The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-06-07
NEW YORK LETTER
A Day Spent on the Famous Field Of
Gettysburg.
Memorials of the Fight Which Adorn 1t
"Reminiscences of Thrilling Scenes
and Experiences Il the, Immi- y
nent Deadly Breach.
[copYR1GHr, 1921


burg is one that every patriotic Amer
lean should make. The death grapple
between the armies of the union and
the confederacy which took place in
and around this quiet, sleepy old town
of Gettysburg twenty-nine years ago
ranks as the one great battle of mod
ern times, and it is bound to live in,
history with Marathon, Blenheim and
Waterloo. 1t was my pleasure to visit
Gettysburg recently with a party of.
New York and Philadelphia newspaper
workers. guests of the Reading rail-.
way, which, in addition to its other
great enterprises, is making speciality
of its connection with Gettysburg and
its famous field. There is no prettier
spot on this continent than Gettysburg
and its surroundings. The beautiful,
undulating character of the valley in
which the town lies, its swelling ridges
covered with emerald verdure and the
whole set in by backgrounds of blue
mountain ridges make it a picture full
of sweetness and repose. Here, but for
the incursions from visitors from the
outer world, one might find the repose
of an Auburn or the happy valley of
Rasselas.
Thanks to the patriotism of the sur
vivors of the battle and the munifcence
of some of the northern states, the
Gettysburg battlefield to-day is mag
nifcent display of monumental art. We
have no such heroic sculpture in this
country, and the stories which here are
told in granite, marble and bronze from
one end of this field to the other are
such as to inspire the loftiest emotions.
With its monuments recounting the
deeds of brigades, regiments and
squadrons the story of the great strug-
gle is told in language which needs
scarcely any addition, and the lesson
promulgated is one which every youth
in the land should enjoy. Some of these
monuments are exquisite, both in de-
sign and execution, and the battlefield
is now really great outdoor exhibition
of aria veritable national museum.
had made hasty visit to Gettys-
burg's field couple of years ago and,
having sread pretty much everything
that had been written on the subject of
the battle, was pretty familiar with
the stories of the guides. We had with
us on this occasion Col John B. Bach
elder, the government historian, who
has been visiting the field annually for
more than twenty years and who has
enjoyed the society of thousands of
officers of both armies who met on this
spot. The old gentleman means to
write, one of these days, history of
this battle, but he is suffering now from
an excess OF information and is so bur
dened with caution that I am afraid
the book, like the mathematical work
which the poor schoolmaster in
Longfellow's story of Kavanagh con-
templated writing for SO many years,
will never be written. Every time he
visits Gettysburg the old colonel OBJ
tains new bit of information which re-
quires the overhauling and revising of
his previous reports. In passing over
the field the other day with Minnigh.
the oratorical guide, the colonel felt
called upon several times to correct
statements which have long been his
torical through constant repetition.
Col. Bachelor has caused to be set I'D
on Seminary ridge, near the point where
Pickett's famous and glorious charge
ended in death and dismay, a memorial
which is to celebrate the 'High Water
Mark Of the Rebellion It is in the
form of granite pedestal with an
enormous bronze book lying open upon
1t, upon which, without adjectives, are
recorded the deeds performed there and
with them the names of the organize
tons of both armies which commended
there.
The Gettysburg Memorial association
has made and graded twenty miles of
carriage roads over the battlefield, and
the monuments thus far set up repre-
sent an investment of over a million
of dollars. When these roads are prop
erly macadamized the battlefield will be
a magnificent park, and when the con-
federates have marked their positions
the vast field will be silent history
speaking to the ages.
Until this recent visit had, along
with good many other people, fancied
that the first days fighting around
Gettysburg was little more than heavy
skirmishing mingled with considerable
running and complete rout in the end
for the federal forces. AS matter of
fact, there was no better fighting done
at Gettysburg than that of Buford's
cavalry and the First corps which en-
countered the advance of Gen. Lees
main army on the Chambersburg pike
on the first of July. The prolongation
of that days struggle made it possible
for Gen. Meade to bring up his detached
corps and place them where they could
be hammered into an impregnable posi-
ton on Seminary ridge with the tanks
protected by the Round Top, Cemetery
hill and Culp's hill When Gen. Blu
ford, at the head of his two cavalry bri-
gades, came laundering into Gettys-
burg on the last day of June he learned
of the eastward movement of Gen.
Lees forces from Chambersburg. Gen.
Early had passed through Gettysburg
moving eastward some days before, and
had taken up his position at York.
Ewell with large force was at Carlisle
on the north, threatening Harrisburg
with several divisions. When, on the
morning of the first RufOr1'S caya1rv-