The Neosho Times from Neosho, Missouri • Page 6

VW wt-Vj "i ground Gettysburg wuflj butflf 1 TLEFIEU War at Gettysburg on July 1. 40000 TO ATTEND lu HI icniu them for a longer period, for the purpose of Installing the field bakery, the field ranges and in dismantling, clean- Ing, packing and storing material after th6 encampment Is over. The old soldiers are to be supplied fresh meat directly from refrlg- erator cars drawn upon the field. They will be given fresh vegetables and Reunion Of Survivors 'Of Civil clal blfeacl with the beet coffee and tea which the market affords. For them it will not be a case of hardtack, bootleg and poor bacon.

The Battle of Gettysburg commission of the strite of Pennsylvania has' a lurge sum of money 'at its disposal ff)r the entertalnraent of the i Sltln veterans, and the thousands of persona who will accompany them. Hospitality is to mark the days. Fifty years ago Pennsylvania aided in the work of repelling the visitors from the south. In early July next the same state will have its arms -wide open in welcome to the men wearing the gray. Entertainments of various kinds will be offered the visiting veterans, but it is pretty well understood that their deep interest in revisiting the scenes where they fought, Little Round Top, Oak Ridge, Cemetery Hill, Culp'a Hill, Rock Creek, the Stone Wall and other places will hold them largely to the pleasures arid to the sadnesses of per- snn.il rpmlnigf-Pnfpa Arm In arm with Battle of Gettysburg Which Brought Credit to Both Blue and TURNING POINT OF CONFLICT Men Who Wore the Blue and Gray to Again Gather on Ground Made Memorable by Historic Conflict.

By EDWARD B. CLARK. 'ASHIXG'ICN. During the first four days of July the battlefield of Gettysburg, will again be the scene a meeting of the Blue and the Gray, but this time rhoy will meet In amity and affection. A half-century will have prt-sed since last these men of two great American armies met on this northern field.

Then they were face to face in iHHiflHH, fur the issue," it was well understood to both con- i tending forces, wtis the success of the southern cause, oi the beginning of Us defeat, to be followed by the restoration of tho Union it had been before the first shot was fired at Fort Sumter. Tho United Slates government, and the government of nearly' every state in tho Union have combined to make the Gettys burg reunion of the soldiers of the north and south one of the great peace events of the century. The state of Pennsylvania some time ago appointed a "Fiftirth Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg commission" to make preparations for the four days' retrfilisiv at which Pennsylvania as a erans of the war between the states and to the thousands of visitors who i would follow their march to the field of battle, and appropriated $150,000 for the purpose of entertaining the veterans. 40,000 Veterans Expected. It is expected that 40,000 veterans of the war, not all of them, however, survivors of the Gettysburg battle, will be found encamped upon the fleld Total Losses on Both Sides In Three Days' Fighting Over Generals Killed and Wounded.

By EDWARD B. CLARK. is possible, some people would say probable, that the Battle of Gettysburg changed utterly the course of American history. It was a great fight between armies of Americans, for probably fully ninety per cent, of the men who fought on the two sides were born natives to the American soil. the Union soldiers tho Confederate soldiers will retramp the battleground.

They will look over the field of Pickett's desperate charge. They will retrace the marching steps of SLong- street'e corps. They will go to the place where Meade had his headquarters and to the place from which Lee directed his southern forces in battle. Pennsylvania is going to make a great celebration of peace of this fiftieth anniversary of what probably was the decisive battle of the war, although It was fought nearly two years before the war ended. Other states will help Pennsylvania in its work, and from every section of the country, north, east, south and west, the veterans will assemble, most of them probably to see for the last time In life the field upon which they were willing to die for the sake of their respective causes.

The veterans will not be directly encamped in the Gettysburg park, which is dotted with monuments to the various commands which took part in the fight and which is laid out in approved park fashion, with fine drives and beautifully kept lawns. There will be i two camps, known as No. 1 and No. 2. when reveille sounds on the morning No win cover 149 acmj 2 of July 1.

It will be a different re- wlll cover 44 acreg The layouts Qf these camps are based on the use of tents, each of which yeme sounded than wl ich the two the flfe 'great and fifty years ago The call to bravery shown at Gettysburg was of the order which Americans have shown on field and which reflects credit upon the hardy and heroic ancestry of the men engaged, no matter from what race they may have sprung. At Gettysburg there was nothing to chooseJjejtween the valor of the North and the South. The the fight, but it lost it honorably and with the prestige of its soldiery undimmed. The charges made on that field have gone down into, history as assaults made under conditions which every man felt might mean death at the end. The defenses made at Gettysburg were of the kind which It takes Iron In the blood to make perfect.

At Gettysburg Northerners and Southerners replenished their store of respect for their antagonists. The battle marked the high tide of the war between the states. After it the South largely was on the defensive, but its defense was maintained with fortitude and in the face of privations which could not chill the blood of men fighting for what they thought was the right. The Northern armies were persistent in their attacks through the campaigns which after a few months were -Started objective point, Richmond. Brave men here and brave a peaceM I celebration while Ihe call to the awakening In July, 1863, was a call of armies to conflict and, to thousands of men, a call to death.

For years the veterans have been looking forward to thlsjfiunlon. It Is probable that there wlll be present many thousands of survivors of the battle. The United States government under an act of congress has appropriated money for the. preparation of the camps and for the messing of the soldier visitors. The average age of the'men engaged in the Civil war was only eighteen years, but fifty years have passed since these soldier boys fought at Gettysburg, and so if the dlers ln attendance, and taking into computation of age was a true one the consideration the probability that the enrage years of the veterans who will wil1 warm, It Is expected meet In Pennsylvania in July will be that there w111 be sickness, but the about sixty-eight nlted tates overilinent and tbe state of Pennsylvania are preparing sons.

Inasmuch as accommodations are to be furnished for 40,000 visitors 6,000 tents wlll be required to give quarters to the visiting hosts. Visitors to Be Cared For. Every possible care Is to be taken or tne visitors. The sanitary arrangements which have been made are said to be the best that are possible and they are the result of careful study by medical officers of the service. All the experience of the past has been drawn upon to make It certain that the health of the veterans will be conserved while they are in camp.

was the qualities which keep company with bravery which made the soldiers of the North and South so. ready to forget and to forgive and to work again for the good of a common country. i The great battle of Chancellorsville was fought not long before the opposing Union and Confederate forces met on the field of Gettysburg. Chancellorsville was a Confederate victory. The Southern government believed that the victory should be followed" up by an invasion of the North for, ac- I cording to its reasoning, if an import- engagement could be won upon of course, will be much older and a good many of them, men who entered at ages ranging from fourteen to seventeen years, will be younger, but all wlll be old men as the world views age.

Many of the states of the Union, north as well as south, have made appropriations to send their veterans to the Gettysburg reunion and to pay all Other expenses. The battle of Gettysburg I recognized as the turning point of the war between the states. It has been called time and again one of the decisive battles of the world. Generally It is recognized that Gettysburg the groat conflict, helped in the decision probably by the fall of Vicksburg on Mississippi, which took place virtually at the moment that the conflict on the Pennsylvania neld was decided in favor of the north- preparations which, the government is making to care for the veterans at Gettysburg are interesting. They have been under the charge of are for a hospital service which shall be adequate to any contingency.

There will be hospital corps detachments present ready to render first aid to Injured, and there will be many field' hospitals with surgeons In attendance, where the sick can receive instant attendance. It is eald that this contemplated reunion has induced more interest among the old soldiers of the north and the south than any event which has happened since the day that the war closed. There is today at Gettysburg a great national park, in which Is included a cemetery where thousands of soldier dead are buried. The United States government and the legislature of Pennsylvania worked together to make a park of the battlefield and to mark accurately every point in it which has historic interest. When one goes to the fleld he can tell Just where this brigade or that brigade was engaged, just where this charge or that charge was made and James B.

Aleshire, quartermaster gen- Just where the desperate defenses of eral of the United States army, and Henry G. Sharpe, commissary general Of the United States army. Two years ago last March 14,000 regular troops Were gathered in camp at Texas. The health of the soldiers throughout the positions were maintained until the tide of battle brought either victory or defeat to one of the immediate commands engaged. It was in 1895 that congress established a national park at Gettysburg Texas encampment was almost per-; and gave the secretary of war author made so "by the plane which had ity to name a commission "to superin- carefully laid to see that perfect tend the opening of additional roads, $anitation was maintained.

The Unit- mark the boundaries, ascertain and ed States army was taught a lesson definitely mark the lines of battle of by the Spanish war, when lack of troops engaged, to acquire lands" which proper sanitary precautions and unpre-' were occupied by Infantry, cavalry and in 9ther cost the gov-' artillery, and such other adjacent jernjkgnjt the lives of more men than 'lands as the secretary of war may to the bullets of tho deem necessary to preserve the irapor- Spaniard. tant topographical features of the bat- i The estimates of the commissary tlefleld." quartermaster authorities are When the Union and tbe Confeder- upon an attendance of 40,000 vet- ate veterans reach Gettysburg on June 30 next they will find on the scene ol the old conflict between five and six It probably will cost tho gov- ttrmnent about $360,000 to act in part BS host to the survivors of the battle hundred memorials raised Mid other veterans who attend the Gettysburg reunion. JBifj Task to Feed Men, The survivors of the war from the north and south who will be present, Wing old men, must be cared for In i way which would not have been necessary fifty years ago- The messing of the veterans will require 400 army great fleld bakery, 40,000 kits, 800 cooks, 800 kitchen help- And 180 bakers, This helping per- will-be required to be in camp At least seven and many of oration of the deeds of their commands on the great fields of the Pennsylvania battlefield. There are, moreover, 1,000 markers placed to designate historic spots. towers built upon tfie field by the government so that bird's-eye vlewH can be obtained of the entire scene of the battle.

Fine roade have been constructed and everywhere attention has been paid to every detail of the Ibaat Importance in setting forth the history of one of the greatest battles ever known to warfare, Maj. Gen. George G. Meade. Northern soil the chances of forelgji Intervention or at least foreign aid to the Southern cause, would be forthcoming.

General Robert E. Lee late" In' the spring of 1868, made his preparations to conduct his campaign Northward into the state of Pennsylvania, He had under his command three corps, General James command ing the First, General Richard S. Ewell commanding the Second, -'and General A. P. Hill' commanding the Third.

In the Union army which afterward confronted Lee at Gettysburg, there were-seven corps, but the number of men In each was much less than that In a Confederate corps, the military composition of each being different. The Union corps commanders who under Meade Were at Gettysburg, were Generals John, F. Rey nolds, W. 8. Hancock, Daniel Sickles, George Sykes, John Sedgwick O.

O. Howard and H. W. Slooura. Forces Almost Evenly Matched, has been determined beyond the point of all dispute just bow many men were engaged on eadh Side in the battle of Gettysburg.

It la known that the arm'ies were very nearly equal in strength, the.proba billties being that the Confederate force was a few thousand men strong er than the Union force, a difference which was by the fact that the Union armies at Qett; burg were flgbtlng la defense of tlaelr land from inVabfdnV which military men aay' always adds a the the ies have said that there were ion on ft Not long after this message was sent tyard Pickeft, confederate, Genial, Reynolds who loyally and. tyeburg to be confronted by Belied it; killed. was on their death across a shrapnel. Union troops. Another authority saya or8eback flear a Patch ol wood! With that the Confederate force was 84,000 confronting a.

large 'detach- When the third day and the Union force 80,000. As it wad Confederate troops which was ed Jt begata within artll the armies were nrettv' nearlv eauallv comlft toward them. These troops of hundreds of guns belching pretty nearly equally wA 4 -A rtt.tthJftmta was the enemy by Union. batteries and Reynolds watching the successful solid shot and shrapnel onset when a bullet struck him In the head killing him Instantly. tfie teathvtronl the 'batteries contending'forces, It is was-the greatest duel engaged in field "p'leces during the four the war between the states.

The Union guns at one ceased' army and so General Stuart With ft arge force was ordered by of to keep of Hooker's army a ia1r 8 ed the nlon forces, the armies were pretty 1 nearly equally in 1863, General Robert E. began to move northward. Lee ioncentrated his army at Winchester, and then started for the Potomac Iver, which he crossed to reach the state of Maryland. He fully expected be followed by General Hooker's ui. iuiu iwini or me ueia.

A. oneaae tmu men made an 'assault i-ee to keep in.front of Hooker's army yuiuu. men made their charge. and to check his pursuit of fhe Con- former federates if it was attempted I ed making prisoners 6f-a largi part Round Top, but.hid forcoa Were in June the Confederate force of a New-Vork regiment, iater these efl-back. Picket formed his Hagerstown, in the state of men were recaptured and the Mlssis- Maryland, It was General Lee's In- 1 brigade was driven back, a por- enticn to strike Harrlsburg, i tion of surrendering, In the fight which was a great railroad center I on tbe firBt dav at thla lnt of the and a city where Union armies were fleld or near It, one Union regiment, range than they by 6uch fc' and from which all kinds of I the'161st Pennsylvania, lost in killed A a iuppliea were eent out to the soldiers" and Wound0 33? men out of a total of 446 In a little more than a quarter of an hour's fight.

General Doubleday fell back to Sem- Pidket formed h'ia in brigade columns and they moved directly across the fields over flat- ground. They had no cover had no soonor come Into effective uppliea n-4he field. While the Southern com- nander was on his way with a large to the Pennsylvania iapital another part of his command Gen. Robert E. Lee.

was ordered to make its way into the Susquehanna Valley through the town of Gettysburg and then to turn in its course after destroying railroads and storm of nevef before'swept; over a field of battle. They went on and on, and on Ing In their depleted ranks-rand ing 'steadily to, 'd inary. Ridge and extended his line. VThose Of 'Pickett's men -who i The 'forces 'employed against him i I here were greater than his own, and after bard fighting Seminary Ridge' was given up. The first day's battle In effect and in truth a vicjtpry the Southern arms.

On the night' of July 1 General Hancock arrived and succeeded in rallying the-Union 1- forces and putting new heart Into the men. General Meade on that night 1 ordered the entire army, to Gettysburg, i Victory tiot Followed Up. For some reason other perhaps unknown to this day, what was virtually a Confederate victory on the first of July was not followed up by Gen- I era! Lee early on the next morning. General Meade succeeded in Strengthening his lines and in pre- paring for the greater conflict. One i end of the Union line was some dis- tance east of Cemetery Hill on I Creek, another end was at Round Top something more, than two'miles beyond Cemetery Hill to the south.The Confederate line confronting it was somewhat longer.

I It is impossible In a brief sketch of this battle give names of the brigffde and the regimental comm'an- ders and the names of the regiments which were engaged on both sides in this great battle. Meade, Hancock. Slocum and Sickles with their men were confronting Lee, John F. gathering in supplies, and to meet the Longstreet, Hill, Ewell and the other Confederate commander with the main army at H.arrisburg. their men.

It was General Jubal Early of spaces in betw General Lee's command, who reached Gettysburg alter a long hard march on June 26. From there he went to of the South with The line of battle with the helping the' different com-' mands was nearlrlten miles. It was the Confederate'general's intention to attack at the extreme right and left their hand encounter with the northern dlers. It was.soon over and Piokett's charge, glorious for all time in history, was a failure in that which it attempted to do, but was a success aa the town of York and thence to and at the center simultaneously. It Wrlghteville.

At this place he was was to be General Longstreet's ordered by General Lee to retrace his turn the left flank of the Union army and to "break it" TLongstreet's intended movement was discovered In- steps and to bring his detachment back to a camp near Gettysburg. When Early ahd obeyed liee's order time to have it met valiantly. The and had reached a point near Gettys-, battle of the second day really burg he found the entire Southern an with Longstreet's advance. The force was camped' within easy striking distance of the now historic town. In the meantime thingjj.jyere happening elsewhere.

General, Hooker In command of the Union army which had been depleted at Chancellorsville, had succeeded in out-maneuvering General Stuart in command of Lee's cavalry, had got around Stuart's command in a way to prevent the Southern general from forming a junction with the forces of his "chief commander. Lee gave over the proposed movement on Harrisburg when he heard of. Hooker's approach and brought the different parts of his army together. -Four days the- Gettysburg fight began General Hooker resigned as commander of the Union army. Hooker and General Hallock disagreed upon a matter concerning which strategists today say that General.

Hooker, was right. Three days before the battle began, that Is, June 28,, 1863, General George Gordan Meade was named as Hooker's successor in charge of- the Northern army. General Meade at once went into the his headquarters at a point ten or twelve miles south of the town of Gettysburg. Armies Meet at Gettysburg. It seems that General Lee on hearing that Stuarf succeeded' in checking the Union army's advance had made up his mind to turn south- waVd'to meet the force of Hooker, or it turned out the force of Meade.

with his force had advanced north beyond Gettysburg, while Meade with his force was south of the town. The fields near the Pennsylvania village had not been picked as a place of battle, but there it was that the two great armies came together and for three days struggled for tery. On the last day of June, the day before the real battle of Gettysburg began, General Reynolds, a corps Union army, went, batter forward "to feel out the He lean, soldiers. The losses at Gettysburg on both "Bides were enormous, The army lost Generals Zook, Weed and Reynolds, killed; while Gra- day, Barlow, Sickles, Butterfleld and Hancock were wounded. The total casualties killed' captured or missing on tbe Union side num- bered nearly 24,000 men.

On the Confederate side-Generals Semmes, Fender, Garnet, Armistead, and Barks- dale were killed, and Generals Kemper, Kimbal, Hood, Heth, Johnson and Trimble were The entire Confederate loss is estimated to have been nearly 30,000 men. Tbe third day's fight at Gettysburg was a victory for northern arms, but it was a'hard won conflict reflects luster' ioday upon" the north and the south. Lee led hia army back southward, later to con-, front, Grant In the which finally'ended at Apponja'ttpx, Forces Engaged and Losses. The forces engaged at the Battle 1 ol Gettysburg weref Confederates-According to official accounts the North Virginia, on the 31st of May, numbered which' joined bered 6,400, making' 80,868, Deducting Jr 1 nt? in Maj, Gon, Qporge E. pickett.

Southern general did not in the plan: which he had to get for detachments in the-ilk terim in time to take part in the grand aggregate was offlcerS'and men, by Big and to tbe 414VJU; Tlte casualties were; tj fr li MVV ijn, Third Corps from'a position of van- Fif st corps tage In the rear. General Sickles dev Round Top could not take it. When one visits the battlefield of Gettysburg he can trace the course battle of the second day where It raged at Round Top, Teach Orchard, and Longstreet' Third corps Cavalry Aggregate .7 JT oauu vvtj Cemetery Hill, CUlp's Hift, and Second corps is knowjl as Tbe Pevil's cpfps the mas- tlde of Datt ebbed and flowed. 'lUt- Fifth vw tie Round Top was saved from, cap. Sixth corps ture by the timely arrival of a brigade Eleventh corps commanded by General Weed that Twelfth dragged the guns of a United States -Cavalry regular battery up to the summit by Staff jftjffi commander of tbe Union army, went forward "to feel out the He A reached Gettysburg by nightfall, Hia At the end of the second --Aggregate It was found tnat tha SnntnAnn nrmv corps, tbe First, together, with the Third and the Eleventh Infantry Corps with a division "of cavalry, com posed, the Union army's left The Fifth Army Corps was Hanover, southeast of Gettysburg, pistlnptlve, we, sotae tiaras, had failed to break the left flank of wry, com-i tte forces, that it had wing, capture, Round Top and tftat tye pne for 'Vll-tVJ is sent to a 3 Backed, had not JTSK a a thftJM and the Twelfth was immedfc, ee a.

S'Brf 11 fyft ately south of fl tance of TWa, wWle was on June 80, and Unjon forces ra were fairly well separted, but they, 8Dyrg were converging sod Gettysburg wail, TA ST their objective,.