A Memorial Made of Voices

A detail of "Battle of Gettysburg," 1887, by Thure de Thulstrup. Library of Congress. Public Domain

After nightfall ended the vicious fighting on July 2, 1863, Union soldier John Day Smith reported: “There was not much sleep that night. The cries of the wounded men, lying between the lines, suffering with pain and burning with fever were most pitiful.” Smith left his position, carried water for a “poor fellow calling for help,” and found a 17-year-old Confederate soldier shot through one lung. The dying boy told Smith that he was the only child of a widowed mother and had run away from home to join the army. Smith knelt by this young soldier, praying for him and trying to offer comfort. At dawn, he returned and found the boy lying as he had left him, “his eyes glazed in death, looking up into the morning sky, yet not seeing nor caring.”

Smith then wrote: “The poor mother waiting at the lonely hearthstone never knew what had become of her only child … Other mothers, heartbroken, all over the country, waited in vain for the coming of the boy who never returned. Such is war.”

In his newly released book “Voices From Gettysburg: Letters, Papers, and Memoirs From the Greatest Battle of the Civil War,” historian Allen C. Guelzo delivers scores of such personal accounts to readers, bringing alive the glory and pathos of the largest battle ever fought on the North American continent. Having taught Civil War history for years at Gettysburg College, and the author of numerous books and papers on that war, Mr. Guelzo makes an ideal guide for all who wish to explore this momentous clash of Blue and Gray.

The Big Picture

In his Author’s Note to “Voices From Gettysburg,” Mr. Guelzo writes that while living and teaching in Gettysburg he learned “there was no substitute for listening to the voices of those who had been at Gettysburg in 1863, whether soldiers or civilians.” Like all good guides, however, he steers readers through these many reminiscences. His clear-eyed commentary at the beginning of each section, his solid grasp of military tactics and strategy of that era, and his familiarity with the battlefield’s topography give greater meaning to accounts from so long ago.

"The Last Meeting of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson at Chancellorsville," 1869, by Everett B.D. Julio. Public Domain

His pre-battle chapter, “The Commanders,” provides different takes on the character and performance of Robert E. Lee and George Meade. While reading Mr. Guelzo on these two very different generals, we become aware that they shared one circumstance in common at Gettysburg: defaults in command structure.

Lee’s victory at Chancellorsville in May came at a high cost. He lost his most trusted general, Stonewall Jackson, and many of his officers died or were wounded. Consequently, Lee was under enormous pressure to restructure his Army of Northern Virginia.

An illustrated plate of Maj. Gen. George G. Meade from "Abraham Lincoln: A History," published in 1890. Internet Archive. Public Domain

As for Union Gen. George Meade, who was heavily criticized for his failure to destroy Lee’s army on its retreat back to Virginia and so possibly bring an end to the war, he had taken command of the Army of the Potomac only three days before the battle began. He had no time to restructure anything and was “under the unappreciative gaze of other major generals” surrounding him. Despite the new commander’s caution and even fear regarding Lee, Mr. Guelzo writes: “That Meade did as well as he did earns him one of the principal military laurels of the Civil War.”

The Storytellers

In addition to the Civil War, Mr. Guelzo has a passion for classical music. He has written on both American and European classical music, and studied the lives of conductors like Toscanini. In “Voices From Gettysburg,” he plays conductor and choir director, arranging what might have been a cacophony of voices into a chorus of narrative history.

From the combatants we learn of charge and countercharge, of the fighting in iconic arenas of death like the Wheatfield and the Peach Orchard. We hear, too, of the terrible carnage wrought by fighting in a time when painkillers, disinfectants, and antibiotics were still largely undiscovered. As Lee retreated south, John Daniel Imboden and his men had charge of the wagons carrying the wounded. “Very few of the wagons had even straw in them, and all were without springs,” he later reported, writing down in horrible detail the sufferings of these men, their sobs, prayers, and curses, with many of them begging to be left by the roadside to die.

An ambulance crew removes wounded soldiers from the field during the American Civil War, between 1862 and 1865. Library of Congress. Public Domain

Here as well are the impressions of a boy from Gettysburg, Albertus McCreary, whose home lay within Confederate lines. He and his family could feel the shock and vibrations of cannon fire, and “the sharp snap of bullets through the trees in the yard kept us well keyed up.” He reports the Confederate troops as being “ragged and dirty, and they had very little to eat.” When the Southern troops gathered around his house begin to cheer, the boy learned that Robert E. Lee and his staff were passing by. “He looked very much the soldier, sitting very erect in his saddle with his short-cropped beard and his Confederate gray.”

Collectively, such a collection of anecdotes re-creates a vivid picture that brings us as close as possible to the reality of Gettysburg 1863.

Handle With Care

Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock rides along the Union lines during the Confederate bombardment, ordered by Gen. Robert E. Lee against Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, prior to Pickett's Charge. "Battle of Gettysburg," 1887, by Thure de Thulstrup. Library of Congress. Public Domain

As Mr. Guelzo points out, historians must take special precautions when using primary sources like personal anecdotes and reminiscences. Many of the stories in “Voices From Gettysburg” were recorded nearly 40 years after the battle in public addresses, history books, and magazines. Are the speakers trustworthy? Do their powers of recollection really remain so acute that they can recite portions of a conversation from so long ago?

Though it’s certainly true that our memory can play tricks on us, we should remember that the war years left an indelible mark on these combatants. In life-and-death moments on a battlefield, the adrenaline-charged senses may absorb unforgettable impressions that in more mundane circumstances wouldn’t be recalled within a week’s time.

Moreover, the soldiers who fought at Gettysburg on both sides often served alongside friends and acquaintances from their own towns and counties. They would have returned home at war’s end with comrades familiar with their ordeal, there to reminisce at times. Some veterans read accounts of the battles in which they’d fought, as is clearly evidenced by the details that certain narrators provide in “Voices From Gettysburg.” Finally, many of these veterans would surely have shared some of their stories with friends and family members while sitting on the porch or in the parlor. All these repetitions surely would have helped embed their memories.

A Time to Honor and Remember

"The Day of the Dead," 1859, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau. Oil on canvas. Museum of Fine Arts in Bordeaux, France. Public Domain

Near the end of “Voices From Gettysburg,” Mr. Guelzo writes: “Gettysburg today remains the focus of debate, reinterpretation, and remembrance. It is understood variously as the pivot on which the Civil War turned, as the foremost American example of historic preservation, as the rebirth of American democracy, and as a historical showcase for reenactments, tourism, and even merchandise.”

Imbued with that same sentiment of remembrance, in 1868 the Grand Army of the Republic, a large organization of Union veterans led by Maj. Gen. John Logan, issued a Memorial Day Act. This Act declared May 30th as “Decoration Day,” when communities should engage in prayer and decorate the graves of those fallen in the war with “the choicest flowers of springtime.” In 1968, the U.S. Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established the last Monday of May as Memorial Day.

Orphans decorating their fathers' graves in Glenwood Cemetery, Philadelphia, on Decoration Day, 1876. Library of Congress. Public Domain

When speaking of the dead in his address at Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln said: “That from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

This Memorial Day, when we remember those who gave their lives in the service of our country, that Gettysburg resolution is one we should all make our own.

Cover for the 2024 hardcover edition of "Voices From Gettysburg" by Allen C. Guelzo. Public Domain

‘Voices From Gettysburg: Letters, Papers, and Memoirs From the Greatest Battle of the Civil War’ By Allen C. Guelzo Citadel, May 21, 2024 Harcover, 352 pages

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