Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-07-03
WONDERFUL TALES
FROM GETTYSBURG
Reunions There the Like of
Which the World Never
Saw Before.
WISCONSIN'S IRON MEN
MEET WITH PETTIGREWS
Fifty Years Ago These Commands
Battled, With an Appalling
Loss of Life.
BY EARL GOODWIN,

BY EARL GOODWIN.
GETTYSBURG, Pa. July 3-This day
is charged and supercharged with the
Intoxicating effervescence of the spirit
of this thing.
| The most marvellous things are happen
| ing. Such unusual. such unheard-of. re-
unions are held in ten thousand places at
once that there is no choice to take. Each
| seems better. story than the one which
You heard of or witnessed last. There
are not columns enough in the world to
print the stories of the things which went
| on today between the veterans Of the
north and the south, who fifty years ago
| today listened to the Confederate guns.
cannonade and later watched that great
charge of Picketts
Meetings Not on Record.
A record in stenographic notes is taken
of the speeches in the great reunion
tent, but the pity of it all is that there
is no adequate record of the meetings
here today between single Blues and
single grays who. in some cases. fought
with each hand to hand. Newspaper men
have combed this Deld over for news,
and send to the world broadcast thou
sands of different tales of the streets.
the roadside, the meetings under the
shade of battle monuments, and all of
them, their brains aching with load of
incident. declare that never in the
worlds history have there been such
WondrOuS revelations of human interest.
A remarkable tribute of silence will be
paid tomorrow to the men who fell at
Gettysburg. Gen. Hunter Liggett, L. S.
a a h0 hQ q in
camp shall be lowered to half staff and
that every army man In camp shall stand
at attention for five minutes.
Fought to the Death.
There was today the unheard-o of reunion
of the northerners of the Iron Brigade
and the southerners Of Pettigrew's North
Carolina Brigade. In the first days bat
tie these two fighting, demoniacal thun-
derbolts met in Gettysburg streets, and
when 1t Is said they fought to a finish 1t
is accurately picturing the thing that hap
pened. 1t Is claimed that never else
where have there been such losses.
One regiment lost 80 per cent. south
ern regiment lost so per cent. One Con-
federate company fought until every man
was lost. And this afternoon they met
under big canvas and sang songs to-
gether These old men. the bravest Of the
brave then, and with the shadow of that
heroism still virile and beautiful on their
foreheads. shook hands and told each
other war yarns the like Of which cannot
be read I'm books.
George Mcconnell of Michigan. an iron
man of that Iron Brigade, said this to all
OF them:
Il wish the north had song like
Dixie 1t is song of inspiration, as
any one knows who fought against you
/ wish The Star Spangled Banner could
be played and sung to the tune of
Dixie
Here we are, after fifty years. a hand
full left out of the handful that survived
that day of blood and death. We have
heard OF modern battles. but none was
like ours. Roosevelt's Rough Riders re-
ceived more publicity than both the
ceived altogether during the entire war,
and yet they lost but per cent
Pickett's Charge Re-Enacted.
At . o'clock today Pickett's charge was
re-enacted by men who were in that
charge fifty years ago today to the very
hour and minute. There will be a
plethora Of words called forth to picture
this, but it is not possible to paint in
cOlors sacred enough to do 1t justice.
Veterans Of the Philadelphia brigade, the
Goth and list Pennsylvania Infantry,
stood near Bloody Angle" and a hand
full. perhaps hundred men in gray, who
followed Pickett across that awful
stretch. arranged themselves in front of
them.
They are close together this afternoon
Of course mindful of the day when they
saw each others ranks torn apart by
| rifle shot and grape and canister, and
yet close up as II on dress parade.
Charged today at a walk the men of
the Philadelphia brigade awaited them
at Bloody Angle, where they stood in
battle. They shook hands and sang
songs and made speeches when thew met.
| and the anguish of the awful slaughter
Of that long dead day was wiped out for
| ever this afternoon.
There were two old fellows who left
| town last night, after a glorious reunion,
and the pity OF II Is that no record has
| been kept of their names A. d. Dice.
vice president of the Reading railroad
| saw the thing they did. but not being
| good reporter he failed to get their
names One was Confederate from
| New Orleans. the other Union man
| from Oregon. They had fought at the
battle of Gettysburg and claimed to have
| fired shots at one another's brigade.
They are now rich and they had
screaming old reunion for two DAYS
| And when they left town they stood in
| the waiting room of the railroad station
and changed their uniforms i'm view OF
| the clamorous multitude. The Union
man went home in gray and the Con-
| federate in blue.
Regiment of "Colonels."
In the town of Gettysburg. where the
| Pennsylvania commission is stationed, a
| grand reception is being held. The COM
| mission has 800 guests-senators repre-
sentatives. fifteen governors. war vet
Grams and people of distinction of all
! sorts. The commission is quartered in
| the building of the Gettysburg College
| and has turned those halls of learning
| into a genuine hotel 1t has had built a
\ hotel clerks Office on the campus, and
i college boys with fraternity pins are
| doing the paging. the messenger work
| and general scurrying around. There are
| enough of that sort of soldier known as
| a colonel on a governors staff to fill
| a regiment, and all have brand-new uni
| forms and shop window full of medals
on their chests. One of them was mis-
/ taken for a Boy Scout by a near-sighted
| and profane veteran last night. much to
/ the rancor of the governors colonel.
| Gov. Suffers outfit is the real genuine
| and only guaranteed under the pure food
i law outfit. Where other governors
| brought half dozen colonies, or a dozen
| at most, Gov. Sulzer brought sixty peo-
ple-colonels. state senators, assemblymen
and the like of that.
| They have a tented city all their own
| for which the state of New York is pay
4 ing. and have set up a liquid refresh
l. rf>l~