DeKalb County (Illinois) Civil War Monument-- Part 2

Toward the base of the monument, a pair of soldiers stand watch, each with a rifle in his hands.

Three sides of the marble monument bear the names of major battles and campaigns of the Civil War that DeKalb men fought in, including Fredericksburg, Malvern Hill and Antietam (even though Antietam was misspelled).  The side that faces Illinois Highway 64, Main Street, is engraved with an excerpt from President Abraham Lincoln's address at Gettysburg.

More than 6,000 people were in attendance for the monument's dedication in 1896 which included an address by local commanders and a parade of veterans.

The pair of patina-green statues at the base of it were once thought to be bronze, but were found to be copper during a 2008 restoration project.  They've also been the subject of routine vandalism, as their weapons have been stolen and replaced several times.

Sycamore's local Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War chapter raised $10,000 to repair them in 2015 before the memorial was rededicated for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War's end.

--Old Secesh

This Month in the Civil War-- Part 2: Knoxville, Gettysburg Address, Chattanooga, Sand Creek Massacre, Battle of Franklin

NOVEMBER 17

**  Siege of Knoxville, Tennessee, begins.

NOVEMBER 19

**  President Lincoln delivers his Gettysburg Address at the Pennsylvania battlefield.

NOVEMBER 23

**  Battle of Orchard Knob, Chattanooga, Tennessee.

NOVEMBER 24

**  Battle of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee.

NOVEMBER 29

**  Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado

NOVEMBER 30

**  Battle of Franklin, Tennessee

--Old Secesh

About That Everett Gettysburg Address-- Part 5: Only 285 Words

When Edward Everett was finished speaking, Abraham Lincoln  rose to speak.  Unlike Everett, he did not relive the battle.  In fact, he never mentioned the battle, the Union or slavery.  Instead, as Garry Wills wrote in his book on the Gettysburg Address, the president reached "beyond the historical particulars, ... [to] derive a new, transcendental, significance from this bloody episode."

In  only 285 words, he "wove a spell that has not, yet, been broken -- he called up a new nation out of the blood and trauma."

Edward Everett was quick to acknowledge the greatness of Lincoln's brief speech.  The day after the ceremony, he wrote to the president praising the "eloquent simplicity & appropriateness" of his remarks.

"I should be glad, if I could flatter myself that I came as near the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes."

Lincoln sent an immediate and gracious response:  "In our respective parts yesterday, you could not have been excused to make a short address, nor I a long one.  I am pleased to know that, in your judgement, the little that I did say was not entirely a failure."

Very Gracious of Lincoln and Quite a Compliment.  --Old Secesh

About That Everett Gettysburg Address-- Part 4: Preparing for His Oration

Edward Everett's public service gave him many opportunities to demonstrate his power as a public speaker, and his orations became the stuff of legend.  He could hold forth for several hours with such skill and drama that listeners lost all track of time.  

After preparing meticulously  and producing a text for his speech, once at the odium, he set the manuscript aside and spoke from memory.  He had delivered memorable speeches commemorating Revolutionary battlefields at Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill; now he was expected to find the words to dignify and consecrate Gettysburg.

In the weeks before the dedication, he immersed himself in military reports, researching and reconstructing every aspect of the three-day battle so that he could recreate it, step by awful step, for his listeners.  He strove, as always, to be an accurate historian and to stir the emotions of the audience.

As was his habit,  he sought to elevate the oration by evoking connections to Greek antiquity.  On his lengthy speech. Everett  relived the battle and denounced the enemy. Many in the crowd were moved to tears.

--Old Secesh

About That Everett Gettysburg Address-- Part 1: Two Hours for One, Three Minutes for the Other

From Mass Movement "Edward Everett gives Gettysburg Address.

November 19, 1863.

The Place:  Gettysburg

Two Major Speeches Given That Day

Of course, the best-known was the shortest by far, the one President Abraham Lincoln gave.  His followed a much, much longer, but eloquent speech nonetheless.

That first one was given by Edward Everett, considered the country's greatest orator and a successor to Daniel Webster.

The Boston orator was  the obvious choice for the occasion.  During his forty year career as professor, diplomat and statesman, he had consistently dazzled audiences.  At Gettysburg that day, he held the crowd spellbound  for two hours.

When the president followed him to the podium, he spoke for just three minutes.  But what a three minutes.  What he said that day has entered into the national memory.

Abraham Lincoln gave a handwritten copy of his speech to Edward Everett and that is the one at the Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Illinois.

--Old Secesh

Gettysburg Address Is Back (Well, Was)

From the November 19, 2021, Chicago Tribune.

A picture and caption about this important document:

"Exhibits fabricator Tom Conway and registrar Carla Smith lift a copy of the Gettysburg Address into the public display case Thursday at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois.

"One of five known existing copies in Lincoln's own handwriting, this one s known as the Everett Copy, as Lincoln prepared it for Edward Everett, another speaker on the day that he gave the Gettysburg Address.

"It is installed each year for the anniversary of the November 19, 1863, Gettysburg Address and will remain on public display for the next two weeks.  The Everett Copy was acquired by the state of Illinois in 1944 and is kept in a vault the rest of the year to preserve it."

Something I definitely would like to see, but reckon I'll have to wait until next year to do it.

Oh, Well.  --Old Secesh

Civil War Events in November: Knoxville, Gettysburg Address, Orchard Knob, Lookout Mountain, Franklin

1863

NOVEMBER 17

Siege of Knoxville, Tennessee begins.

1863

NOVEMBER 19

President Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the Pennsylvania battlefield.

1863

NOVEMBER 23

Battle of Orchard Knob, Chattanooga, Tennessee.

1863

NOVEMBER 24

Battle of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee.

1864

NOVEMBER 30 

Battle of Franklin, Tennessee

--Old Secesh

Presidential Visits to Antietam Battlefield-- Part 2: Andrew Johnson's Visit

**  Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's successor,  was next to pay a visit to the battlefield.    While the Radical Republicans in Congress were doing everything they could to impeach him, Johnson traveled to the battlefield on September 17, 1867, the fifth anniversary of the battle, to deliver an address at the dedication of the National Cemetery there.

While his speech that day was not as famous or eloquent as Abraham Lincoln's at Gettysburg, it was at times stirring:  "When we look at yon battlefield, I think of the brave men who fell in the fierce struggle of battle, and who sleep silent in their graves.  Yes, many of them sleep  in silence and peace within this beautiful enclosure after the earnest conflict had ceased."

--Old Secesh

"The World Will Little Note" Or, Did It?

Gettysburg in Memorial.  From the MCCWRT July bulletin.

On June 1, 1865, Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner gave a eulogy for the recently deceased President Abraham Lincoln.  He referred to Lincoln's most famous speech, the Gettysburg Address and called it a "monumental act."

He said Lincoln was wrong when he said that "the world will little note nor long remember what we say here."  Sumner said, "The world noted at once what he said, and will never ever cease to remember it."

"The battle itself was less important than the speech."

Well, I Don't Know About That.  --Old Secesh

Lincoln Relics Could Go At Auction-- Part 3: State-Owned Copy of Gettysburg Address Written By Lincoln

One item that absolutely won't be sold is the rare copy of  the Gettysburg Address, written in Lincoln's own hand.  This long-held showcase document wasn't part of the Taper collection.

Illinois has a collection of tens of thousands of  artifacts that draws researchers from around the world to research.

However, the Foundation does have some time to raise the money.  The loan doesn't come up for renewal until October 2019.  The lender, who was not disclosed has been helpful in terms in the past.

Of course, Illinois is saddled with a long-running dispute between Governor Bruce Rauner and Speaker of the House Michael Madigan which has hurt state finances.  Luckily, in the past, these two have negotiated on issues surrounding the Lincoln complex

If worse comes to worse, I'd say sell the non-Lincoln items.

Here's Hoping Something Good Comes of This.  --Old Secesh

Civil War Timeline for November-- Part 2: Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

NOVEMBER 9, 1864--  Lincoln Re-Elected for second time.

NOVEMBER 13, 1814--  Union General Joseph Hooker born.

NOVEMBER  15, 1864--  Sherman begins his March to the Sea.

NOVEMBER 18, 1863--  Lincoln delivers his Gettysburg Address.

NOVEMBER 23-25, 1863--  Battle of Chattanooga.

NOVEMBER 28, 1861--  Missouri formally admitted to Confederacy.

NOVEMBER 30, 1864--  The Battle of Franklin, Tennessee.

In Honor of Veterans Day: Gettysburg National Military Park-- Part 1

From the Nov. 6, 2015, Chicago Tribune, "Primetime salutes veterans: Visiting war memorials, here and abroad, bears witness to freedom's cost."

GETTYSBURG NATIONAL MILITARY PARK, PENNSYLVANIA

This is honor of Veterans Day today.

This site consists of most of the Gettysburg Battlefield, the Gettysburg National Cemetery and the Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center.  Many of the park's 43,000 Civil War artifacts are displayed in the museum.

A turning point of the war and a major Union victory that ended Robert E. lee's second and most ambitious invasion of the North, it was also the Civil War's bloodiest battle and was the inspiration for President Abraham Lincoln's immortal "Gettysburg Address."

The National Park service Museum and Visitor Center is the place to begin your visit with information on park tours, the film "A New Birth of Freedom", and the gettysburg Cyclorama, an 1884 depiction of "Pickett's Charge."

--Old Secesh

Chicago Tribune Reports the Gettysburg Address-- Part 6

Asa far as Lincoln's own hand-written version, Johnson said that the president evidently extemporized on the text he held in his own hand, a document referred to as the Nicolay copy or the battlefield draft.  In addition, he later wrote out several other longhand copies and while doing so improved here and there on his wording -- what he wished he had originally said.

Johnson's research shows that he also used the published versions in the newspapers as well as his own text.

As far as the "Good God" that appears in the first line of the Tribune version of the speech and in no other place, he believes it was a telegraph error and that the reporter intended to relate the shouts from the crowd, "Good! Good!"

Both the Tribune and AP versions were interspersed with notes of when the crowd interrupted the speech to clap.  The Tribune reporter said "Great applause" and "Immense applause" at times.

Definitely More Than I Knew.  --Old Secesh

Chicago Tribune Reports the Gettysburg Address- Part 5

Finally, at the very bottom of the page came an attempt to reproduce Lincoln's words.  Ohio State University professor Martin Johnson, author of the new book "Writing the Gettysburg Address" said, "We don't know if it was an independent transcript or just a corrupted version of The Associated Press."

he also added that telegraphy was so bad in those days "sometimes too many birds sitting on the wires could generate mistakes in the text."  he found many small differences in the text even printed by newspapers who used AP.

AP sent a trained stenographer to the ceremony.  It is likely that his version most closely reflected what Lincoln said that day. and the version printed in the nearby Philadelphia North American was the most accurate published transcription.

--Old Secesh

The Chicago Tribune Reports the Gettysburg Address-- Part 4

In the style of the day, it read more like a letter from a friend, beginning with an apology: "My dispatch last night concerning the exercises yesterday, by occupation of the wires, was made necessarily brief," he wrote.

Daniel Weinberg, owner of the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop in Chicago has an original copy of the Tribune from that day for sale and says the phrase "occupation of the wires" was a dig at the Associated Press, with which the Tribune and other Midwest newspapers had a feud..

Much of the article was about the speech that proceeded Lincoln's by Edward Everett: "The crowd was packed so densely that the marshals who sat on their horses amidst the multitude, could not move toward the desired quarter; but at length an impressive passage of the orator, contrasting the importance of the Grecian struggle at Marathon, which was like that of our republic, on which spot where he stood, the dense crowd gave way, and a breathless attention was maintained throughout."

I doubt that would happen today as Everett spoke for over an hour.

The Chicago Tribune Reports the Gettysburg Address-- Part 3

The story appeared in the third of nine columns on the front page of what was then the Chicago Daily Tribune, and began under a stack of seven headlines:

From Gettysburg
The Consecration of the Battle Cemetery
50,000 Persons in Attendance
Impressive Exercises at the Occasion
Dirge by Hon. D.B. French--Oration by Hon. Edward Everett
Dedicatory Address by President Lincoln
A Grand National testimonial to Our Fallen Braves

Interesting that Lincoln got the sixth headline.

--Old Secsh

The Chicago Tribune Reports the Gettysburg Address-- Part 2

The Lincoln Gettysburg Address we know ends with the declaration "that the government of the people, by the people and for the people, shall not perish from the Earth."

The Tribune article had it "that the government the people founded, by the people shall not perish."

The reporter got the general idea correct, but not as striking as Lincoln's actual  word usage.

Eric Zorn says that the reporter's effort wasn't really too bad, especially considering he didn't get an advance copy like reporters today do.  Back then, they had to rely on notes, most likely taken while standing up and, then, there were the transcription skills of various telegraph operators with their relay equipment who would be relaying the story back to Chicago.

--Old Secesh

Problems Reporting During the Civil War: Oops, Tribune Got It Wrong-- Part 1

From the November 17, 2014, Chicago Tribune "Dateline Gettysburg: The Tribune regrets the (minor) error" by Eric Zorn.

Reporting during the Civil War had hardships that today's journalists could hardly imagine.  And, the unknown reporter from the Chicago Tribune assigned to go out to Gettysburg Battlefield in November 1863 could hardly be blamed for getting a few words wrong.  After all, this was in the time before loudspeakers and recorders.

We know the beginning words to be: "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

But the Tribune correspondent (no byline appeared) had it: "Four score and seven years ago, our fathers established upon this continent a government subscribed in liberty and dedicated to the fundamental principle that all mankind are created equal by a good God."

Not Quite the Version We Know,  --Old Secesh

Those "Silly Remarks" at Gettysburg 150 Years Ago Today: Newspaper Makes Retraction

From the Nov. 15, 2013, Yahoo! News, Reuters "Pennsylvania paper retracts editorial panning Gettysburg Address" by Eric M. Johnson.

On November 24, 1863, the Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) Patriot-News, had an editorial saying that the speech given by President Lincoln November 19th was full of "silly remarks" and was only worthy of the "veil of oblivion."

"We pass over the silly remarks of the President. For the credit of the nation we are willing that the veil of oblivion should be dropped over them and that they shall be no more repeated or thought of." Furthermore, Lincoln's remarks were just political overture.

Oops, missed that one.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's capital, is 40 miles northeast of Gettysburg.

In the paper retracted this editorial, saying: "Our predecessors, perhaps under the influence of partisanship, or of strong drink, as was common in the profession at the time, called President Lincoln's words 'silly remarks' deserving 'a veil of oblivion."

Oh Well, Even the Greatest Sometimes Get Panned. --Old Secesh

The New Lincoln-- Part 2: "That's Him!"

Christopher Oakley made his big "Lincoln Find" while studying an enlargement of one of the images of the crowd. To create the image, photographer Alexander Gardner employed a new technique creating photos simultaneously called a stereograph. These would yield a 3-D image when seen through an early version of a View-Master. (I've seen one at the Lincoln Home in Springfield, Illinois.)

While looking, Oakley came across the image of Secretary of State William H. Seward. He knew that Lincoln sat near Seward at the ceremony and figured he must be somewhere nearby. To Seward's left sat a vague outline of a bearded figure with a stovepipe hat. Zooming in tighter, Oakley sprang from his chair and exulted, "That's him!"

Well worth reading the rest of the article.

Will the Real Mr. Lincoln Please Stand Up. --Old Secesh