This Month's Headlines:

Editor's Letter

A month of remembrance, May, has come to Gettysburg. At The Gettysburg Experience, we are pleased to bring another selection of articles of historic interest, delicious old-fashioned recipes, and our updated Calendar of Events – all beginning on page 11.

The month of May always brings to mind the memory of Jennie Wade, who was born at this time in 1843. She was the only civilian killed during the Battle of Gettysburg. She wasn’t, however, the only civilian casualty here. Read Gettysburg’s Civilian Casualties, beginning on page 21. A brave colonel’s life, cut short in Devil’s Den is chronicled in Colonel A. Van Horne Ellis: “Oh, That All Were Such as He”, beginning on page 31. A glimpse of the Gettysburg aftermath in the words of many who were there is found in A Vast Boneyard, starting on page 41. Read More >   

Gettysburg's Civilian Casualties

On May 21, 1843, Mary Virginia  Wade was born in a small clapboard house on Baltimore Street.  She has become one of Gettysburg’s most famous citizens, as, at the age of twenty, she was the only civilian killed during the Battle of Gettysburg.  Shot in the back of the heart from a stray bullet as she bent over her dough tray to  feed hungry Union soldiers, Jennie died instantly at her sister’s rented house on Cemetery Hill.  Jennie Wade will always be remembered for her terrible sacrifice at Gettysburg.

However, Jennie Wade was not the  only civilian casualty at Gettysburg.   There were many more, and their stories are every bit as tragic. >Read More

Colonel A. Van Horne Ellis: "Oh That All Were Such as He"

July 2, 1863 was a sweltering day, and the sun “had an angry look” as the men of the 124th New York Infantry deployed among the boulders of Devil’s Den. Unable to build breastworks due to the lack of earth around the monolithic rocks, they heard the roar of artillery from the ridge to their south. Soon a brigade of Texans swarmed across the Triangular Field, shouting the Rebel yell. The men in blue stood resolute, following their commander’s stoic stance. He was a soldier who exhibiteda rare and exalted manhood.” He was Colonel Augustus Van Horne Ellis, and he was not about to retreat under any circumstance. >Read More

A Vast Boneyard

In a letter to his parents on  July 5, 1863, Henry M. Howells of the 124th New York wrote: “To-day there was a detail of two men from each company to bury the dead.  I went, but I hope I may never have an  opportunity to do so again.” ¹ 

So began the task of burying the dead and caring for the wounded – and many of the latter would not survive for long.  While Lee’s army left on July 4  and the Union followed soon afterward, doctors, nurses, and civilian aid were desperately needed.  Civilians rushed to  Gettysburg, many to find their loved ones, many to lend their aid, and some out of curiosity.  Their many descriptions paint a grisly picture of the vestiges of battle.  >Read More

Editor's Corner: The Cincinnati Society

While the origins of the foundation of Rome during the 8th century BC are not entirely clear, the city-state took centuries to become the great empire that is known to history. Nearly half a millennium before the birth of Julius Caesar, there was a farmer named Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus who left his plow to fight for, and later govern, the famous city-state. After being called twice from his plow to fight and then to rule Rome, he eventually left his seat of power of his own volition and returned to his farm. Nearly three millennia of admirers resulted for this man who preferred the farm to world dominion. 

George Washington, an advocate of Cincinnatus, did the same when he willingly left the United States Presidency for Mount Vernon in 1797. >Read More

Recipes