The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-06-25

heights and valleys of rolling farm land with cultivated fields and orchards, the invading Army of Northern Virginia contended against the stalwart force of the Potomac.
 The town had no special natural advantages, owing it's existence prob portant highways found it convenient to meet at this point. It was upon forces met. Thus this accident which made it a burg also made it a battle field.
 of the Union, the first days of July, 1863 were probably the period of our Nations greatest dependency. Here was the Rebel Army advancing on the homes and lands of the North. The CCnfederacy was at the zenith of it's power and. confidence. Foreign inter Vention and acknowledgement of the Confederate Government were imrni- nent. On the other hand, the Union Army had met with continuous rever-s ses, and it's generals changed repeat edly, only to add to Confederate sue cesses.
 So the Confederate Force advanced. flushed with recent victories at Fred rfcksburg and Chancellorsv1lIe. The Army of the Potomac had been gath ering it's troops to check this advance and protect the cities of Baltimore and Washington.
 vas clothed in her brightest apparel seemingly ignorant of the tempestu-a ous wrath which was soon to burst forth from the advancing armies.
 On the first of July the vanguards of the two great armies met unexpect-. edly upon the Emmittsburg Road. Continually throughout the day, charges were made upon each others. line, until night found the Federals being slowly pushed back through Gettysburg toward Cemetery Ridge.
 At daybreak of the following morn ing, commenced the desperate strug-' gle for supremacy. Lees troops were. massed on Seminary Ridge; while Meade, hastily gathering his forces from. miles about. assumed position along Cemetery Ridge on the opposite side.
 ing peaches in the orchard, in the. Devils Glen, under the trees in the clunps and belts of woodland, in the shallow waters of Plumb Run and. Round Top, behind and in front of stone walls, beside dismantled cannon, everywhere along. the front of the Federal positions, fell many thousand men, In this days battle our own Connecticut Seventeenth fought so gallantly, so we'll Under General hand conflict, Ewe1l'S celebrated 'Louisiana Tigers; and many of her brave sons went down in that fearful
 The confederates failed in their efforts to shake the Federals from. Round Top. Culp's Hill. and Cemetery 61QS6, put M6aQ6 lOSC n6aClY ten thousand men, killed. wounded and missing; Lee over eleven thousand.
 For two da.-s the waves of battle surged and roared for weary hours; victory now inclined to one side and now to the other; Fate held the scales nicely balanced.
 On the third day, as a last resort. Lee began a terrific cannonade upon. the Union batteries. Deceived by, meeting with but a feeble response, he quickly ordered the last desperate
 
 to sweep the Federal lines in confu- sion- Eighteen thousand men, he, only remaining force, fresh and avail able, began the memorable Now or Never'' charge under. Pickett, one of the most heroic of the Civil War. The Southern aim was to drive the Union forces from Culp's Hill, the croWning point on. Cemetery Ridge4
 The Northern cannon opened upon them. Every discharge of our well posted artillery. ploughed great gaps closed up again. They advanced tl ou1. very lines: The Union ranks re- nlained unbroken, standing with un- fiinching courage Face to face, armies struggled for the victory. Grad ually the Confederate Hanks were is1ned and defeated, they fled across the valley, leaving their dead and wounded behind them.
 As Cemetery Ridge was the pivot on
 
 Gettysburg was the pivot on which turned the destiny of the nation. From that day, s1gnalized also by the fall of Vicksburg in the West, the Union Army was crowned with success. On this death-laden arena was confirmed the Fundamental principle upon which our government was founded, sthat all men are created equal" Here the word slave was erased from the sta- tutes of the Great Republic; here was esta bliShed the fact, that from North to South, from East to West, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, there was room but for one government and one flag. Shortly after this great contest, a few gentlemen, foreseeing the inter est which must be felt in the field, on which the turning battle of the great Civil War was fought. formed the Purchasing seventeen acres of this land they rendered it gratuitous1y to 1 the other states as a cemetery for the soldiers. Those heroes who offered 1 their lives so zea1ousIy that our flag might fly. forever, without a star oblit- ated, or a. stripe erased In this Ma governm enta1 appropriation, lie more than three thousand five hundred Union soldiers. Each of the four hundred memorial columns and cento- taphs erected on those embattIed plains, marks a paragraph of heroism and endurance in that Soldiers Bat tIe.' For our Nation, more than any other, loves to honor as precious, her private soldiers, her common dead. It was not the sword Of the off cer, blt the musket of the common soldier which turned the tide of battle the countless rows of graves stretching down the hillside mutely testify. On the escutcheon of nations, writ l ten with the blood of heroes, Greece has it's Marathon, France it's Auster- | 1ttz, England it's Waterloo, and the United States it's Gettysburg But neither on Waterloo, nor at Auster- | 1itz can one behold anything to mark | the gigantic strife of nations on those famous theaters of war. It has re- n1ained for America to remember her | sons who fell, as we now see them ccmmemorated on those memorable | acres. It matters not to any true Am | erican where he may be, at the men ton of the name of '1Gettysburg, l there arises within him a. feeling akin | to love of country. Gettysburg! 1 , 16Zfo.o m ever,