1913 Gettysburg reunion The 1913 Gettysburg reunion was a Gettysburg Battlefield encampment of American Civil War veterans for the Battle of Gettysburg ' s 50th anniversary . The June 29 – July 4 gathering of 53 , 407 veterans ( ~ 8 , 750 Confederate ) was the largest ever Civil War veteran reunion , and " " never before in the world ' s history " [ had ] " so great a number of men so advanced in years been assembled under field conditions " " ( Chief Surgeon ) . All honorably discharged veterans in the Grand Army of the Republic and the United Confederate Veterans were invited , and veterans from 46 of the 48 states attended ( cf . Nevada ) . Despite concerns " that there might be unpleasant differences , at least , between the blue and gray " ( as after England ' s War of the Roses and the French Revolution ) , the peaceful reunion was repeatedly marked by events of Union – Confederate camaraderie . President Woodrow Wilson ' s July 4 reunion address summarized the spirit : " " We have found one another again as brothers and comrades in arms , enemies no longer , generous friends rather , our battles long past , the quarrel forgotten — except that we shall not forget the splendid valor . " " Planning . After numerous smaller Gettysburg reunions , including the 1906 Philadelphia Brigade / Pickett ' s Division reunion during which Brig . Gen . Armistead ' s captured sword was returned to the South , in April 1908 General Henry S . Huidekoper of Philadelphia suggested a 1913 50th anniversary reunion to Pennsylvania Governor Edwin Sydney Stuart . On September 8 , the Gettysburg National Park Commission met with Gettysburg borough officials about the event , Stuart conducted a sub - committee meeting on October 25 , and Stuart addressed the General Assembly in January 1909 . On May 13 , 1909 , the Pennsylvania Assembly created the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg Commission , and the commission ' s " first tentative programme " of October 13 , 1910 included a " Peace Jubilee " with noon July 3 placement of the cornerstone for a " Great Peace Memorial " . The August 26 , 1912 , US Congress bill appropriated $ 150K and directed the War Department establish the camp , but the memorial funding was not approved and the " Peace Jubilee " plans were removed from the schedule . The site for the camp and the for the Great Tent west of the Codori House were selected in 1912 and mapped by the Gettysburg National Park Commission . The Park Commission also completed painting of avenue fencing , gun carriages , iron tablets , pyramids , and shells from 1912 through June 30 , 1913 . On April 13 , 1913 , the Pennsylvania commission completed the Pennsylvania State Memorial and also mailed 40 , 000 veteran ' s invitations . On June 28 , President Woodrow Wilson notified the Pennsylvania commission he would attend the reunion for a " very limited period " . The 33 contributing states provided a total of $ 1 , 033 , 000 for the reunion ( $ 450 , 000 from Pennsylvania ) . The Pennsylvania commission headquarters at Gettysburg was at 231 Baltimore St , with the Harrisburg office of the Secretary ( later nicknamed the " Duke of Gettysburg " ) in Pennsylvania State Capitol Room 509 . Various commemorative tokens and programs were developed for attendees , including 3 types of Pennsylvania badges ( " PRESS " , " GUEST " , " SCOUT " ) , a commemorative medal , and a souvenir program of poems by the attending " Veteran Scout " , Jack Crawford . The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also added " a telephone line between Gettysburg and Hanover along the Western Maryland Railway , over which the Pennsy [ would ] operate a large number of trains during the battle anniversary " . On the Chambersburg - Gettysburg turnpike and the Gettysburg - Petersburg turnpike , tolls ended in time for the reunion when on June 27 , the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the 1911 Sproul Roads Act , by which the Commonwealth acquired private toll roads . By February 1 , 1913 , water wells were being drilled for the July encampment , and by June 26 hotels in Hanover , Chambersburg , Hagerstown , and " the Blue Ridge section [ were ] filling rapidly " . For entertainment , a Gettysburg facility was started in 1912 to display the Boston version of the Gettysburg Cyclorama , and the now lost " The Battle of Gettysburg " black & white film of 1913 was first run at Walter ' s Theatre on June 26 . Local planning for the reunion included expanding the Gettysburg hackman ' s tax to automobiles ( upheld by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1914 ) , a 50 cent maximum for taxi fares in the borough , and an obscure request from a few Missouri veterans regarding the availability near Gettysburg of " a few good widows or old maids … good housekeepers and not too young " to go west after the reunion ( the " kind - hearted mayor " , J . A . Holtzworth , agreed to forward photos to the veterans in the " Cupid … operations " ) ! Facilities . The War Department ' s Great Camp ( Gettysburg Encampment , Anniversary Camp , Veterans Camp ) provided tents and support facilities for the Civil War veterans and extended from both sides of Long Lane on the north to within 500 yards of the Bliss House . The Great Camp included the Great Tent ( Big Tent , 200 x 450 ft ) " with its thirteen thousand chairs " ; the veterans ' tents ; quarters for 1 , 466 War Department soldiers ( including camp commander Gen . Liggitt ) & 2 , 179 mess personnel ; 385 camp Boy Scouts from Washington ; and other camp personnel for a total of 57 , 198 " " persons quartered and subsisted in the Great Camp " " . The camp had a temporary U . S . Post Office ; 90 Pennsylvania Health Department latrines throughout the camp with a seating capacity of 3 , 476 ; and near the Great Tent , an Emergency Station and 2 Comfort Houses of the health dept , which also supplied the Great Tent water fountains . The Pennsylvania commission also set up a temporary morgue in the camp . A special platform on the Round Top Branch was built for veterans to disembark from steamtrains directly into the camp ( in February , trolleys of the Gettysburg Electric Railway had been prohibited from using the branch ) . After the state health department ' s Chief Engineer had estimated Gettysburg ( pop . 4 , 500 ) would be inundated with 100 , 000 people , the borough agreed to the Commissioner of Health ' s request for his department to take over medical and sanitation efforts in the area from June 25 - July 25 . The department set up a field hospital at the Kurtz property facing Brickyard Lane on the north foot of East Cemetery Hill , as well as 6 Comfort Stations in the borough ( 1 at each railroad station ) , with a total of ~ 100 hoppers . The department also tested borough wells and mitigated contamination sources upstream of the Water Works supply on Marsh Crek . The American Red Cross Society , along with 72 additional Boy Scouts operated fourteen 7 ft x 7 ft Relief Stations for first aid and rest on the battlefield park roads , and the Tuberculosis Dispensary in Gettysburg was also used as a Relief Station . Attached to the Great Camp were a battery of the Third United States Field Artillery and several companies of Regular Infantry . Companies A - D ( 14 officers & 285 men ) of the Fifteenth United States Cavalry arrived on June 26 for guarding the battlefield and camped west of Seminary Ridge on the Hagerstown Rd , while a " model Camp " for a Pennsylvania cavalry squadron was on the " College Athletic Field " adjoining the Commission ' s Headquarters . A total of 527 people were quartered at both the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg & the Pennsylvania College ( " Gettysburg College " in 1921 ) , including the Pennsylvania Gettysburg Commission , 4 troops of Pennsylvania State Police , and in tents , Governor Tener ' s staff . Additional nearby encampments included the leased Newspaper Row ( " Meadeboro " ) with 155 journalists north of the Gettysburg National Cemetery , an encampment of 30 Boy Scouts near Cashtown west of Gettysburg for traveler services on the Chambersburg - Gettysburg Pike , and Philadelphia and Baltimore salvation army encamped in Stonesifer ' s Grove at Biglerville , Pennsylvania . Events . The Great Camp opened for supper on June 29 with Pennsylvania veterans from the state reunion that adjourned on June 28 and other early veterans ( e . g . 2 Confederate vets of Culp ' s Hill had arrived on June 26 ) . The 21 , 000 arrivals on the 29th instead of the 6 , 000 expected by Capt McCaskey of the Quartermasters Corps resulted in initial shortages ( some veterans left without staying ) . After the 1912 base of the Virginia Monument was dedicated on June 30 , official reunion events began on July 1 , Veteran ' s Day , and included a speech by John Wanamaker . Departures included 12 , 000 veterans on July 2 and about the same number on July 3 , and dismantling of the Great Camp began immediately after the July 4 Tribute . The hospital closed on July 5 , and the last veteran left on July 8 . The annual military instructional camp ( 250 college students ) used a few tents of the veterans camp while encamped at the " Meadeboro " camp ( Newspaper Row ) from July 7 - August 15 . The Quartermaster headquarters on Baltimore St closed on August 13 , and by August 15 the entire Grand Camp had been removed except " four great water storage reservoirs " . A movie , " United at Gettysburg " , documented the reunion , and Lt Col Lewis E . Beitler , Secretary of the Commission , completed the compilation of the organizations ' reports on the December 31 , 1913 . To commemorate the 1913 Gettysburg reunion , a colonial portico was opened in May 1914 at the Seminary ' s Old Dorm ( only the concrete base remains ) , and the 1938 Eternal Light Peace Memorial was erected on Oak Ridge , north of Gettysburg .