The Gettysburg Address - Gettysburg, PA
N 39° 49.200 W 077° 13.839
18S E 309084 N 4410159
Beautiful sign of history marks the spot where Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address in the Gettysburg National Cemetery. The interpretive has the only known photo of Lincoln at Gettysburg during the address.
Waymark Code: WMABC9
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 12/18/2010
Views: 7
The sign is a huge interpretive on a great big metal stand. It stands in the shadow of the National Civil War Monument and next to the site where Abraham Lincoln delivered the historic Gettysburg Address. It faces the fence line separating this cemetery from the Evergreen Cemetery. Also, the marker stands in front of the tablet for Battery G, 4th US Artillery. Lincoln came here to dedicate the then new National Cemetery. This marker commemorates that visit and his subsequent speech. It was erected by the Gettysburg National Military Park.
The marker reads:
"We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We are met to dedicate a portion of it as the final resting-place of those who have given their lives that that nation might live."
President Abraham Lincoln
Gettysburg Address
On the morning of November 19, 1863, nearly 20,000 statesmen, soldiers and citizens converged on this hill to consecrate the new Soldiers' National Cemetery. The speakers' platform was located in Evergreen Cemetery to your left.
The Hon. Edward Everett, principal speaker and former Governor of Massachusetts, took the platform at noon. His eloquent, but exhausting, speech lasted two hours.
Following a hymn, President Abraham Lincoln rose to deliver "dedicatory remarks." As the crowd strained to see and hear, Lincoln spoke deliberately and without gestures. According to some observers, the people received his prayer-like words in stunned silence. The "Gettysburg Address" lasted two minutes.
Lincoln left the platform believing his remarks had disappointed the people. As time passed, however, it became clear that his simple utterances had found a place in many American hearts - and would for generations to come.
In the upper center there is an extraordinary photo from the National Archives showing the crowd assembled for the dedication ceremonies here November 19, 1863. The man whose head is circled is believed to be Abraham Lincoln. In the lower center is a portrait of Lincoln. Alexander Gardner took this photo of President Abraham Lincoln four days before he delivered the Gettysburg Address.
On the lower right is a photo-copy of one of the original copies of the address. The Hay Draft of the Gettysburg Address, penciled in Lincoln's own hand, may be the one Lincoln carried in his coat pocket to the ceremonies here. The document is preserved at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.