Arts and Humanities Commons^™

O'Er Silent Fields, Bryan G. Caswell

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Followers of the Compiler may remember a piece I wrote in the early autumn of 2013 on the last stand of the 16th Maine Regiment of Volunteer Infantry on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg. As I am living in Gettysburg this summer while I work as a Brian C. Pohanka intern in Gettysburg College’s Special Collections, I of course could not miss the chance to hike up to the location of that stand on Oak Ridge to pay tribute to those boys from Maine. [excerpt]

What Makes A Man?: A Historiography On The Common Soldier And Masculinity, Brianna E. Kirk

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

The American Civil War ended with Union victory on April 9, 1865, in the front parlor of the McLean House in Appomattox, Virginia. Robert E. Lee’s surrender to Ulysses S. Grant ensured the southern states would return to the Union and begin the process of Reconstruction. Union soldiers, flushed with victory, reveled in the knowledge that their cause triumphed, that their masculinity and honor was upheld while the southern men were forced to reconcile with their failure as soldiers and men. This victorious sentiment and love toward the Union Army has transcended the celebratory jubilees in which northern soldiers engaged …

Ms-150: Battle Of Gettysburg 150th Commemoration Collection, Chelsea M. Bucklin, Bryan G. Caswell, Amy E. Lucadamo

All Finding Aids

This collection contains physical items and documents as well as digital resources. It seeks to preserve the course and experience of the commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg and other related historical events. The documents and publications contained within the collection not only record the many commemorative events that were held over a two-year period but also how those events progressed. Detailed coverage in the form of DVDs has been collected of many events, while the outline of many more has been captured through the compilation of their programs and other event information. Much of the …

Soldier Experiences In Elmira Prison Camp: A Common Captivity, Megan A. Sutter

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Elmira’s history is very similar to that of Camp Chase. Before it was a prison camp, Elmira had been a military depot for training. The Elmira Depot in Elmira, New York, was a great place for a military training camp because of the railroad junctions running in and out of the town. These railroads would be necessary for transporting prisoners to Elmira later in the war. Like Camp Chase, Elmira became an overflow prison camp after the cartel failed in 1863. Many of the prisoners came from Point Lookout along the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. Elmira was made up of …

A Reasonable Captivity: Soldier Experiences In Camp Chase, Megan A. Sutter

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Even compared to Libby Prison and Andersonville, one can recognize that conditions in Northern prisons like Camp Chase and Elmira Prison Camp were not ideal. Indeed, disease, death, and starvation were abundant in both Camp Chase and Elmira. However, they contrast greatly to the even more appalling conditions later in Libby and Andersonville. [excerpt]

“All Hope Is Banished”: Life In Andersonville Prison, Megan A. Sutter

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Libby Prison in Richmond became known for its horrible conditions; however, no prison during the war can compare to the cruelty at Andersonville Prison. It was built in February 1864, fourteen months before the end of the war, and in that short time devastating atrocities occurred which made Andersonville the most infamous of the Civil War prisons. [excerpt]

Commemoration, Past And Present: An Interview With Emmanuel Dabney In Three Parts, Part Three, Valerie N. Merlina

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Emmanuel Dabney, one of the Civil War Institute Summer Conference speakers, is a park ranger at Petersburg National Battlefield. At the Summer Conference, “The War in 1864,” he will give a lecture titled, “Catching Us Like Sheep in a Slaughter Pen”: The United States Colored Troops at the Battle of the Crater. In anticipation of the Institute, Emmanuel Dabney answered questions on intepretation, Petersburg, and the future of the Civil War. This is the final installment in a three part series. [excerpt]

Complicating History: An Interview With Emmanuel Dabney In Three Parts, Part One, Valerie N. Merlina

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Emmanuel Dabney, one of the Civil War Institute Summer Conference speakers, is a park ranger at Petersburg National Battlefield. At the Summer Conference, “The War in 1864,” he will give a lecture titled, “Catching Us Like Sheep in a Slaughter Pen”: The United States Colored Troops at the Battle of the Crater. In anticipation of the Institute, Emmanuel Dabney answered questions on intepretation, Petersburg, and the future of the Civil War. His responses will be posted in a three-part series. [excerpt]

Spotsylvania Undercover: An Interview With Dr. Keith Bohannon, S. Marianne Johnson

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Dr. Keith Bohannon, one of this summer’s Civil War Institute Conference speakers, is an Associate Professor dealing in the subjects of the American Civil War, Reconstruction, Southern U.S. History, and Georgia History at the University of West Georgia. During the upcoming Institute Conference, Dr. Bohannon will be speaking on Sherman and the Atlanta Campaign and giving the tour for the Wilderness & Spotsylvania battlefields. [excerpt]

Clark Gardner: The Curious Case Of Mr. Rich And Mrs. Gardner, Brianna E. Kirk

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

The story of Clark Gardner, his double amputation, and his pension records are still surrounded by two other clouds of ambiguity concerning his neighbor and friend, Edward A. Rich, and Gardner’s wife. Rich relayed information to a special examiner about the nature of Gardner’s injuries. He claimed to know Gardner before the war began, revealing that Gardner had running sores on his right leg prior to enlisting in the 10th New York Heavy Artillery. This made the amputation he received in 1879 a result of this pre-existing condition instead of the sickness Gardner claimed to acquire from Staten …

Of Causes And Casualties: Safeguarding The Legacy Of The American Civil War, Bryan G. Caswell

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

750,000 and rising. 2.5 percent of the population. Greater than all other American wars combined. No matter how one describes them, the casualties incurred as a result of the American Civil War are nothing short of astounding. To those who study this devastating conflict, the numbers of the fallen can seem old friends, as the cost of great battles such as Antietam or Gettysburg are burned into memory. Yet is it possible that disproportionate emphasis has been placed on the bloody toll of the Civil War? [excerpt]

Special Collections Roadshow At Gettysburg College: William B. Mccreery’S Pow Memoir, Megan A. Sutter

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Episode Two of Special Collections Roadshow at Gettysburg College explores Colonel William B. McCreery’s Prisoner of War memoir and uses the text as a segway to discuss Libby Prison and POW experience. Filmed and edited by Val Merlina, ’14

Folly At Fredericksburg: A Wound To The Pride Of The 127th Pa, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

After three months in Washington, the Dauphin County Regiment was at last headed south. Resentment in the ranks at the last-minute transfer had been replaced by enthusiasm for the coming battle. At last, the men were to see the fight they had enlisted to join. [excerpt]

War Beyond The Battlefield: From The Potomac To The Rappahannock, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

“Be careful what you wish for.” Had the volunteers of Dauphin County’s 127th Regiment heard the old adage before marching off to war in the summer of 1862? Undoubtedly. even if they had, it was far from their minds as they drilled and waited and guarded the perimeter of Washington. These men had enlisted to fight, but now they found themselves consigned to guard duty for their first three months in the Army. Their fortunes would soon change, however, for better or for worse; unbeknownst to them, the Battle of Fredericksburg lurked in their future. [excerpt]

Warriors Of Dauphin County: The 127th Pennsylvania Volunteers, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

When Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin charged the men of his state to enlist in July 1862, he was desperate for soldiers to fill the federal quota set for Pennsylvania. Heeding the call, William Jennings – citizen of Harrisburg and then the Adjutant of Camp Curtin – approached the governor to proffer his services to state and nation. Curtin acceded; if Jennings could form a regiment, the ambitious young officer would be granted its colonelcy. [excerpt]

Prisoner Experiences: Memoirs Of Libby Prison, Megan A. Sutter

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Numerous books have been written on the contested topic of Civil War prisons and prisoners of war. Scholars struggle with who to blame for the outrageous and horrible conditions of the prisons. Some speculate that the Southerners were crueler to their captives while others say the opposite. As well, scholars question whether the conditions of the Southern prisons were better or worse than the prisons in the North. [excerpt]

Special Collections Roadshow At Gettysburg College: 37th New York Infantry Kepi, Valerie N. Merlina

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Val Merlina uses a Civil War kepi as a gateway to discuss immigrant culture in America during the 1860s.

Ambivalent About Tragedy: David Blight On Bruce Catton, Brianna E. Kirk

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

November 19, 2013, marked a momentous day in the small Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg – the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. The 272 worded speech given four months after the Battle of Gettysburg assigned meaning to the intense fighting and death that had besieged the nation for two years. With the war’s end nowhere in sight, Lincoln directed the American people on how to fathom the tragedy that surrounded them, both figuratively and literally, at the dedication of the National Cemetery in 1863. 150 years after this speech, thousands gathered to celebrate and commemorate those few appropriate remarks Lincoln …

July 3, 2013 Reflection: A Chance Encounter, Ian A. Isherwood

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

In a July 4 letter to his father-in-law, General Alexander Hays expressed reserve. “Yesterday was a warm one for us,” he wrote. “The fight of my division was a perfect success […] We are all sanguine of ridding our soil of the invaders.”

The “perfect success” for Hays was his command’s role in the repulse of Pettigrew’s division in what has become known as Pickett’s Charge. It was an unquestionable victory for his division and the Army of the Potomac. Yet Alex Hays’s matter-of-fact letter was not buoyant with the egoism so easily ascribed to generals after their victories. Hays …

“A Great Weight At My Heart:” A Personal Reaction To Pickett’S Charge, Rebekah N. Oakes

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

“When our great victory was just over the exultation of victory was so great that one didn’t think of our fearful losses, but now I can’t help feeling a great weight at my heart. Poor Henry Ropes was one of the dearest friends I ever had or expect to have. He was one of the purest-minded, noblest, most generous men I ever knew. His loss is terrible. His men actually wept when they showed me his body, even under the tremendous cannonade, a time when most soldiers see their comrades dying around them with indifference.”

When twenty-one year old Henry …