The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1906-12-27
Major Burrage's Book.

JOs
Gettysburg and Lincoln. The Battle,
the Cemetery and the National Park.
By Henry Sweetser Burrage, Brevet
Major, U. S. Vols. Illustrated. G. p.
Putnams Sons, New York and London.
The Knickerbocker Press, 1906.
DR.. H. S. Burrage Major Bur-
rage, to give him his military title for
the present occasion-chaplain of the
Soldiers Home at Togus, has made an
interesting and important contribution
to the history of the Civil war, in the
form of a volume of 224 pages, includ-
ing appendices and a copious index,
and bearing the foregoing title. The
book was growth, and 1t began in the
middle. Major Burrage prepared for
private occasion a paper on the subject
of Lincoln's address at Gettysburg.
He was urged to expand his theme and
publish, and he has done so. In the
doing of it he went far afield in pursuit
of data. The result is the most COM
plete as well as the completely anthem
tic account Of the dedication OF Gettys-
burg cemetery, the circumstances OF its
composition, the lamentations, the text
of the document as Lincoln originally
wrote it, as he delivered it, and as he
finally revised it. Stories have been
current about this-hoW Lincoln wrote
the address on the cars while journey
ing to the battlefield, upon his hat or a
sheet of pasteboard held on his knee
but they are without foundation. 1t
appears that the original draft, all but
nine or ten lines of the concluding SEN
tence. was written at the White House
%I. ia knf q Of a N i N n
sheet of Executive Mansion letter
paper; that at Gettysburg, on the even
ing before or the morning of the dedi-
cation, he completed the address in
lead pencil on another sheet of paper;
that in the delivery, as appears from
the shorthand associated press report,
he made several changes in phraseo-
logy, which improved the rhetorical
quality: that at the request of David
Willis, ESQ.,, the representative of
Governor Curtin in the cemetery pro-
| ject, for the original manuscript of his
remarks to place with the correspond
ence and other papers, he compared his
original draft with the press report and
made new revision and new auto
! graph copy, which has become the
authentic and standard text. He also
| answered other requests for auto
graphic copies for use at soldiers fairs.
A autographed fac smile was sold at a
Baltimore fair, and comparison of this
revised autographs copy shows that
Mr., Lincoln in the revision made thlr
teen changes in ALL These are given
| in the book, together with the text OF
the original draft, text of the Associat
ed Press report, and text of the tna
! revised version, The original manu-
| script of this is in the possession of the
/ family of the late John Hay, to whom
! Major Burrage was indebted for some
of the facts which he has ascertalned
| Whether the manuscript of the orlgl
nal draft remains in existence is not
clear, but presumably it was among
the effects of Private Secretary Nico
lay, who published fac smile repro
duction.
! Major Burrage dedicates his work to
Lieutenant Colonel John P. Nicholson
chairman of the Gettysburg Battlefield
commission. The first part is a com
prehensive account, drawn largely from
official papers and illustrated by mar
of the Gettysburg campaign and battle
including Lees advance, the three
days of fighting, and the retreat. 'Tht
high water mark of the Rebellion had
been reached and the advancing
wave. shattered and beaten back of the
Potomac. The great slaughter al
Gettysburg and the hasty burial Of sol
diers gave rise to the idea Of a nationa
cemetery on the field of the most i'm
portant battle of the Civil war. The
| thought seems first to have occurred tC
David Willis. He wrote to Governor
Curtin about it, submitting a plan fol
a cemetery. This plan received the
hearty approval of the governor, and al
his request Mr.. Willis entered into cor
respondence with the governors Of
other States whose soldiers were in the
battle. This was the genesis of the
cemetry. Ground was purchased, anc
the conservation ceremonies followed
in due course. The estimated expense
of completing the cemetery was $63,
500, and this was met by appropriations
by the Legislatures of the various
States.
The cemetery led to the idea of estab
fishing a national park to include anC
preserve the backgrounds and theil
historic localities as memorial to al
future generations The progress OF
this work is described in the third part
of the book, ''The National Park The
/ VI L lNNdio AIlSOipOA
ated the Gettysburg Battlefield Memo
rial Association, and under the superin
tendence of this association the work
went on until Congress in 1893 provided
for the maintenance of the battlefield
and national commission was appoint
ed. This brought the work of the me
mortal association to close and the
property was transferred to the nation
al government The association in its
twenty-one years of service had received
and expended $1O6,575, and the whole
amount expended by the States in con
nection with the work was $685., 1926
Since 1893 the work of improvement
and addition has proceeded under thu
care of the Gettysburg national parl
commission, and Congress has appro
priated for the purpose nearly $s50.0o0
It is an object in which Maine is great
" interested, for there were ten Maine
regiments in the battle, three batteries
a company of sharpshooters and a bat
TALON of the 10th Maine, the bodies o
1O4 identified Maine soldiers were buried
in the cemetery, the State has a larg'