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Top 10 outstanding facts about the Gettysburg National Military Park

The Gettysburg National Military Park protects and interprets the landscape of the 1863 battle of Gettysburg during the American civil war. Located in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the park is managed by the national park service.

Inside the park is the Gettysburg battlefield, many of the battle’s support areas during the battle (e.g., reserve, supply, and hospital locations). There are also other non-battle areas associated with the battle’s “aftermath and commemoration,” including the Gettysburg national cemetery.

In October 1863,  3,354 bodies of Union soldiers were exhumed for permanent burial on a site at the edge of the battlefield. this was done in November 1864, at the dedication ceremonies for the cemetery.

During the dedication, President Abraham Lincoln delivered what later became known as the Gettysburg address. It was a brief address in which he defined American democracy and sanctified the war for the Union.

Find out more outstanding facts about Gettysburg National Military Park.

1. It was a place where the bloodiest war was fought in the American civil war

 It was also the bloodiest single battle of the war, resulting in over 51,000 soldiers killed, wounded, captured or missing.

To properly bury the Union soldiers who died at Gettysburg, a “Soldiers Cemetery” was established on the battleground near the centre of the Union line.

2. President Lincoln gave a speech at the park after the war

It was here during the dedication ceremony on November 19, 1863, that President Abraham Lincoln spoke of “these honoured dead…” and renewed the Union cause to reunite the war-torn nation.

He did this through his most famous speech, the “Gettysburg Address.” The cemetery contains more than 7,000 interments including over 3,500 from the Civil War.

3. There have been a lot of conservation efforts to maintain the park

The park has more wooded land than in 1863. Furthermore, it has an ongoing program to restore portions of the battlefield to their historical non-wooded conditions. They also replanted historic orchards and woodlots that are now missing.

In addition, the NPS is restoring native plants to meadows and edges of roads, to encourage habitat as well as provide for historic landscape. There are also considerably more roads and facilities for the benefit of tourists visiting the battlefield park.

Attendance in 2018 was 950,000, a decline of 86% since 1970. The five major Civil War battlefield parks operated by the National Park Service (Gettysburg, Antietam, Shiloh, Chickamauga/Chattanooga and Vicksburg) had a combined 3.1 million visitors in 2018, down 70% from 10.2 million in 1970.

4. The park was added to the national registry of historic places on October 15, 1966

In 1864, the Gettysburg battlefield memorial association and later veteran’s associations acquired land for memorials and preservation of Federal acquisition of land.

This became the 1895 national park on June 7, 1893. It had nine monument tracts of 625 sq. ft. (58.1 m²) each and a larger 10th lot of 1.2 acres (4,900 m²) from the Association, as well as 0.275 acres (1,110 m²) from Samuel m Bushman.

5. A foundation was formed to protect the history of the events that took place there

The Gettysburg Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit philanthropic, educational organization that operates in partnership with the National Park Service.

Together, they preserve Gettysburg National Military Park and the Eisenhower National Historic Site and educate the public about their significance. 

Funds for the construction of the park were raised by the Foundation. They built the new Museum and Visitor Center, which opened in 2008.

Additionally, they secured funds for the creation of a new cannon shop that daily preserves the nearly 400 cannons representing actual artillery lines on the battlefield.

Its Visitor Center houses the Gettysburg Museum of the American Civil War and the 19th century, painting in the round, the Gettysburg Cyclorama)

6. The park officially came under control federal on February 11, 1895

 The park officially came under federal control on February 11, 1895, with a piece of legislation titled, 鈥淎n Act To establish a national military park at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.鈥�

This piece of legislation officially allowed the transfer of the deed for the park to go from the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial National Park Association to the Secretary of War.

7. The park is a site used for remembrance

The Park has been a highly symbolic venue for memorials and remembrance.

On November 19, 1963, a parade and ceremony were held in Gettysburg commemorating the centennial of President Lincoln’s Gettysburg address given less than five months after the battle of Gettysburg.

Actor Raymond H. Massey playing the role of President Lincoln arrived by the 1860s period steam train at the Gettysburg station.

 He rode, in the parade as did Lincoln, on horseback to the National cemetery where actor Massey gave the President’s famous address (this time for brevity, Edward Everett’s preceding two-hour speech was not read).

8. The park has been affected by the recent pollution taking place

An estimated annual 2 million people are visiting the park a year, and with this large influx of visitors, concerns have arisen about its effects on the environment.

Natural areas like wooded areas, thickets and wetlands, have been stressed by pollution caused by traffic, and the issue of invasive species threatening the ecology of the park.

9. The battle brought a lot of devastation to the communities around where the battle took place

The battle brought devastation to the residents of Gettysburg. When the armies marched away from Gettysburg, they left behind a community in shambles and over 51,000 soldiers dead, wounded, or missing.

Wounded and dying were crowded into nearly every building. Every farm field or garden was a graveyard. Most of the dead lay in hastily dug and inadequate graves; some had not been buried at all. Churches, public buildings and even private homes were hospitals, filled with wounded soldiers.

The Union medical staff that remained were strained to treat so many wounded scattered about the county.

10. A hospital had to be set up around the grounds because of the many wounded soldiers

 To meet the demand, Camp Letterman General Hospital was established east of Gettysburg where all of the wounded were eventually transported to permanent hospitals in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington.

Union surgeons worked with members of the U.S Sanitary Commission and Christian Commission to treat and care for the over 20,000 injured Union and Confederate soldiers that passed through the hospital’s wards, housed under large tents.

 By January 1864, the last patients were gone as were the surgeons, guards, nurses, tents and cookhouses. Only a temporary cemetery on the hillside remained as a testament to the courageous battle to save lives that took place at Camp Letterman

11. (BONUS FACT) The foundation was made to keep the memories of the dead soldiers alive

In 1864, a group of concerned citizens established the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association. Its purpose was to preserve portions of the battlefield as a memorial to the Union Army that fought here.

The GBMA transferred their land holdings to the Federal government in 1895, which designated Gettysburg as a National Military Park.

 A Federally-appointed commission of Civil War veterans oversaw the park’s development as a memorial to both armies by identifying and marking the lines of battle.

Administration of the park was transferred to the Department of the Interior, National Park Service in 1933, which continues in its mission to protect, preserve and interpret the Battle of Gettysburg and the Gettysburg Address to park visitors.

12. (BONUS FACT) Reenactments have taken place in the park since then

 In recent years, reenactments have taken place outside the park boundaries, except for the motion picture Gettysburg (1993), which was filmed inside the park.

In 1895, to forestall railroad lines being built through the battlefield, Congress established the Gettysburg National Military Park. The National Park Service succeeded the War Department in administering the site in 1933.

 In 1972, a controversial privately owned observation tower was constructed. Many preservationists and civil army organizations continue to express alarm over the commercialization of parts.