Throughout the Civil War there were few choice events other than battles that are still remembered today. Although when Abraham Lincoln gave his Gettysburg address, we all knew he had said something great, something that would be remembered. It was November 19, 1863 four and a half months after the crucial battle of Gettysburg had been fought. Abraham Lincoln had come to deliver the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg Pennsylvania. On the morning of November 19 we saw Abraham Lincoln riding his horse in front of a huge crowd consisting of many different kinds of people on the way to make his speech.
When we came to the scene we could smell the smoke wafting through the air from the already over 15,000 people waiting to hear a speech. The taste of the smoky air caused me to cough wildly up until the first speaker arrived at the scene. First we saw Edward Everett come to the stage; Edward had served as Secretary of State, a U.S. Senator, a U.S. Representative, the Governor of Massachusetts, and the President of Harvard University.
The director of the event even had it postponed just so Edward Everett could speak on the day they were to commemorate the cemetery. Abraham Lincoln was invited to come speak as a late addition and he was not especially needed for the ceremony to be a success some organizers thought. After Everett finished his two hour speech Abraham Lincoln calmly took the podium and began his speech. Two minutes and 269 words later the audience of 15,000 heard one of the most spectacular speeches ever made and they knew it. Years later the last living person to see the Gettysburg address said “it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen”.
