![]() ![]() Lincoln waited patiently as the Oration, given by Edward Everett, and intended as the actual Gettysburg Address, lasted two hours. On the day of the speech, John Hay would note that the President had a ‘ghastly color’ to his face and that Lincoln appeared ‘sad, mournful, almost haggard.’ Lincoln was invited by the committee overseeing the event, who wrote: “It is the desire that, after the Oration, you as Chief Executive of the nation, formally set apart these grounds to their sacred use by a few appropriate remarks.”ĭuring his train trip for the ceremony, Lincoln was ill, complaining of weakness and dizziness. The Union dead were set to be reburied from the battlefield to the new National Cemetery. Approximately 51,000 soldiers lost their lives at Gettysburg that previous July, of which 23,000 were Union and 28,000 Confederate. It was a battle that was the bloodiest of the Civil War and is often cited as the turning point, as it would be the last Confederate invasion in the north and the beginning of the southern armies’ decline. ![]() It had been over four months since the Battle of Gettysburg and the Union victory over the Confederates. ![]() Stone wall at Cemetery Ridge, Gettysburg Battlefield, Pennsylvania ![]()
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