Pictures of War

Two veterans of the American Civil War (from opposing sides) gathered at the 50th anniversary reunion of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania - 1913.

A portrait of American Civil War general Ambrose Burnside.

He is also the man responsible for the word “sideburns,” which were originally called “burnsides” before the syllables were reversed.

photocircus:

General William Tecumseh Sherman, 1865.

by Mathew Brady

“African Americans collect the remains of soldiers killed in battle near Cold Harbor, Virginia, in April of 1865.”

(LOC)

therootedman:

“I wish some of you would tell me the brand of whiskey that Grant drinks. I would like to send a barrel of it to my other generals.”

        Abraham Lincoln (response to complaints about Grant’s drinking habits, 1863)

(picture: Ulysses S. Grant at City Point, 1864)                      

tuesday-johnson:

ca. 1870, [Tintype portrait of (Francis) Jefferson Coates, who lost both eyes at Gettysburg and was subsequently awarded the Medal of Honor and the rank of Brevet Captain]

via the Wisconsin Historical Society, Small Formats Special Storage Lot

This day in history:

Abraham Lincoln attends the consecration of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, in honor of the Union soldiers who died during the battle four months prior.

The event’s featured speaker was not Lincoln, but instead the orator Edward Everett.  During his oration, Everett rambled on for more than two hours.  He was then followed by Lincoln, who gave (in just two minutes) one of the most famous speeches in American history, the Gettysburg Address, beginning with the lines:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Disappointed in his own speech, Lincoln quickly sat down before anyone could capture a photograph.  The only known photo of Lincoln at the event (shown above) was taken when he arrived, hours before his famous speech.

Following the event, Edward Everett wrote a letter to Lincoln, stating ”I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes.”

In his reply, Lincoln stated he was glad it wasn’t a ”total failure.”

November 19, 1863 - 148 years ago today.

An amputation during the American Civil War.