National Cemetery at Gettysburg

National Cemetery at Gettysburg
Name	National Cemetery at Gettysburg
Established	1863
Location	Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Coordinates	39°49′N 77°14′W
Type	National cemetery
Owner	United States Department of War
Size	17 acres
Graves	~3,500 (Union), many more in adjacent plots

National Cemetery at Gettysburg is a historic burial ground established after the Battle of Gettysburg to receive the Union dead from the three-day engagement. The cemetery occupies ground near the Gettysburg Battlefield and serves as a focal point for memorialization associated with the American Civil War, the Gettysburg Address, and national commemoration practices linked to Abraham Lincoln and Edward Everett.

History

The cemetery was created in the wake of the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863) when local leaders including David Wills and public figures such as Gideon Welles and members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly coordinated reinterment of Union soldiers. The dedication ceremony on November 19, 1863 featured an oration by Edward Everett and a brief, now-famous address by Abraham Lincoln, which scholars contrast with contemporaneous remarks by leaders like Jefferson Davis and military reports from commanders including George G. Meade and Robert E. Lee. The cemetery’s establishment involved federal authorities such as the United States War Department and civilian organizations like the Philadelphia Committee of Citizens and the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association.

Postwar efforts to identify remains and honor the fallen engaged actors from the Grand Army of the Republic to state governors such as Andrew Curtin. Reinterment programs paralleled national initiatives like the creation of other national cemeteries at Arlington National Cemetery and sites tied to campaigns including the Peninsula Campaign and the Vicksburg Campaign. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, veterans’ reunions, speeches by figures including Ulysses S. Grant and commemorations by groups like the United Daughters of the Confederacy shaped public memory and contested narratives of the Civil War.

Design and Monuments

The cemetery plan was laid out with input from designers and civic leaders including David Wills and landscape advisers connected with architectural practices in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.. Design features include radial rows of graves converging on a central Soldiers' National Monument, linking aesthetics found in other memorials such as the Statue of Liberty’s symbolic program and monumental compositions similar to those at Plymouth Rock commemorations. The central monument, erected by sculptors associated with studios in New York City and firms that worked on memorials like the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument (Brooklyn), anchors a collection of markers, regimental monuments, and state memorials erected by entities from Massachusetts to Ohio and from veteran organizations including the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

Individual monuments honor regiments and states—such as memorials sponsored by New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, Illinois, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, Minnesota, and Indiana. Sculptors and foundries with ties to the American Renaissance and companies involved in projects like the Gettysburg National Military Park development contributed bronze reliefs, obelisks, and tablets. The cemetery’s layout, pathways, and plantings reflect 19th-century funerary trends influenced by designers who also worked on sites such as Mount Auburn Cemetery and the landscape principles promoted in publications circulated in Boston and Philadelphia.

Interments and Notable Burials

Interments include Union soldiers killed at the Battle of Gettysburg as well as veterans reinterred from battlefield graves and local burial grounds. Notable burials and commemorated units are associated with leaders like Joshua L. Chamberlain (commemorative markers), regimental histories tied to figures such as Winfield Scott Hancock, and heroes whose names appear in regimental courts-martial and pension records administered through offices in Washington, D.C.. The cemetery contains mass graves and individual markers for soldiers from states including New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and southern units whose dead were originally buried elsewhere.

Commemorative practices have added cenotaphs and markers for individuals remembered in works such as the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion and biographies published by presses in Boston and New York City. Veterans’ associations including the Grand Army of the Republic and later Veterans of Foreign Wars participated in memorialization ceremonies and placements of monuments honoring specific regiments and commanders.

Preservation and Management

Preservation of the cemetery has involved federal agencies such as the National Park Service since the inclusion of the site within the Gettysburg National Military Park. Oversight has also included collaboration with state historic preservation offices like the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and nonprofit stewards such as the Gettysburg Foundation. Conservation projects have drawn on standards promulgated by professional bodies headquartered in Washington, D.C. and techniques shared through networks that include curators from institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, and university conservation programs at University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University.

Management addresses issues raised by heritage tourism linked to nearby institutions like the Gettysburg Battlefield Museum, the Eisenhower National Historic Site, and community stakeholders including the Gettysburg Borough Council and county officials from Adams County, Pennsylvania. Planning for landscape conservation, monument stabilization, and interpretation references federal statutes and policies administered by offices in Washington, D.C. and informed by scholarship from historians at universities such as Princeton University, Yale University, and University of Virginia.

Visitor Information

The cemetery is accessible from routes approaching Gettysburg National Military Park and is interpreted by staff and volunteers associated with the National Park Service, the Gettysburg Foundation, and local historical societies such as the Adams County Historical Society. Visitors encounter the Soldiers' National Monument, regimental markers, and interpretive panels that connect to broader narratives involving figures like Abraham Lincoln, Edward Everett, and commanders from the Army of the Potomac. Programming includes guided tours, commemorative events on dates tied to the Battle of Gettysburg and anniversaries observed by veteran organizations such as the Grand Army of the Republic and modern veterans’ groups.

Nearby traveler resources include accommodation and museum services in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, transportation links to Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and interpretive media produced in collaboration with institutions like the American Battlefield Trust and academic presses in Oxford and Cambridge (England). Visitors are encouraged to consult the National Park Service for hours, accessibility, and special event schedules.

Category:Historic cemeteries in Pennsylvania