i created gettysburg national military park. i guess that's okay, but somebody else would have done that that's revisionist history doesn't matter if somebody else would have done it the sickles bill did do it. not that he was the only guy during that era, but let's you let's give credit. work credits due and i know we're running short on time here, but just a couple more. throughout the period veterans are coming back. they're coming back to gettysburg and increasing numbers. they are developing. well, we know today is gettysburg national military park and it's during that period that sickles there he is and this is probably about 1888 25th anniversary, but it's during that period that sickles strikes up a relationship with his july 2nd opponent james longstreet. and you know, they spend many years together. they go to many events together time tonight does not allow me to tell all of their drinking stories and that but some of them are pretty good. but sickles and longstreet basically mutually support each other's gettysburg r

gettysburg podcast, which is free on all platforms. he has written numerous articles for publications. he was one of the primary content designers for and appeared in the american battlefield trust mobile app here at gettysburg. he is a speaker for civil war roundtables. he has a parallel and npr travel channels monumental mysteries. pc on tv breitbart and civil war talk radio and he was featured in july 2013 issue of civil war monitor magazine. i would now like to present to you james hasler who was going to be presenting his program neutral ground sickles mead and the gettysburg peach. orchard. all right. thank you tammy for the introduction. i was going to tell you to not go too far because i did not have the remote clicker, but i think i do now, so we're in good shape. wow, what a crowd. this is this is really humbling to see people literally standing in back. i've got kind of these bright studio lights shining in my face, but i i still recognize a lot of familiar faces back there and boy, i hope this is good. otherwise, i'm in a l

book on the gettysburg campaign. he's also co-author with wayne motts, the book picketts charge at gettysburg. and it was the first guide to the legendary attacks here at gettysburg. he is also cohost the popular battle of gettysburg podcast, free on all platforms. he has written articles for publications, one of the primary content designers in the american battlefields trust app, here at gettysburg. he is a speaker for civil war round tables and has appeared on npr and other outlets. he was featured in the july 2013 issue a civil war monitor. i'd now like to present to you, james hessler, who will be presenting his program, neutral ground, sickles, meade, and the gettysburg peach orchard. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, tammy, for the introduction. i was going to tell you to not go too far because i did not have the remote clicker. but i do now. where the crowd. this is really humbling, to see people literally standing in back. i've got these bright studio lights shining in my face. but i still recognize a lot

tickets a charge at gettysburg. it was the first battlefield guide legendary here at gettysburg. also a cohost of the popular battle of gettysburg podcasts. he's written numerous articles and publications he is one of the major content liners and appears in the american battlefield app here at gettysburg. he has appeared on npr, travel channels, murder mysteries, and civil war talk radio. and he was entered in july 2013 issued a civil war monitor. i would now like to present to you is going to be presenting the program neutral ground in the gettysburg peach orchard. [applause] >> thank you tammy for the introduction brett is going to tell you to not go too far because i do not have the remote clicker, i think we are in good shape though. wow, what a crowd afraid this is really humbling to see people literally standing and back. at that these great studio lights shining in my face. he still recognize a lot of familiar faces back there. and boy i hope this is good. [laughter] otherwise i'm a little bit of trouble. i'm

here at gettysburg and also currently a co-host of the popular the battle of gettysburg podcast which is free on all platforms. he's written numerous articles for publications. he's appeared on npr, travel channel, pcn tv, breitbart, and talk travel radio. i would now like to present to you james hesler who's going to be presenting his program, neutral ground. >> thank you, tammy, for the introduction. i was going to tell you do not go too far because i do not have the remote clicker, but i think i do now so we're in great shape. what a ground. this is humbling to see people literally standing in back. i've got kind of these bright studio lights shining in my face, but i still recognize a lot of familiar faces back there. and boy, i hope this is good otherwise i'm in a little bit of trouble. as tammy said i'm going to do neutral ground, and that's kind of the theme here tonight. it's both a military assessment as well as a little tweak at historians to make sure when we're evaluating the so-called controversy associated with this we, too, are sticking to neutral ground. so a little bi

trends are coming back to gettysburg in increasing numbers. they're developing what we know today as gettysburg national military park and it's during that period that sickles, there he is, this is probably about 1888, 25th anniversary, it's during that period that sickles strikes up a relationship with his july 2 opponent, james longstreet. and, you know, they spend many years together, they go to many events together. time tonight doesn't allow me to tell all of their drinking stories but some of them are pretty good. but sickles and longstreet basically support each other's gettysburg records for the remainder of their lives. and in 1902, longstreet summarized it as, quote, i believe it is now conceded that the advance position at the peach orchard saved that battlefield to the union's cause, end quote. longstreet literally went to his grave believing sickles was right. or did he? well, you know, people are kind of skeptical about this, is this two old buddies kind of propping each other up a little bit. longstreet said that by moving forwa

he works as a historian at gettysburg national park. he's here to talk to us about one of the lesser known, but absolutely vital actions of the battle. ladies and gentlemen. dan welch. >> i want to begin by thanking all of my friends and colleagues in the merchant civil war. are supposed co-chair, crisp white at the american battlefield trust for having me today to present to you this often forgotten story of the battle of gettysburg. over the last hundred 75 years so many of us are familiar with the stories of joshua chamberlain, seminary, wretch pet what often gets lost are some of the stories that will occur on the union army's right flank on july 2nd and july 3rd. a location known as copes help. now at the dedication to a monument to honor george green in the years after the american civil war and the battle of gettysburg. a luminary major daniels tickles would give a dedication speak to this monument that have been dedicated in honor of green and his performance at gettysburg on the evening of july 2nd, 1863. sickle said, this quot

the trouble starts after the battle of gettysburg 1862. meade at that time performed well but didn't get support from a guy and i'm convinced sort of the fiction between meade and the officers of the third corporeally exists after the battle of fredericksburg. so you have that dynamic going on and after the battle there's a dispute between meade and hooker. let me put it this way. there's a dispute whether or not madee is favored withdrawal back across the river. and they start pulling all the generals. did you want to move forward, that sort of thing. sickles of course supports his buddy hooker. meade says he does not favor a withdrawal, and this gets in the newspapers. there's a little bit of this debate going on which i think is fascinating because, again, this whole idea of advance or retreat after a major battle is something that seems to dog the army of the potomac after almost every campaign. we always act like it's unique to gettysburg and it's not. kind of the seeds are getting planted for the future meade sickles controversy. whe

investigate leadership at gettysburg. and the campaign through the fight that fall, culminating in the -- run meade well testified to the committee, several times. the testimony -- for the gettysburg campaign, is really spearheaded by some of the most controversial generals in the union army, dan sickles, and dan butterfield. they have already testified to the joint committee of the conduct of the war, meade is in washington d.c.. in early 1864, to discuss the reorganization of the army. this is march of 1864, right? the army is going to be reorganized, grant is going to be coming east. meade it is in washington, walking around the streets. and he's hearing washington talk about the investigation that's going on about his leadership. he did not even row know about it, he writes this letter home to his wife, all the courtrooms, all the bar rooms, all the conversations in the street are about my leadership in the gettysburg campaign. he ends up testifying to the joint committee on the conduct of the war, the book you showed

of gettysburg, not the campaign. we will talk about the entire campaign not the infantry. i love the infantry but this is the role of cavalry. i mention a number of books on the civil war, these are the map studies and i'm constantly criticized about this one. there is not a lot of cavalry. couldn't fit. came out with this one that specializes, what i'm going to do today, i only have 45 minutes. i will go fast, talk about the multiple roles the cavalry played during the campaign of gettysburg and you will appreciate these guys more than you currently do. these guys are constantly in the saddle. the guys are constantly in motion doing a variety of activities. let's jump into it. you know these two gentlemen. two major generals, the army of the potomac cavalry, jeb stuart, his counterpart have been in command of their army's cavalry for over a year, they are experienced. they know potentially how to run a cavalry. the organization is very different. you see on the union side it is much more sophisticated. you have divi

so skipping ahead again to gettysburg. we see a current image of the regimental monument there in the meadow along spangler spring and then a second image kind of taken from the right of that monument looking towards mcalister's woods so on july 1st 1863 the 12th corps will finally arrive near gettysburg near the base of culpes hill, but they are arriving too late to take place in the fighting that began north of town that morning. at this point the 27th. indiana is not fully recovered from battles such as antietam and they're down to about 339 men with rankin now serving as a sergeant company a as we move into july 2nd. the 12th. corps is going to move towards culp's hill and begin assuming defensive positions there the 27th, indiana and their brigade are going to be set up in mcalister's woods as you see in that second photograph with the 27th, indiana kind of towards the back facing towards rock creek. and there they're going to kind of dig in and remain for most of the day, but for those of you familiar with the second

at gettysburg. now, by the time of the battle of veggies, but -- summer of 1860, three green have been promoted. there's no longer the commanding officer of the 60 of new york, but in command of a brigade of new york soldiers. consisting of the 68, 78. 102nd, one serving -- volunteer infantry regiments. the men that comprise these units came from such places, -- new york city. buffalo, rochester, utica, bennington and every -- and other small towns in the state of new york. it would be these men, that greene would lead to battle at copes hill. before greens brigade took a position at cults hill, union deployments on this hill, would have started the evening before on the afternoon of july 1st. the union army had fought for approximately nine, nine and a half hours west north of town of gettysburg. the town of gettysburg itself, ultimately suffering a defeat. by four for 30 on the afternoon july 1st, the union army's first and 11 the core -- the army -- will retreat through the town of gettysburg. ma

, the story of the gettysburg national cemetery dedication. he is married and has four children and six grandchildren today he will speak to you about the role of the calvary and the gettysburg campaign i will introduce to you bradley gottfried. >> thank you for coming. this could take me three hours to go through. i am going to go very quickly because most people when you pick about gettysburg you think about the battle of gettysburg you don't think about the campaign as much and were gonna talk about the entire campaign not the infantry, i love the infantry but this is goingca toe the role of calvary and i've written a number of books on the civil war, these are some of the map studies and i'm constantly criticized about this one, i love this book and i love them all i love them all like my children, there's not a lot of calvary and their it could not fit, and came out with this one that specializes on the calvary and the gettysburg campaign what i'm going to do today the major thing i only have 40 or 45 minutes i'm going to go fast it's goi

the battle of gettysburg. you don't think about the campaign as much. and we're going to talk about the entire campaign, not the infantry. i love the infantry, but this is the role of calgary. i have written as tammy mentioned a number of books on the civil war. these are some of the maps studies, and i'm constantly criticized about this one. i love this book. i love them all. they're all my children. there's not a lot of calvary. couldn't put them in. couldn't fit. so i came out with this one that just specializes on the calvary in the gettysburg campaign. what i'm going to do today, the major thing, i've only got about 40, 45 minutes so i'm going to go fast, is going to talk about the multiple roles that the calvary played during the campaign of gettysburg. and i think you're going to appreciate these guys much more than you currently do. these enjoys are constantly in the saddle at least infantry got to rest. these guys are constantly in motion in a variety of attacks. you know these two gent lmen, alfred p

particularly focused on gettysburg, but spreading his wings. he will find a rabbit hole and really fallen. that is what today's topic is today. he is coming to us from the university of west virginia where he just is finishing up his master's -- his master's degree in public history. ladies and gentlemen, jon tr acey. jon: all right, hi. today we will be spending a little bit of time on the experiences and in the head of john rankin who you see on the screen there. he is going to hold a couple of different positions. alongside a really nice period image from the regimental history of their monument which again is going to become pretty important. john rankin is serving with the 27th indiana during the american civil war. he is one of the few of his regiment to get through the bloody fighting in antietam's cornfield without being wounded. though, he will be badly wounded in the fight the battle of gettysburg during the dynes asterisk -- during the disastrous charge. what we are really focusing on here is that after the war, he writes a couple of

the third phase obviously is the battle of gettysburg. we're going to talk quickly about five different actions here. want you to think what are those five. don't tell me but see if you could figure out what those five were. most people are only going to come up with four. and the retreat. okay. and the retreat is fascinating. how does lee get those wagons back to virginia and how does the union army try to prevent the wagons from getting to virginia. so those are the things that we're going to talk about today. okay. here we go. now hopefully, could you all see the map? way back there. okay. i'm going to try to use my pointer, too. the army as you know we're talking about after chancellorsville, they're on either side of the rappahannock river and the beginning of june 1863. and pleasanton has been tasked by booker to determine where lee is moving. okay. and what is happening. now, their worried about stewart, jeb stewart is right here around brandy station. there is going to be a recognition to find out where the heck is stewart because

i talk about memory gettysburg. there's just so much that you can do gettysburg in a way that you can't do it in. i don't know where i mean, there are a lot of monuments that chickamauga a lot of shiloh a lot at vicksburg quite a few hours just at antietam a couple of weeks ago but antietam and no way compares to what you could do it gettysburg. i mean, it just isn't even close. well, i know when i worked at richmond national battlefield park, of course people would come all the time and be astonished by how few monuments we had was three or four in the entire park with so many people and people would say, you know, doesn't that, you know impede upon our ability to understand, you know, history and memory and other people would say, well, it's great that there aren't any any monuments because they can, you know, give a false history or portrayal of the history at least and of course both both sides have very true history, right that true history that everybody has in their own mind, but the true history is which of

gettysburg, of course. they also have new core commanders winfield scott hancock, george sykes are new to their command positions, too. i'll show you this picture. you're gonna meet these gentlemen your first stop or most of you will meet them at your first stop. depending how your guide does this, but if you read that quote, remember lee's assumption that they will be much demoralized. because of their many losses because of the disruption of units that have fought next to each other with all these men that have left. but if you read that quote. kind of get an idea that perhaps perhaps they're not that. they just need a here's how this is going to go down again confederates and red union in blue. they're gonna start to move north and as we predicted the union army will follow him. lee's calvary three types of troops in the american civil war. we have our calvary guys riding around on horses. those are your eyes and ears gathering intelligence and screening the enemy so they can't gather intelligence on you

it's 64 pages ended sunday when mobs who is the ceo of gettysburg foundation. and you know it's well-resourced and well done but a few years ago they did a book on the armistead but there's not a lot of looks. there's a lot on hancock. he runs for president in 1980 -- 1880. most of them barely mentioned armistice and some don't mention him at all. what's going on here? i talked to some of my friends some of you are sitting in the audience and i said what you know about armistead and hancock and what they knew was from the movie having an emotional conversation talking about -- and this is one of the great themes of the movie. there we go. you want to get your powerpoint downgraded the beginning. so help me if i ever raise my hand against you may god strike me dead. may god strike me dead. that's how close he is coming. he couldn't bring himself to think about fighting hancock even though they agreed to fight each other in the civil war but that's the movie version or there's only one person who is there to write about it and that's hancock. she does "armistead

would you write out the gettysburg address and send it to me. this is what abraham lincoln sent him. everett made a scrapbook memorializing that day and on the final pages he pasted in these two pages of the gettysburg address. in the 20th century that scrapbook was available for purchase and school kids in illinois during world war ii they save their pennies they -- save their pennies and nickels and they were able to purchase that scrapbook containing the gettysburg address. they then donated that scrapbook to the illinois state historical library and of course that's our collection. i love this piece the gettysburg address written by abraham lincoln, how could he get any better than that? but it has an illinois connection and that's really our mission. abraham lincoln and the entirety of illinois history and this document speaks to it perfectly. i wanted to end by showing you a letter from the end of abraham lincoln's life. this was written on march 20, 1865 and this is really abraham lincoln's response to an admirer. the young lady had told

when you write out the gettysburg address and send it to me? this is whatever handling consents to him. everett made a scrapbook memorializing that day and on the final pages he pasted in these two pages of the gettysburg address. in the twentieth century, that scrapbook was available for purchase and school kids in illinois during world war ii saved their pennies, their nickels, their money and they were able to purchase that scrapbook containing the gettysburg address, they then donated that scrapbook to the illinois historical library and that collection. i love this piece, the gettysburg address, written by abraham lincoln. how could you get better than that but it has in illinois connection and that is our mission at the presidential library and museum where abraham lincoln in the entirety of illinois history and this document speaks to that. i did to end by showing you a letter from the end of abraham lincoln's life. this was written on march 20th, 1865, and this is abraham lincoln's response to an admirer. a young lady who told her broth

i want to start by saying i love the movie gettysburg. it's what got me into studying the battle as an adult. it came out in 1993. i saw in in a theater in pittsburgh. i drove here three nights later and i've had -- ever since. i don't know about you, but i did it backwards. i saw the movie before i read the novel it was based on, killer angels. which had won the pulitzer prize for fiction back in 1975. key words folks being for fiction. it's based on the foundation of gettysburg history certainly. but there is a lot of fiction or even in especially with conversations. it really -- the novelist did it so well that you often can't separate the facts from the fiction. it really affects the way we look at the stories. there were so many great stories. the one that always stood out for me was lewis and armistead winfield scott hancock and what a story that was. two stories. almost brothers. served together in the u.s. army. torn apart by the civil war. how they teary eyed filler farewell out in l.a. in 1861. then two years later, meet here an

obviously in gettysburg. but again, i don't know how wide his marketing was while he was in camp. so with the ninth massachusetts, it's probably people that he knew or people around him and it would have a smaller a smaller interest group because this is the ninth, massachusetts unless you just appreciated his his artwork which of course there may be people like that as well again, the gettysburg map may have had more distribution because there were more more units involved so i don't know you don't think that he was sending them home to his mother saying, you know help me get these into the papers or help me give this a more public audience. it was just kind of whoever did whatever with his his sketches that were being sent home in disseminated to the friends and family of comrades such. that's just where they lay. he wasn't trying to necessarily make his his artwork a more public thing at that time. well, i don't know if he's trying to make it as much of a public thing. now there may be that and to be hones

he pasted in the two pages of the gettysburg address. in the 20th century, that scrapbook was available for purchase. they saved their pennies, nickels, their money, and they were able to purchase that scrapbook containing the gettysburg address. they then donated it i love this. it was written by abraham lincoln. it has an illinois connection. that's our mission, a a dual mission at the presidential library. this document speaks to it perfectly. i wanted to show something from the end of abraham lincoln's life. this is his response fonts to an admirer, a young lady had told her brother that she wanted abraham lincoln to handwrite the second inaugural and send it to her the request comes and he wants to do something nice for this young lady. he doesn't write out the entirety of the second inaugural address. it is the shortest. it is just 702 words. it is also the best religious meditation on the meaning of the civil war. abraham lincoln second inaugural sounded more like a sermon than a standard political speech. mr. lincoln just writes

a gettysburg first edition. in addition to tom's writing career he has also served on the board of trustees with the pittsburgh pines history center and previously served on the board of directors of the flight 93 national memorial. he is from pittsburgh and recently retired today's ago. he recently retired after a 43 year career in sports media and communications. without further introduction i'd like topresent to you , snelling [applause]. >> and retirement your first ever crowd. thank you. it's my favorite civil war bookstore in the country and it's great to be with this group of pretty distinguished speakers. my friend jim hassler is going to be doing some battlefield work tomorrow so i'm excited about that but to start you can probably guess where this book is going a little bit. i'm going to start by saying i love the movie gettysburg. it's what got me intostudying the battle as an adult . i saw it at the theater in pittsburgh and i drove here three nights later and have had the illness ever since , 28 yea