The Gettysburg Quarterly

Volunteers are vital to the parks 

Gettysburg National Military Park and 

the Eisenhower National Historic Site 

literally could not succeed without our 

volunteers. Here is a look at some of the 

accomplishments of our incredible volunteers in the past year. 

Friends of Gettysburg Volunteers - In 

early June, 326 volunteers descended on 

the battlefi eld for six and a half hours 

and they accomplished a HUGE amount 

of work. The event is the park’s biggest 

volunteer day of the year. Volunteers 

reported for duty from 21 states. They 

cleaned headstones, repainted inscriptions, cut brush, built fences, painted 

buildings and fences, and even cleaned 

out a barn.

Adopt-A-Position – Last year 1,413 

volunteers worked 4,972 hours helping maintain the Gettysburg battlefi eld. 

They cleared historic stone walls on the 

northern slopes of Culp’s Hill, removed 

weeds and leaves around their adopted 

monuments and markers, and painted 

fences at the Eisenhower Show Barn.

Park Watch Patrol – Now in its 16th 

year, Park Watch volunteers report 

numerous in-progress incidents, assist 

visitors, and help law enforcement staff 

with parking, traffi c and crowd control 

at special events. Park Watch volunteer 

Ed Hamilton single-handedly cleans up 

areas of the park by picking up litter during his many hours of foot patrols. So far 

in fi scal year 2011, the 120 volunteers have 

put in 5,945 hours of service. 

Visitor Services Volunteers – This special volunteer corps assists visitors at 

six contact stations: the Visitor Center 

Information Desk; Visitor Center Plaza; 

Resource Room; Museum Galleries; 

National Cemetery; and the West End 

Guide Station. In the fi rst six months 

of 2011, 50 Visitor Services volunteers 

logged over 3,500 hours of service. They 

also assist the park with student education programs, Homeschool Days, crowd 

control during anniversary battle walks, 

and distributing survey cards. 

Civil War Living History Volunteers

– By invitation from the National Park 

Service, volunteers from reenactment 

units set up encampments and programs 

on the battlefi eld on 27 weekends last 

year, representing infantry, artillery, cavalry, medical, signal corps, and 15 diff erent civilian units. These 1,400 volunteers 

donated over 23,000 hours of service, 

with an estimated 82,000 visitors attending 330 formal programs. Another 9,000 

visitors toured the living history encampments and explored Civil War life in an 

informal setting.

Eisenhower NHS Volunteers – This 

past year, approximately 15,000 hours 

of volunteer service were provided at 

the Eisenhower Site on duties such as 

presenting interpretive tours and talks, 

assisting with small preservation projects 

such as the reconstruction of a historic 

fi re hose box, and trimming of shrubs 

to maintain the historic landscape. Volunteers also help with special events, 

including Mamie Remembers Gettysburg 

Day, World War II Weekend and other 

living history events. In addition, Eisenhower NHS has two special volunteer 

programs, the Senior Ranger Corps and 

the crew of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69).

To learn more about how you can get 

involved, go to: www.nps.gov/gett/supportyourpark/volunteer.htm

The offi cial newsletter of Gettysburg National Military Park · Fall 2011 · Vol. 18, No. 3

Park News National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior
Gettysburg National Military Park, established 

in 1895, is the site of the great Civil War 

battle that repulsed the second Confederate 

invasion of the North. The mission of the National Park Service at Gettysburg is to preserve 

and protect the resources associated with the 

battle of Gettysburg and the Soldiers’ National Cemetery and provide an understanding 

of the events that occurred there within the 

context of American history. 

Gettysburg National Military Park

1195 Baltimore Pike, Suite 100

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania 17325

Phone

(717) 334-1124 

E-mail

gett_superintendent@nps.gov

On the web at: www.nps.gov/gett

Visit us on Facebook as “Gettysburg National 

Military Park”

The National Park Service cares for the 

special places saved by the American people 

so that all may experience our heritage.

Many exciting events and programs are 

being planned to commemorate the 150th 

anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg 

and Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address in 2013. The current slate of park 

events includes: 

A winter lecture series on the War in 1863;

Living history weekends on the battlefi eld from April through October; 

A special exhibit - Treasures of the Civil 

War - throughout 2013 to be co-sponsored by the Gettysburg Foundation; 

Spring and fall Gettysburg Seminars to be 

co-sponsored by Gettysburg College; 

Musical performances; 

Co-sponsorship by the park of the 2013 

Anniversary Programs Take Shape for 2013

2 The Gettysburg Quarterly

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Gettysburg National Military Park’s eight Civil War trading cards are now available, free.

Civil War Institute at Gettysburg 

College; 

150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg - Special Ranger Programs;

Co-sponsorship of a lecture series, Sacred Trust – Gettysburg Perspectives 

with the Gettysburg Foundation;

Special events associated with the 2013 

Congressional Medal of Honor Convention;

Remembrance Day Parade and Ceremonies;

The Remembrance Day Illumination in 

the Soldiers’ National Cemetery with 

the Gettysburg Foundation;

Dedication Day – 150th Anniversary of 

In addition to the park’s web page at www.nps.gov/

gett, you can now follow Gettysburg National Military 

Park’s news on Facebook and on the park’s offi cial blogs: 

“From the Fields of Gettysburg,” and “The Gettysburg 

Schoolbus”

the Gettysburg Address at the Soldiers’ National Cemetery;

Graveside Salute to the U.S. Colored 

Troops at the Soldiers’ National Cemetery.

In unison with other National Park Service sites, Gettysburg NMP events and 

programs will commemorate defi ning 

events in our nation’s history and their 

legacy in the continuing fi ght for civil 

rights. 

As part of a national Civil War 150 initiative for parks, Gettysburg NMP now has 

eight Civil War trading cards which are 

given to younger visitors as a reward for 

participating in interpretive programs. 

Two dozen national parks have a set of 

unique trading cards which are being 

distributed to visitors for free.
The Lost Artilleryman’s Head

The Gettysburg Quarterly 3

In late June, Heritage Inns, Inc., of Gettysburg, 

donated an unusual artifact to Gettysburg National Military Park - a lock of Abraham Lincoln’s hair. The lock of hair was collected by Dr. 

Robert K. Stone during the autopsy conducted 

following President Lincoln’s death. Later it was 

presented by Dr. Stone to Enoch Pratt, a prominent unionist and philanthropist in Baltimore. 

The hair is framed and dated by Dr. Stone, 

“April 1865.”

Framed Lock of Lincoln’s Hair Donated to Park

Lock of Lincoln’s Hair Donated to Park - from left, Max 

Felty, of Gettysburg Tours, Inc., Bob Kirby, Gettysburg 

National Military Park, Thomas E. Metz, Heritage Inns, 

Inc., and Gettysburg Tours, Inc., and Donna McCleaf.

In August, a special team of National 

Park Service employees went to Manchester, New Hampshire, to make a rubber mold of the head and the top of the 

ramrod on the artilleryman featured on 

their Civil War monument. This bronze 

artilleryman was created by the same 

sculptor who did the artilleryman on the 

4th New York monument (Smith’s Battery). We believe the two artillerymen 

were made from the very same mold.

The team included Lucas Flickinger, 

supervisor of the park’s monument preservation branch; Joe Catchings, a longtime member of the Gettysburg NMP 

monument preservation team; and Brian 

Griffi n, a new summer employee on the 

monument preservation crew who is a 

sculptor, and took the lead for the trip. 

The team also included Vic Gavin, retired 

supervisor of the park’s monument preservation branch; and Dennis Montagna, 

a monument preservation specialist from 

the National Park Service’s northeast 

regional offi ce.

The rubber mold will be used by a foundry to make the wax, which we will then 

be used to pour bronze for the new head 

and rammer. We hope to make progress 

on this project through the rest of this 

year. 

Brian Griffi n is also going to begin sculpting a new arm for the 11th Massachusetts. 

Both Smith’s Battery and the 11th Massachusetts have been missing key features 

since they were vandalized in February 

2006. Despite a $30,000 reward for 

information, no arrests or convictions 

for the infamous night of vandalism at 

Gettysburg have yet been made. If you 

know something, please get in touch with 

Gettysburg National Military Park law 

enforcement.

Clockwise from the top: The bronze artilleryman from the 4th New York monument (Smith’s Battery) at Devil’s Den, the 

morning after the 2006 vandalism attack; 

Peeling the rubber mold off the head of 

the artilleryman in Manchester; and applying rubber to the artilleryman’s head 

to make the mold.
4 The Gettysburg Quarterly

Civil War Bullets Found In Fallen Tree

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Gettysburg National Military Park

1195 Baltimore Pike, Ste. 100

Gettysburg, PA 17325

In early August, Gettysburg National Military Park employees got a reminder that 

the past is still with us. Park maintenance 

employees were cutting through a fallen 

oak tree on Culp’s Hill when the chain saw 

hit bullets. The cuts revealed two diff erent 

minie balls in cross section. The pieces of 

the tree with the exposed bullets have been 

placed in the park’s museum collection.

The park’s natural resource specialists 

believe the tree was 100 years old when the 

bullets hit it in 1863. Because it was growing near the top of a dry, rocky slope it 

grew slowly, it was only about 8 to 10 inches in diameter when it was a century old. 

For more information go to: www.nps.gov/

gett/parknews/newsreleases.htm

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