St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1902-05-28
EXCURSION TO GETTYSBURG.
The National Geographic sOciety-P"rty
of IOO-The Town Named-Ets place
in HistOry-BaItIefeIdN M emOrIaI Asso-
ciation-The three Objective Points,

The National Geographic Society cele'
brated its 14th annual field day by an
excursion to Gettysburg and its hlstorl'
cal battle-ground on Saturday, May II
A special train conveyed the 400 mem
bers of the party in little more than
three hours and half over the Penn. &
Western Maryland railroad to its des'
tination; after partaking OF a substan'
tial lunch, carriages were taken to visit
the most important points OF observa'
ton in order to obtain q correct idea Of
the three days fight, July 1, 2, and g.
1868.
The town received its name from a
Scotch. Irish Presbyterian, James Gettys
Jan. 10, 1856. Adams county was
formed Jan. 22d, 1900, and Gettysburg
is the county seat. Very probably all
Vermonters do not know that Chaddeus
Stevens went there to reside in 1916,
after he was admitted to practice as a
lawyer and remained there until 1910,
when he removed to Lancaster. He is
recognized in the state OF Pennsylvania,
| as well-known factor in the cause OF
education and the strong advocate for
common schools. The historian affirms
that nothing distinguishes epochs in his
tory and brings such lasting fame to
places as historic battles; this seems to
be emphaticaly true Of Gettysburg,
which was comparatively unknown until
the battle OF the Civil War was fought
there, and called one of the Is decisive
battles of the world; when the Confeder-
ate troops under Gen. Robert &. Lee,
were defeated by the Union Army under
Gen. George G. Meade. You cannot
form any adequate idea of the grounds
by reading about it; it is necessary to
visit and see it to comprehend the extent
of the field and magnitude of the battle.
A little preliminary study with maps
will aid greatly in understanding the po-
sltion OF the two opposing armies. AS
the infantry covered nearly 25 square
miles and the cavalry was outside of
that line, our guide stated that it en-
braced 36 square miles in its operations.
You have to bear in mind that Seminary
Hill, or Oak Hill, as it was formerly
known, was held by the contederates,
while Cemetery Hill was occupied by
the Union forces, and although the alti-
tude of the latter is greater, the many
roads on Seminary Hill, leading out from
the town, allowed the confederates to
construct tieldworks along the crest, and
control the whole field. The Battlefield
Memorial association was incorporated
April 30, 1864, They purchased parts
OF farms and strips of land from 60 to
300 feet wide, so avenues have been
made and very fine roads constructed;
many OF the avenues have been named
for the Union and confederate generals.
The Gettysburg Memorial association
transferred the battlefield in 1895 to the
National Government. Our driver stated
that some OF the avenues cost between
$1,000 and $4,000 per mile, while one of
the roads required $3.50 to build it.
We saw the process of road-making.
Small stones were placed in the road and
then were filled in with ground stones, so
a very permanent road was built.
Prof, S. W. Minnigh, our guide and lee
turer, selected three places, the objective
points in the three days battle, for us to
leave our carriage and listen to his thrill
ing recital of the progress of the battle,
and IN imagination follow the contend
ing armies. We visited first East Gene
terry Hill where beautiful memorial monu.
ments have been reared and bronze tab
lets mark the position of many brigades,
corps and batteries. The first memorial
was erected in 1879. Now there are
hundreds of them, but only one confed-
crate monument is found in the whole
battlefield. You are impressed by the
number sent from New York and Penn
syIvania. They furnished ITS from the
81 volunteer organizations, or each
supplied more than one-fourth of the
union army. We find IS states in the
Army OF the Potomac, while the remain
DER OF the 70 states were in the North Vlr-
glnla army. The state of Maryland had
troops in both armies. The leading gen.
erals IN the South were from Virginia.
Gen. Robert E. Lee, Lieut. Gen. A. P. Hill,
MaJ.-Gen. Stewart, Maj.-Gen. Pickett
and Maj.-Gen. ]. A. Early, so we under
stand why Virginia supplied two-thirds
OF the cavalry, two-thirds of the artillery
aud one-fourth OF the infantry. The
southern army was divided into three
corps, and each subdivided into three
divisions which was sometimes double
the number OF the union division; while
the northern army had seven infantry
corps Different estimates have been
made by different historians of the size
OF the two armies and casualties in both.
From 100000 to 10000 soldiers were
engaged in the battle; there were 49,
ooo men killed and wounded. 1t is est.
mated that the Northern army had
nearly 10000 men of all kinds, while the