- Joined
- Aug 27, 2011
- Location
- Central Massachusetts
Among the monuments dedicated during the 1888 reunion:
12th New Jersey
123rd New York
21st Pennsylvania
12th New Jersey
123rd New York
21st Pennsylvania
View attachment 164146For the 25th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg the Society of the Army of the Potomac held its annual meeting on the battlefield. At the suggestion of Gen. Dan Sickles, it was stipulated that veterans of the Army of Northern Virginia also be invited to attend, that all together “might on that occasion record in friendship and fraternity the sentiments of good-will, loyalty, and patriotism which now unite all in sincere devotion to the country.” The gathering, held appropriately on July 1, 2, and 3, 1888, drew some 30,000 participants, veterans and their families, mostly from the North. But, about 300 Confederate veterans attended.
Front row: J. L. Chamberlain, D. Butterfield, J. Longstreet, D. Sickles,
at the Gettysburg 25th Anniversary
Principal speakers at the reunion were generals Sickles, Longstreet, Henry W. Slocum, and John B. Gordon. The Confederates, notably, were those most identified with the spirit of reunification and reconciliation. And, the copious newspaper accounts all stressed those virtues, downplaying, indeed, rarely mentioning, any disaffection.
It was a time for good will and reunification. It was also a significant event in the development of the Gettysburg battlefield. Many monuments were dedicated during those three days, and many more would follow until the Gettysburg National Military Park became the moving experience it is today. Gen. John B. Gordon, then Governor of Georgia, said, in part:
"My fellow countrymen of the North, if I may be permitted to speak for those whom I represent, let me assure you that in the profoundest depths of their nature they reciprocate that generosity with all the manliness and sincerity of which brave men are capable. In token of that sincerity they join in consecrating for annual patriotic pilgrimage these historic heights, which drained such copious drafts of American blood poured so freely in discharge of duty, as each conceived it, a Mecca for the North, which so grandly defended it; a Mecca for the South, which so bravely and persistently stormed it; we join you in setting apart this land as an enduring monument of peace, brotherhood, and perpetual union."
A fuller account can be found at the GNMP blog, "From the Fields of Gettysburg."
Also: "'Killing the Southerners with Kindness."'
From a purely fashion point of view, what was Longstreet thinking? Not just those whiskers, which we have seen in so many of his latter-day photos, but that 'hat'?
Thanks for your response and the information about the hat.I have seen this referred to as a pork pie hat. Pork pie hats have been around since the mid-19th century and I have read they got their name because they bear a slight resemblance to a pork pie dish. I'm not sure about this. Some have a small button on a string located on the back. The string can be wound around the hat in windy weather and the button attached to a jacket's lapel. This keeps the hat from blowing away on a windy day. I can see my favorite General liking that idea. Sadly, I don't think this partcular style suits him. See friends, I'm not totally biased.
I think it would be hard to know who was who with a list of names. Otherwise it would be a long task of comparing wartime photos with the image to identify the various men in the images. It could be done though, just a long process.
There appears to be a young man in the left of the original OP picture. Maybe General Longtsteet swapped hats with him for the pic.
Nice photographs of the reunion. Somewhere in my vast collection I have a book from this reunion that was in my maternal grandfather's library. Much to my surprise several years ago while on a friend's tour of civil war Harrisburg, he stated that Dan Sickles was a frequent visitor to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania at a rather large home which is still standing today. I understand he used to visit J. Horace McFarland and J. Howard Wert quite a bit. David.
The Louisiana Tigers invaded Gettysburg again in 1908! This time it was the LSU Tiger baseball team on the road in Pennsylvania, which Gettysburg Greg wrote about earlier this year. The schedule I posted in the thread said they played Gettysburg College on June 3 and that day they posed for a team photo on Cemetery Hill near the location of their earlier namesake’s action in 1863. No doubt their fathers and grandfathers had told them of the significance of that site.Such a cool thread! These PDF's have a crazy amount of information in them, just interesting stuff- which generals are probably in that photo, more on the Louisiana Tigers, etc. You just cannot beat era papers for gluing together History.
Sorry, snipped from a couple, too good not to post.
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So Howard, Pleasanton, Sickles, Slocum and Butterfield ( and you'd love to know what Meade would have had to say - you have to admit it's kind of an hysterical grouping ), we have senators, not camera shy.
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You get this kind of stuff " Captain White's Company of Wheat's Battalion " the Tiger Rifles. The old guys knew their stuff, you know?
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We waited an awfully long time for a papers to settle down, listen to the vets swap stories like they did, and give them to all of us. These reunions gave us so much.
@John Hartwell , which members here may have missed this thread, with vets from the Louisiana Tigers ' in the flesh? ' I'm terrible at remembering whose ancestors were where.
Nice photographs of the reunion. Somewhere in my vast collection I have a book from this reunion that was in my maternal grandfather's library. Much to my surprise several years ago while on a friend's tour of civil war Harrisburg, he stated that Dan Sickles was a frequent visitor to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania at a rather large home which is still standing today. I understand he used to visit J. Horace McFarland and J. Howard Wert quite a bit. David.
I doubt it was the Harris-Cameron Mansion (which is damm big)....sounds more like the old executive mansion which used to stand very near the present day PennDOT building on Forster and Commonwealth. From what I understand of THAT mansion...it was HUGE.He may have visited The John Harris-Simon Cameron Mansion. According to their website, "Simon Cameron served a total of about 20 years in the U.S. Senate in non-consecutive terms. By 1862, he had resigned the office of Secretary of War, an appointment he had received in recognition of his instrumental support of Abraham Lincoln’s election as President. Cameron’s tenure at the War Department was marked with controversy and numerous scandals involving fraudulent supply contracts. To help avoid continuing political repercussions, Cameron was appointed as Minister (Ambassador) to Russia. This was an important post during the Civil War since the Czar favored the Federal cause while England and France had greater sympathy for the Confederacy."
This house is one of many beautiful homes along South Front Street. @JohnW. lives in Harrisburg and may likely know more. I never knew about a connection between Dan Sickles and Harrisburg. Interesting information @christian soldier.
Eleanor. Simon Cameron was also accused of stealing and Lincoln supposedly said to him that he would have stolen the pot belly stoves had they not been in use at the time. Let me do some research and I will let you know the Sickles connection with Harrisburg. I cannot recall off the top of my head and at the moment I am in the middle of an important research project for my upcoming magazine article. David.He may have visited The John Harris-Simon Cameron Mansion. According to their website, "Simon Cameron served a total of about 20 years in the U.S. Senate in non-consecutive terms. By 1862, he had resigned the office of Secretary of War, an appointment he had received in recognition of his instrumental support of Abraham Lincoln’s election as President. Cameron’s tenure at the War Department was marked with controversy and numerous scandals involving fraudulent supply contracts. To help avoid continuing political repercussions, Cameron was appointed as Minister (Ambassador) to Russia. This was an important post during the Civil War since the Czar favored the Federal cause while England and France had greater sympathy for the Confederacy."
This house is one of many beautiful homes along South Front Street. @JohnW. lives in Harrisburg and may likely know more. I never knew about a connection between Dan Sickles and Harrisburg. Interesting information @christian soldier.
Reconstruction was over,Union troops were leaving the Southern states,an Era of Good Relations was occurring all over the Union.The war was becoming a story of romantic fable.The Lost Cause was being taught to the next generation.The ideal of an American overseas empire was in the thoughts of the Republican party(,China join the European countries in control of markets,Hawaii for the Navy,).The hated Confederacy was no longer around a New South was rising and the industrial North needed their market.The North and South were once again as before in an Era of Good accord.It seems as though the whole past fifty years was just a period of mutual disagreement and the war was just a family fight with no resulting hard feelings. The South returned to their own way of politics and life ,without slavery ,the North had brought the erring brother back to the family,It does make you glad knowing a general invitation was issued, not Union only or officer's only? Bumped into the 1869-Far-Too-Soon reunion, benefiting That Hotel, you could imagine men too close to the war.
I know we read the level of friendly between Union and ex-Confederates is exaggerated, but reading of what healing took place is awfully nice.
I am in the middle of an important research project for my upcoming magazine article.