The Gettysburg Address

The Gilbert Text of the Gettysburg Address:

AP reporter Joseph L. Gilbert was granted permission to look at Lincoln's written address, which he copied verbatim, and is in my judgment the most accurate report of what Lincoln actually said that day.

The Battle of Gettysburg had resulted in somewhere between 46,000 and 51,000 casualties, with the Union side suffering some 23,055 (3,155 killed, 14,531 wounded, 5,369 captured or missing), and the Confederate side 23,231 (4,708 killed, 12,693 wounded, 5,830 captured or missing)--although the numbers on the Confederate side are probably not as accurate as the Union side. In addition to the human carnage, approximately 3,000 horse carcasses where burned to clear the battlefield. Most of the fallen soldiers were buried in hastily-dug shallow graves, and some were dug up by pigs and parts of the carcasses consumed.

The Response of the Citizens of Gettysburg was to begin an effort to raise money to turn part of the battlefield into a proper cemetery, since exposed bodies reflected badly on the town--and would have been disturbing for the towns people, as well. A young, prominent local attorney by the name of David Wills stepped in, realizing how long it would take to raise private money, and convinced the governor of Pennsylvania to put up a portion of state money, and to convince other governors whose soldiers had fallen at Gettysburg to follow suit. With this money promised, Wills was authorized to purchase the land for the cemetery.


The Greek Revival--with Greece fighting for independence from the Ottoman Empire in the 1830s and 1840s, an interest in all things Greek was sparked. This was reflected in the architecture of the time--Greek Revival. This carried over into politics, as well, with a greater interest in democracy, rather than in republican institutions. The renewed interest in democracy carried with it the desire to promote the equality of all people. During the heyday of Greek Revival architecture, there were movement started for the abolition of slavery, the rights of women, and extending the right to vote to all.


Planning the Cemetery--the Soldier's National Cemetery at Gettysburg was part of the rural cemetery's movement, which saw the development of other cemeteries as "places of repose" that could be harmonized with nature, and which could be utilized by the survivors to commune with the deceased--again, the revival of an idea first expressed by the Greeks. In fact, the word cemetery derives from the Greek word koimētērion, meaning a place of repose.

William Saunders, a leading landscape architect, designed the burial grounds at Gettysburg. The difficulty in identifying many of the remains contributed to his idea of making no distinction of rank in interring the dead, which reflected in turn the ideals of equality--and which were reflected in Lincoln's speech.


The Invitation--although Lincoln was not formally invited to make an address until November 2, he was expecting such an invitation. Wills initially planned the ceremony for the middle of October. He invited Edward Everett, the leading orator of this age, to make the main address. Everett told Wills he would need more time for research and writing his two-hour address, which then pushed back the date of the ceremony. While Lincoln was not formally invited until two and a half weeks before the event, he expected to be invited, and was preparing his address well ahead of the invitation.


Getting to Gettysburg--the importance Lincoln placed on this address is reflected in the journey he took to get there. Just before he was scheduled to leave, his young son Tad became seriously ill. Losing another son to illness just a year before (in fact, Lincoln still had a black ribbon attached to his hat as a sign he was in morning for his son), Lincoln was no doubt torn about having to leave--particularly because his wife Mary became distraught during the illness. Knowing how rail traffic could get tied up because of the effects of the war, Lincoln left the day before the ceremony for the 110 mile journey to ensure that he made the ceremony.

The Speech--as was his practice, Lincoln had been thinking about and writing down bits of this speech far in advance of actually giving it--and worked up to the last minute (and beyond) in polishing the work. Lincoln performed parts of the speech for close friends and associates, and worked on polishing the speech on both the train ride to Gettysburg as well as the night before and morning of the speech.

--"Four score and seven"

--"...dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

--"... we cannot dedicate--we cannot consecrate--we cannot hallow--this ground."

--"It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us ..."

--"...that government by the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."


The Reaction--despite the accounts in many newspapers, the reaction of the crowd that witnessed the speech was stunned silence; the speech was over before many even realized it began. Opposition papers accused Lincoln of besmirching the memory of the dead, posthumously changing what they died for. In the days and weeks following the speech, however, it came to be recognized as a masterpiece of political rhetoric--and had remained so.