Gettysburg and Lincoln: The Battle, The Cemetery, and the National Park

Burrage, Henry

IN the autumn of 1904, I obtained a photograph of a manuscript copy of President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. At first I supposed I had a photograph of the original manuscript, as unmistakably the handwriting was Mr. Lincoln's, and the copy was dated November 19, 1863, the date of the consecration of the cemetery at Gettysburg. But in an extended search for the facts connected with the address, it was made plain that what I had was a photograph of a manuscript copy of the address, a copy made by Mr. Lincoln in April, 1864, and not a photograph of the original manuscript. In the course of my investigations I obtained so many interesting facts concerning the composition and delivery of Mr. Lincoln's address that I finally decided to bring together my material in the form in which it appears in Part II of this volume. The story of the battle and the record of the development of the National Park were added in order to present in a connected way the principal facts covering the period from the commencement of the Gettysburg campaign to the present time. The principal sources of my information concerning the battle are to be found in the "Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies." Other sources are sufficiently indicated in the foot-notes. In the preparation of the part of the work pertaining to the cemetery and President Lincoln's address, I am indebted to the late Hon. John Hay, Secretary of State, and especially to an article in the Century Magazine by Mr. John G. Nicolay, President Lincoln's private secretary. Much material for an account of the development of the National Park was found in Vanderslice's History of the Gettysburg Battle-field Memorial Association, and in the annual reports of the Gettysburg National Park Commission. In various visits to the battle-field I have received invaluable aid from Lieut.-Colonel John P. Nicholson, chairman of the Gettysburg National Park Commission, also from his associates on the Commission. The maps indicating the position of both armies July 1st, 2d, and 3d, have received the correction and approval of Lieut.-Colonel E. B. Cope, the Engineer of the Commission. The illustrations are from photographs made by the well-known Gettysburg photographer, W. H. Tipton a selection from his large collection of views illustrating the battle-field.