott, and others; after which Mr. Everett was introduced and began his oration. ME. EVEEETT'S OEATION Volumes have been written upon Mr. Everett's address, many of them in a vein of imfriendly criticism, especially contrasting his long and studied speech with the short and pun- gent sentences of Mr. Lincoln. Every just and fair person who intelligently reads that oration must rise from its pe- [41] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBUBG rusal with a feeling that few efforts of ancient or modem times, in splendors of metaphor, classical lore, elegance of dic- tion, lofty sentiments, and clear and logical reasoning, surpass it. He drew inspiration from the orators of Greece, at the fountain of whose eloquence he had drank, being able to read their productions in the lan- guage through whose match- less purity and elegance and strength they had been given to the world. DESCEIBES A CEMETEEY PEE- PAEED FOE GEECIAN HEEOES He took us at the outset to the wonderful Ceramicus in a [42] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBUBG most beautiful suburb of Atli. ens, "adorned by Cimon the son of Miltiades, with walks and fountains and columns, whose groves were filled with altars and shrines and temples, whose gardens were kept for- ever green by the streams from neighboring hills, whose path- ways gleamed with the monu- ments of the illustrious dead, the work of the most consummate masters that ever gave life to marble." He told of "the votive offerings laid upon the coffins of the dead, — flowers, weapons, precious ornaments, painted vases, wonders of art, which after two thousand years, adorn the museums of Europe ; [43] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG and of himself, "after an inter- val of twenty-three centuries, a youthful pilgrim from the world unknown to ancient Greece," visiting that holy ground. He told of how, when funeral ob- sequies were held in this won- derful Ceramicus, "beneath the over-arching plane trees, upon a lofty stage erected for the purpose, it was ordained that a funeral oration should be pro- nounced by some citizen of Athens in presence of the as- sembled multitude." EULOGIZES THE HEEOES OE THE CIVIL WAE After thus eloquently por- traying the beauties of that won- derful cemetery, and recalling [44] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG the exercises held over the dead heroes of the Peloponnesian war, who met and triumphant- ly hurled back the enemy, Mr. Everett even more eloquently pronounced a eulogium upon the dead heroes of the Union Army who so heroically met and overcame the invader, and now slept beneath and about us, whose glories we were as- sembled to commemorate. This led the orator to a nar- rative of the events of the cam- paign until the clash of arms came upon the field about us, in the centre of which we were, and of the awful struggle and carnage of the three days of conflict. [45] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG ME. EVEEETT'S ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBUEG It has been said that, were every olBficial report and every printed word in regard to the battle of Gettysburg, except Mr. Everett's oration, destroyed, in its pages would be preserved to posterity such a lucid and concise account of the great battle as would make every important movement of every command perfectly clear. Mr. Everett had asked for and received from General Meade and other officers, ac- counts of the battle. He had read all the official reports that were available, and had him- self, after he accepted the [46] GENERAL GEORGE G. MEADE LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG invitation to speak, come to Gettysburg and visited every portion of the field, remaining several days; and so perfectly and completely did he picture the onset, the falling back, the desperate assault, and resist- ance of every corps and divi- sion, and almost every brigade of both armies, for every hour and almost every moment of those three days of desperate fighting, that, as he spoke, one could almost see the move- ments. SUMMAET OF THE CASUALTIES In concluding his account of the battle, Mr. Everett gave a summary of the casualties as follows : [47] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG "On the Union side there fell, in the whole campaign, of generals killed — Reynolds, Weed, and Zook; wounded — Barlow, Barnes, Butterfield, Doubleday, Gibbon, Graham, Hancock, Sickles, and Warren; while of officers below the rank of general, and men, there were 2,834 kiUed, 13,709 wounded and 6,643 missing. On the Confederate side there were killed on the field or mortal- ly wounded — Generals Armi- stead, Barksdale, Garnett, Pen- der, Pettigrew, and Semms; wounded, Heth, Hood, Johnson, Kemper, Kimball, and Trimble. Of officers below the rank of general, and men, there were [48] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG taken prisoners, including the wounded, 13,621 — an amount ascertained officially. The wounded in a condition to be removed, and the killed, and the missing (of whom no re- turn has been made), are esti- mated at 23,000." The published oration, which appears in the book to which I have already referred, is illus- trated with a map of the field. When Mr. Everett spoke, the field itself was before and about him, and his audience and he needed no other map. There is no better guide-book to the battle of Gettysburg than Ed- ward Everett's oration. [49] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG MR. EVEEETT'S SECOKD HOUR It would be supposed that any orator, after giving such an account of the battle — which was necessarily very extended — in such a presence, with the ablest and most brilliant men of the age about him, with the President of the United States sitting near, waiting to speak — it would be supposed that he would have then drawn his oration to a close. Not so ! Mr. Everett was the orator of the day, and he went on for another hour, every hearer interested and absorbed in the sublime sentiments he enunciated, none more so than the President. [50] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG THE NOETH NOT EESPONSIBLE FOE THE WAE He called to account the "hard-hearted men whose cruel lust of power brought this des- olating war upon the land." He showed who were responsi- ble for all this carnage, and blood, and sorrow, and despair. He showed that it all came from envy and ambition, for which there was, and could be, no justification. He pictured the dire conse- quences that would have fol- lowed had the enemy succeeded in that battle; that it would have resulted in the overthrow of the nation and in blighting the last hope of free government. [51] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG ATTEMPTS OF THOSE EESPONSI- BLE TO JUSTIFY THEMSELVES He referred to the attempt made by those who instigated the war to justify themselves by citing the rebellions of our fathers against George the Third, and of Cromwell against Charles the First, and asked, " What would have been thought by an impartial historian of the American rebellion against George the Third if the colonies had been more than equally rep- resented in parliament, and James Otis, and Patrick Henry, and Washington, and Franklin, and the Adamses, and men of their stamp had for two genera- tions enjoyed the confidence of [52] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG the sovereign, and had admin- istered the government of the empire? What would have been thought of the rebellion against Charles the First had Cromwell and the men of his school been his advisors?" And then he showed how these men had, when they precipitated the war, control of both Houses of Con- gress, and that not one assault had been made upon them and not one right invaded. He showed, by citing the Con- stitution, the supremacy given by its framers to the general Government, and how weak and siUy was the contention that the general Government was a mere "agency" of sov- [53] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG ereign States, and how absurd was the claim of the Confeder- ates of justification for secession when in control of both Houses of Congress, and of everything in their own States, on the state rights theory — rights that had never been invaded nor denied. ME. EVEEETT'S ENDEAVOES TO CONCILIATE THE SOUTH Knowing as we did his his- tory, how he had always, to his own disadvantage, blighting at times all hopes of political pre- ferment, favored measures to conciliate the South, it was al- most pathetic to hear Mr. Ever- ett exclaim : "A sad foreboding of what would ensue if a war should break out between the [54] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG North and Soutla has haunted me through life, and led me, perhaps too long, to tread in the path of hopeless compro- mise, in the fond endeavor to conciliate those who were pre- determined not to be concil- iated." ME. EVEEETT'S ADDEESS CHAEACTEEIZED It is not necessary to go fur- ther into detail of Mr. Everett's address, a glimpse of which it has been deemed proper to give, in order to place the situation clearly before us. Suffice it to say that very soon after he be- gan to speak he rose to a lofty height of eloquence, which, con- stantly holding the undivided [55] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG and at times almost breathless attention of his audience, he sustained for two hours. I can give no young man who seeks to perfect himself in literature better advice than that he make a study of that oration. At the close of Mr. Everett's address a solemn dirge written by Mr. B. B. French, especially for the occasion, was sung by a hundred voices, after which President Lincoln was intro- duced to the great multitude. ME. LmCOLN SPEAKS When the President thus ap- peared it was the first oppor- tunity the people really had to see him. There was the usual [56] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG craning of necks, the usual ex- clamations of " Down in front! " the usual crowding to get places to see, and much confusion. He waited patiently for the audi- ence to become quiet, and there was absolute silence while he spoke. He began in those high, clarion tones, which the people of Hlinois had so often heard, to which he held to the close. His was a voice that, when he made an effort, could reach a great multitude, and he always tried to make every one hear. He held in his left hand two or three pages of manuscript, toward which he glanced but once. He spoke with delibera- tion, but cannot have continued [57] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG more than three or four, some said two, minutes. A moment's reflection will convince any one that before the great multitude of people, nearly all of whom were stand- ing, could have prepared them- selves to listen intelligently — before they had, I may say, become poised, before their thoughts had become sufficient- ly centred upon the speaker to take up his line of thought and follow him — he had finished and returned to his seat. PEOPLE DISAPPOINTED IN LINCOLN'S ADDRESS So short a time was Mr. Lin- coln before them that the people could scarcely believe their eyes [58] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG when he disappeared from their view. They were almost dazed. They could not possibly, in so short a time, mentally grasp the ideas that were conveyed, nor even their substance. Time and again expressions of disap- pointment were made to me. Many persons said to me that they would have supposed that on such a great occasion the President would have made a speech. Every one thought, as expressed by Mr. WiUs four days later (to which reference has been made), that instead of Mr. Lincoln's delivering an address, he only made a very few "dedicatory remarks." We on the platform heard [59] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG every word. And what did we hear? A dozen commonplace sentences, scarcely one of which contained anything new, any- thing that when stated was not self-evident. I am aware, because I noted it at the time, that in the As- sociated Press report, which appeared in the morning pa- pers, there were the punctua- tions of "applause," "long con- tinued applause, " etc., according to the invariable custom in those days. Except when he con- cluded, I did not observe it, and at the close the applause was not especially marked. The occa- sion was too solemn for any kind of boisterous demonstrations. [60] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG WAED KLAMON'S EECOLLECTION OF HOW THE ADDEESS WAS EECEIVED In Ms "EecoUections of Ab- raham Lincoln," edited by his daughter — a very interesting book — Ward Hill Lamon, Mar- shal of the District of Columbia (which position, besides the fact of his being a most intimate friend, brought him into con- stant and close relation with the President), says: " On the platform from which Mr. Lincoln delivered his ad- dress, and only a moment after it was concluded, Mr. Seward turned to Mr. Everett and asked him what he thought of the President's speech. Mr. Ever- [61] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG ett replied: 'It is not what I expected from him. I am dis- appointed.' Then in his turn Mr. Everett asked, 'What do you think of it, Mr. Seward?' The response was, • He has made a failure, and I am sorry for it. His speech is not equal to him.' Mr. Seward then turned to me and asked, 'Mr. Marshal, what do you think of it?' I answered, ' I am sorry to say that it does not impress me as one of his great speeches.'" FALSE EEPOETS THAT THE AUDI- ENCE WEEE EXCITED "In the face of these facts," continues Mr. Lamon, "it has been repeatedly published that this speech was received by the [62] HON. WILLIAM H. SEWAHD LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG audience with loud demonstrar tions of approval; that amid the tears, sobs, and cheers it produced in the excited throng, the orator of the day, Mr. Ever- ett, turned to Mr. Lincoln, grasped his hand, and ex- claimed, ' I congratulate you on your success ! ' adding in a trans- port of heated enthusiasm, 'Ah, Mr. President, how gladly would I give my hundred pages to be the author of your twenty lines ! * "As a matter of fact," Mr. Lamon goes on to say, "the si- lence during the delivery of the speech, and the lack of hearty demonstrations of approval im- mediately after its close, were taken by Mr. Lincoln as certain [63] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG proof that it was not well re- ceived. In that opinion we all shared. If any person then present saw, or thought he saw, the marvellous beauties of that wonderful speech, as intelli- gent men in all lands now see them, his superabundant cau- tion closed his lips and stayed his pen." WHY THE AUDIENCE WAS NOT IMPRESSED In concluding his comments upon Mr. Lincoln's address, Mr. Mcolay, in his "Century" ar- ticle to which reference has been made, says, "They [the hearers] were therefore totally unprepared for what they heard, and could not immediately re- [64] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG alize that his words, and not those of the carefully selected orator, were to carry the con- centrated thought of the occa- sion like a trumpet peal to the farthest posterity." My own recollection, which is more clear as to occurrences in those troublous times, es- specially those upon that occa- sion, the responsibilities of which devolved in a great de- gree upon a board of which I was a member, coincides with that of Mr. Lamon and Mr. Nicolay. It is true, as Mr. Mcolay says, the hearers were totally unprepared for what they heard, and could not im- mediately realize how able and [65] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG far-reaching was Mr. Lincoln's address. Mj recollection also confirms that of Mr. Lamon, that no one there present saw the marvellous beauties of that wonderful speech. I did not hear the expressions of Mr. Seward and Mr. Everett in re- gard to it, as my seat was with the members of our Commis- sion, but from the expressions of opinion I did hear, I have no doubt that they were made. I heard every word and every articulation of Mr. Lincoln, and had no realization that he did anything more than make "a few dedicatory remarks." His expressions were so plain and homely, without any attempt at [66] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG rhetorical periods, and his state- ments were so axiomatic, and, I may say, matter of fact, and so simple, that I had no idea that as an address it was any- thing more than ordinary. ME. LINCOLN'S MANNEE AND BEAEING I was very much struck, many times as I had heard him, by the appearance of Mr. Lin- coln when he arose and stood before the audience. It seemed to me that I had never seen any other human being who was so stately, and, I may say, majes- tic, and yet benignant. His features had a sad, mournful, almost haggard, and still hope- ful expression. Every one was [67] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG impressed with his sincerity and earnestness. ANALYSIS OF LINCOLN'S ADDRESS Short as is Mr. Lincoln's Gettysburg address, it contains all the elements of an elaborate and finished oration, — exor- / dium, argument, climax, and j peroration. While each of these divisions is far more ex- tended in Mr. Everett's orar tion, they are not more marked than in Mr. Lincoln's. In his exordium, consisting of five simple sentences, each one of which recalls a fact ap- parent to every hearer, he lays foundations for the superstruc- ture upon which he builds, broad and deep. [68] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG " Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new na- tion, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. "Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We are met to dedicate a por- tion of it as the final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this." After thus laying the f ounda- [69] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG tion, he states the argument: "But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate — we cannot consecrate — we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far above our power to add or de- tract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfin- ished work that they have thus far so nobly carried on." And, to make the argument stronger, to clinch it, as we would say, he repeats, "It is rather for us to be dedicated here to [70] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG the great task remaining before us, — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to the cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion." And then follows the climax: "That we here highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain." And then the peroration: "That the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of free- dom ; and that the government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth." I want to say in passing that there was one sentence that did deeply affect me — the [71] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG only one in which the Presi- dent manifested emotion. With the close of that sentence his lips quivered, and there was a tremor in his voice which I can never forget. I recall it whenever I consider the ad- dress. The sentence was, "The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here." LINCOLN'S CHOICE OF WOEDS A careful analysis shows that Lincoln's Gettysburg ad- dress contains thirty-two words of Latin origin which with repetitions of the same word, or other forms of the same word, make forty-six Latin de- [72] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG rivatives, all told. There are two hundred and sixty-seven words in the address, leaving the balance, two hundred and twenty-one, Anglo-Saxon. That is, one-fifth or twenty per cent are Latin words, while four-fifths or eighty per cent are Anglo-Saxon. "OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, AND FOE THE PEOPLE" The phrase " of the people, by the people, and for the people" was not original with Mr. Lin- coln. There was considerable comment at the time upon his using it, which went so far that it was insinuated that he was guilty of wilful plagiarism — that he took it from Webster's [73] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG reply to Hayne. The matter was thoroughly investigated by Lamon, Nicolay, and others, and it was found that the phrase had been so often used as to have become common property. It appears substan- tially as Mr. Lincoln used it in Webster's reply to Hayne, 1830, in a work by James Douglas, in 1825, and in the Ehetorical Eeader by James Porter in 1830. The phrase was used by Theodore Parker in an anti-slavery convention at Boston, May, 1850, and sub- stantially the same phrase was used by Joel Parker in the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention in 1853. Long be- [74] JOHN a. NICOLAY LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG fore Mr. Lincoln used the phrase, it was used in other languages. The first appear- ance of it, so far as it has been possible to ascertain, was in the preface to the old Wickliffe Bible, translated before 1384, the year in which that bright "morning star of the Reforma- tion" died. It is there de- clared that, "this Bible is for the government of the people, by the people, and for the peo- ple." WHEN Airo HOW LINCOLN'S ADDEESS BEGAN TO BE APPEEGLA.TED On the next day after it was delivered, November 20, the address appeared in full, as [75] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG has been said, in every leading newspaper of the United States. Even then, those who in a high degree appreciated it were com- paratively few. Some of us who had heard it formed, as we deliberately read it, a very different idea of it from that we had when it was delivered. We had supposed and ex- pected that the President would, in what he said, simply dedicate that ground to the sacred purpose for which it had been set apart. We found that the portals of the heart of the great President were opened to such a degree that all the people could see and feel its pulsations and ap- [76] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG predate the intensity of his emotions, and the depths of his feeling, and gain a conception of the weight of the awful re- sponsibilities that were upon him, which he realized as did no other human being. As we read, it gradually dawned upon us that the chief executive of the great nation had solemnly dedicated those who heard him, and not merely those who heard him, but all his people, to the cause for which the martyr heroes about him died, and that this was the underlying thought and object of his address. Besides this, we saw that the attention of the country had been drawn in [77] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG the most striking manner to the foundation of the nation, and how and when and why it was established, and to the sublime purpose of our fathers in bring- ing it forth upon this continent. The country was made to see that the great Civil War, still going on, was waged for the purpose of testing whether not only that nation, but "whether any nation so conceived and so dedicated, could long endure," and that it was for us to be dedicated to the work remain- ing to be done. This central thought was in a few terse sentences so engraved upon the hearts of all that it could not be effaced; and, after all this, the [78] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG splendors, and glories, and worth to the people at large, and the peril, of that nation and of all free government were held up and depicted before us by the closing sentence, "that the gov- ernment of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth." ME. EVEEETT'S TESTIMONY As was the case with others, Mr. Everett, when he read the address, began to realize (not so fuUy as afterwards) some- thing of its merits. On the following day, in a note to the President, mostly about other matters, he said: "Permit me also to express my great admiration of the [79] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBUBG thought expressed by you with such eloquent simplicity and appropriateness at the conse- cration of the cemetery. I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came so near the central idea of the occasion in two hours as you did in two min- utes." TESTIMONY OF TEANSATLANTIC WEITEES But even then, while our people began to appreciate in some degree the high char- acter of the address, we did not realize how sublime it reaUy was. Not until it had been read and commented upon on the other side of the Atlantic did we place it in our own [80] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG minds among the masterpieces. I recollect distinctly how I was impressed upon seeing a quota- tion from the "Edinburgh Ke- view," stating that no other address, except that of Pericles made ia eulogy of the heroes of the Peloponnesian war, could begin to compare with it. The London "Spectator," the "Sat- urday Keview" and several oth- er English periodicals spoke of it ia the highest terms of com- mendation. These commendations, in some degree, opened our eyes to its merits. In recalling these eulogies of the address, and the expressions of appreciation of its author [81] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG which appeared in foreign prints, I am reminded of the lines, — A man in whom his neighbors see One like themselves of common mould, May, to the thoughtful stranger, be Among the great and wise enrolled. In Vishna, clowns a shepherd saw — Gods viewed the Lord of AU with awe. CONCLUSION In human achievement that which is greatest in proportions is no^ always the most sublime. A traveller who had visited the mighty structures along the Nile — the pyramids, the tem- ples, the palaces, the tombs, which surpass in grandeur any [82] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG others that have, so far as we know, in all the ages been rear- ed, at last found himself in a little city of southern Europe, standing upon an eminence be- fore a structure so limited in extent and amplitude as not to compare in these regards with the mighty edifices whose grandeur had so filled his mind with wonder and awakened in his bosom emotions that over- whelmed him. He was stand- ing upon the Acropolis at Ath- ens and contemplating the Parthenon. In his travels and study he had gained sufficient knowledge of architecture to be a connoisseur. As he made a more careful examination and [83] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBUEG study of the wonderful temple, its splendors and sublimity gradually dawned upon him. He found that in every element of its construction, in form, in grace, in beauty and strength and character, and in the no- bility and grandeur of all its appointments, it far surpassed everything he had hitherto seen, every other architectural achievement upon the face of the earth. In this conclusion he was and is confirmed by the general concensus of opinion of the world. Philosophers and sages, men of literary culture, who have explored the labyrinths, stood upon the heights and basked in [84] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG the glories of the sublime crea- tions of Demosthenes and Per- icles and Cicero, of Burke and Pitt and Brougham, of Webster and Sumner and Everett, and in the elaborate and finished tri- umphs in oratory of all the ages, are moved with similar emotions to those of this trav- eller in contemplating Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. By uni- versal consent it has become the Parthenon of oratorical cre- ation. In the region round about Athens, marble and cement and clay and everything neces- sary to the construction of an edi- fice are as abundant and cheap as the sods upon the prairie. [85] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBUBG To those commonplace materials the inspired architect gave form and beauty and strength and life. Out of a few simple, plain, commonplace sentences familiar to all, President Lincoln con- structed an oration that will be the wonder and admiration of the world for all time — the crowning triumph of literary achievement. [86] o FIFTY YEARS AFTER N a bright November afternoon of long ago, when the autumn leaves were tinged with a thousand hues of beauty, upon an eminence in the midst of a great plain bounded by lofty mountains, I saw a vast concourse of men and women. I saw among them illustrious warriors, gifted poets, and profound statesmen. I saw ambassadors of mighty [87] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG empires, governors of great com- monwealths, ministers of cabi- nets, men of high position and power. I saw above their heads, upon every hand, a starry banner, drooping under the weight of sombre drapery. I saw men and women standing among new-made graves, over- whelmed with grief which they vainly endeavored to conceal. I knew that I was in the midst of a people bowing under great affliction, of a land stricken with sorrow. I knew ~[88] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG that the tide of destruction and death had not ceased to ebb and flow, but that at that moment the fate of my country was trembling in the balance, her only hope in the fortitude and valor of her sons, who were baring their breasts to storms of shot and shell only a few miles away. I saw standing in the midst of that mighty assembly a man of majestic yet benignant mien, of features worn and haggard, but beaming with purity, with [89] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG patriotism, and with hope. Every eye was directed towards him, and, as men looked into his cahn, sad, earnest face, they recognized the great President, the foremost man of the world, not only in position and power but in all the noblest attributes of humanity. When he essayed to speak, such solemn silence reigned as when, within conse- crated walls, men and women feel themselves in the pres- ence of Deity. Each sen- tence, slowly and ea rnestly m LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG pronounced, as its full import was apprehended, sank into every patriotic heart, gave a strange lustre to every face, and nerved every arm. In those ut- terances, the abstract, the con- densation, the summing up of American patriotism, were con- tained the hopes, the aspirations, the stem resolves, the consecra- tion upon the altar of humanity, of a great people. Prom the hour of that solemn dedication the final triumph of the loyal hosts was assured. [91] LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG As the Christian day by day voices the sacred prayer given him by his Savior, so the American Patriot will con- tinue to cherish those sublime sentiments and inspired words. While the Eepublic lives he will continue to repeat them, and while, realizing all their solemn significance, he continues to re- peat them, the Republic will live. ^^C^*^*^ [92]