This Month's Headlines:

Editor's Letter

Many find Gettysburg a favorite place during the month of June, where summer is almost here. To commemorate this month, we are eager to bring you another issue of historical articles, delicious recipes, and our updated Calendar of Events. All begin on page 11. We offer several articles of historical interest. Remembering Martha Washington begins on page 21, in honor of her 295th birthday. Learn how Gettysburg was The Inevitable Battle, beginning on page 31. The life of a unique Gettysburg veteran is chronicled in "A Man of Splendid Ability": Alfred T.A. Torbert, beginning on page 39. Read More >

Two Cousins at Gettysburg

Countless family members fought together, and many died together, at Gettysburg. Fathers, sons, and brothers in arms all struggled together on the hills, woodlands, and valleys of south-central Pennsylvania in the summer of 1863. Two men from Virginia – one who played a significant role that began the battle and the other who participated heavily in its closing – are closely tied by blood. Yet, one managed to escape vitriol and ruin in spite of his blunder on Gettysburg’s first day; the other was forever embittered, who never was able to rise above his participation in the charge named for him. These two were cousins. They were Henry (Harry) Heth and George Pickett.

               

Heth and Pickett were born within a few months and a few miles of each other in the Old Dominion state. Pickett’s father, Robert, and Heth’s mother, Margaret, were siblings. Read More >

Four Men With Canteens

Most of the Army of the Potomac had arrived at or near Gettysburg by the afternoon of July 2, 1863. The exception was the Union Sixth Corps, comprised of 15,000 men, led by the capable John Sedgwick. They were General Meade’s largest corps, and their arrival was anxiously anticipated. Realizing that Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia were also coming to Gettysburg via many roads and angles, Meade sent word to General Henry Slocum, commander of the Union’s Twelfth Corps, to ascertain if any of Lee’s troops were amassing from the east, where the Union’s right flank was still in need of preparation for adequate defense. In addition to the importance of anchoring and preserving each of the North’s flanks at Gettysburg, Meade was concerned about the right flank for another reason: the Baltimore Pike was an essential artery for his army. The Sixth Corps was due to arrive later that day by that road, and the Union’s surplus wagons, supplies, and ordnance were also obtainable from it. Were Lee’s men to take control of the Baltimore Pike, Meade’s position would be most precarious. Read More >

The Pennsylvania Signers

Of the fifty-six signers of The Declaration of Independence, Pennsylvania provided the most signers, nine in all. Additionally, Pennsylvania gave our new nation the eldest signer, the first of the signers to die in the Revolution (nine in total did not survive it), the signer who provided the financial intellect behind the funding of the American Revolution, the signer who became one of the first justices of the Supreme Court, and the signer who introduced George Washington to flag-maker Betsy Ross. In honor of the semi-quincentennial of the United States, here is a glimpse of the nine signers of the famous Declaration from the Keystone State. Read More >

I Was At Gettysburg

The Battle of Gettysburg is well documented, largely because many survivors wrote about their personal experiences during this most pivotal fight. Here are some of them:

           

Wednesday, July 1:

           

My…impulse was to load the musket and get at least one parting shot at the enemy. While I was thus engaged, a stalwart young fellow dropped at my side and cried, ‘Oh, help me!’ Having taken my hand, he struggled to rise, but could not, and finding his efforts unavailing, murmured, ‘Oh I’m gone!’” – Captain Albert Lee, 75th Ohio, Barlow’s Knoll1 Read More >

Editor's Corner: The Meaning of the Declaration of Independence

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them…

As the 250th year of the signing of the Declaration of Independence takes us farther away from that early summer day in Philadelphia in 1776, the significance of that document and what it meant for those who signed it are less clear. As schools rarely teach the beginnings of our nation these days, the essence of that document gets murkier with the passage of time. Read More >

Recipes