1913 Gettysburg reunion

After a number of smaller Gettysburg reunions, including the 1906 Philadelphia Brigade-Pickett's Division reunion during which Brigadier General Lewis Armistead's captured sword was returned to the South, in April 1908 General Henry S. Huidekoper of Philadelphia suggested a 1913 50th anniversary reunion to Pennsylvania Governor Edwin Sydney Stuart. The commission's "first tentative programme" of October 13, 1910 and mailed invitations to 40,000 veterans. in Pennsylvania State Capitol's Room 509.--> Commemorative tokens and programs were designed for attendees, including three types of Pennsylvania badges ("Press", "Guest", and "Scout"),--> a commemorative medal,-->--> The Pennsylvania Railroad added "a telephone line between Gettysburg and Hanover along the Western Maryland Railway, over which the Pennsy [would] operate a large number of trains during the battle anniversary". and hotels in Hanover, Chambersburg, Hagerstown, and "the Blue Ridge section [were] filling rapidly" by June 26. Local planning for the reunion included expanding the Gettysburg hackman tax to automobiles (upheld by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1914), a 50-cent maximum for taxi fares in the borough, and a request from a few Missouri veterans for "a few good widows or old maids ... good housekeepers and not too young" to go west after the reunion. (The "kind-hearted mayor", J. A. Holtzworth, agreed to forward photos to the veterans in the "Cupid ... operations".) ==Facilities==

|alt=Many rows of white tents, seen from a distance The War Department's Great Camp (Gettysburg Encampment, Anniversary Camp, or Veterans Camp) The Great Camp included the Great Tent (Big Tent,--> measuring ) and (near the Great Tent) an emergency station and two health-department Comfort Houses which supplied the Great Tent water fountains. in February, trolleys of the Gettysburg Electric Railway had been prohibited from using the branch. The department set up a field hospital on the Kurtz property facing Brickyard Lane on the north foot of East Cemetery Hill and six comfort stations in the borough: one at each railroad station. of the Fifteenth United States Cavalry arrived on June 26 to guard the battlefield, and Philadelphia and Baltimore Salvation Army members encamped at Stonesifer's Grove in Biglerville. addresses the audience in the Great Tent|alt=A large crowd in a tent with many flags stone wall, where they "clasped hands and buried their faces on each other's shoulders". ==Events==

The commission planned a four-day series of events, with each day dedicated to a different group. Anticipating that some veterans might arrive early (especially those traveling a long distance), the Great Camp was opened for supper on June 29. Pennsylvania veterans who attended the state reunion, which adjourned on June 28, made up most of the over 21,000 arrivals that day. About 12,000 veterans had already left on July 2, and about the same number on July 3. The Virginia governor spoke to officials on behalf of Henry, and his father (a Confederate major) posted bail for his son. used several tents in the veterans' camp The quartermaster headquarters on Baltimore Street closed on August 13, and by August 15 the Grand Camp had been removed except for "four great water storage reservoirs". A film, United at Gettysburg, documented the reunion and was shown at local theaters. Lt. Col. Lewis E. Beitler, Secretary of the , finished compiling the organizations' reports on December 31, 1913. only the concrete base remains. ==See also==