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The NY-23 special election on Tuesday has the attention of the White House at the highest levels, with White House sources saying that the endorsement of Democrat Bill Owens by "Republican" Dede Scozzafava came only after a call from White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel asking that she throw her support behind the Democrat. On Monday Vice President Joe Biden will visit the district, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Sunday was coordinating with its colleagues in the SEIU as well as the Working Families Party (ACORN) and may spend as much as $150,000 over the next 48...

The story of the Battle of Gettysburg and 50th Anniversary Reunion would make for a heart-warming and touching TV Historic mini-series or Hollywood movie.

Do you know who Gen. Robert Edward Lee, Major Gen. George Edward Pickett and Major Gen. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain were?

Those that recognize my name know I usually write the Westminster AAR’s. Westminster used to be our hometown and we do FReep/Rallies the 2nd and last Saturdays of each month, but Gettysburg, PA is our hometown. The past 2 weekends have given me great opportunity to share some special events that have taken place in our historic and amazing hometown. Westminster is a great place to visit, but we love living in Gettysburg! For those of you that live elsewhere, Gettysburg is a great place to visit! Over 40 miles of scenic road including the Gettysburg National Military Park, battlefields,...

The Gettysburg Address Gettysburg, Pennsylvania November 19, 1863 Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It...

July 2, 1863 The second day of battle at Gettysburg General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia attacks General George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac at both Culp's Hill and Little Round Top, but fails to move the Yankees from their positions. On the north end of the line, or the Union's right flank, Confederates from General Richard Ewell's corps struggled up Culp's Hill, which was steep and heavily wooded, before being turned back by heavy Union fire. But the most significant action was on the south end of the Union line. General James Longstreet's corps launched an...

July 1, 1863 The Battle of Gettysburg begins The largest military conflict in North American history begins this day when Union and Confederate forces collide at Gettysburg. The epic battle lasted three days and resulted in a retreat to Virginia by Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Two months prior to Gettysburg, Lee had dealt a stunning defeat to the Army of the Potomac at Chancellorsville. He then made plans for a Northern invasion in order to relieve pressure on war-weary Virginia and to seize the initiative from the Yankees. His army, numbering about 80,000, began moving on June...

Lincoln's Gettysburg AddressThe Daniel Chester French Victory atop the Memorial to the First Division of the Army, the Big Red One, outside the White House (monument details here). Photo by Mike's AmericaMemorial Day first started as Decoration Day when citizens of the reunited Northern and Southern states began an annual observance of the 600,000 lives lost during the American Civil War. (history of the holiday here) So it is perhaps fitting that we take Lincoln's Gettysburg Address delivered at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863 as the text...

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Three weeks and two days ago our community organizers and voter fraud operatives brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Socialism, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created to be subservient to their government.

Marilynn Phillips is sick and tired of waiting for people to take her seriously. The disability-rights activist has long said Gettysburg lags far behind many other towns when it comes to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. For years, Phillips has filed complaints with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. But those cases take months, sometimes years, to resolve. In the meantime, Phillips said the businesses and other facilities she files against have largely ignored her concerns. Now with the help of an attorney, Phillips has decided for the first time to file some Gettysburg cases in federal court in...

John J. Miller at The Corner asks the question: What are the best conservative movies of the last 25 years? This cinema epoch begins roughly with the release of Red Dawn in 1984. I might be happy if I could find 25 bona-fide conservative movies at all in the past 25 years. I’m afraid that most of what Miller will get in response will be of the Red Dawn variety, since the only place safe for conservative themes in Hollywood has been action films. Red Dawn itself had that in spades, but it was also a rather dreadful movie with...

Today, November 19, 2008, is the 146th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address delivered by President Abraham Lincoln. It is truly one of the most amazing speeches ever delivered. Lincoln was preceded on the program by orator Edward Everett, who delivered a two-hour speech with more than 13,000 words. It took Lincoln little more than 2 minutes to deliver his words on that day, but what he said endures to this day, and will endure as long as America endures as a nation. The video above contains Ken Burns' narration of the Gettysburg Address. . . . (Watch Video)

3rd Day- Pickett's Charge On the outskirts of Gettysburg, at 1 p.m., 170 Confederate cannons open fired. The Union was positioned in Cemetery Ridge with only a stonewall for protection. The Union returned fire. About 2:30 p.m. the Federally slowed there rate of fire and fooled the rebels, to believing they were out of ammunition. Gen. Picket went to see Gen. Longstreet and asked, " General shall I advance"? Longstreet responded with his head bowed and raised his hand. The command was given. " Charge the enemy and remember Old Virginia" Picket said as he lead 12,000 rebels toward the...

July 2, 1863 The morning of July 2 found the two armies facing each other from two nearly parallel ridges separated by a plain of open farmland. Overnight, Longstreet had arrived with the divisions of McLaws and Hood, bringing the strength of the Confederate Army to 50,000. As of this morning, Pickett's division had not arrived. The Union Army had also received reinforcements during the night, bringing their numbers to over 60,000. While Meade's attention was directed towards Ewell's corps on Culp's Hill to the north, Lee decided to attack from the south. In the afternoon, Hood's division encountered Federal...

Obama adds a little more cowbell TRIBUNE-REVIEW BY Salena Zito Bristling at charges that, so far, Barack Obama is running a less-than-spectacular race in Pennsylvania, the candidate's chief political strategist told reporters this afternoon that the campaign was going all out to win the Keystone State. "We are gong to contest vigorously in Pennsylvania," David Axelrod said. "We're going to be running a full campaign."

In 1863, Pittsburgh fortified against Confederate army By Salena Zito TRIBUNE-REVIEW From mid-June through early July of 1863, the citizens of Pittsburgh prepared for an invasion by the Confederate Army under Gen. Robert E. Lee. It marked the only time that Pittsburgh would become militarily involved in the Civil War. The "Emergency of 1863" began when Major Gen. William Brooks, who commanded the U.S Army's Department of the Monongahela in Pittsburgh, received a dispatch June 11 that outlined a probable invasion of the city. Since the start of the Civil War, there was always uneasiness that Pittsburgh, known as the...

I am researching the phrase that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. that was used by Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address Specifically the part "of the people, by the people, for the people." Is this phrase used anywhere in our constitution or DOI?

Delivered at Gettysburg on November 19,1863 "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and...

GETTYSBURG, Pa. -- Abraham Lincoln photos are rare -- especially those from the day of the Gettysburg Address. For years, only one such photo was thought to exist, but now that may not be the case. "I think it's absolutely staggering to see something like this that was in a sense hidden in plain sight," said Lincoln author Harold Holzer. Holzer thinks the image of a person in one of only two known photographs taken at Gettysburg on the day of Lincoln's address looks like Lincoln possibly arriving to the stage on horseback. "To have the moment recorded minutes before...

I had the opportunity this weekend to visit Gettysburg National Military Park, and experience walking the battlefield. StainlessBanner, Stand_Waitie and all of my southron brothers, for this Yankee (and a descendant of men who fought at Little Round Top, Devil's Den and behind the stone wall during Pickett's Charge) to stand at the Virginia Monument and look down the Confederate line and stare across that wide open field, and to think of what your ancestors did there, brought me to tears, what brave honorable men they were. God Bless their memory and God Keep their sacred honor.

A coffee mug used by Department of Public Safety Commissioner John A. Danaher III showing the Confederate flag in a Civil War battle has angered black leaders who said it was insensitive to display a symbol of hate, particularly when the state police have been under fire for complaints of racism. The issue arose Wednesday night after the NAACP met with members of the Commission on African American Affairs to discuss how to address recent allegations of rampant racism within the state police and state Department of Correction. The African American Affairs Commission is a group of citizens appointed by...

Pickett's Charge A lone cannon and the field of Pickett's Charge. The Copse of Trees (focal point of the charge) is the right-most cluster of trees on the ridge, "The Angle" is marked by the single tree to the left of the Copse of Trees. Pickett's Charge was a disastrous infantry assault ordered by Confederate General Robert E. Lee against Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's Union positions on Cemetery Ridge, on July 3, 1863, the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Its futility was predicted by the charge's commander, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, and it was arguably an...

American Culture on the 4th of July By John E. Carey Peace and Freedom July 4, 2007I am never sure whether it is our American culture that shapes our TV, movies and other media or whether our media shapes our thinking to such an extent that it changes culture.Probably a little bit of both.What is culture? One very good online dictionary calls it “The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought. These patterns, traits, and products considered as the expression of a particular period, class, community, or population.”On July 4,...

It was 144 years ago this week. Thirty-five miles from where I write, for three extraordinarily violent days beginning on July 1st and ending on July 3rd, the fate of America hung in the balance. By July 4th, the small village of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was a horrific landscape of carnage. The words of author and educator Garry Wills in his classic Lincoln at Gettysburg leave little to the imagination:

1863 : Pickett leads his infamous charge at Gettysburg Troops under Confederate General George Pickett begin a massive attack against the center of the Union lines at Gettysburg on the climactic third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the largest engagement of the war. General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia encountered George Meade's Army of the Potomac in Pennsylvania and battered the Yankees for two days. The day before Pickett's charge, the Confederates had hammered each flank of the Union line but could not break through. Now, on July 3, Lee decided to attack the Union center, stationed...

1863 : The second day of battle at Gettysburg General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia attacks General George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac at both Culp's Hill and Little Round Top, but fails to move the Yankees from their positions. On the north end of the line, or the Union's right flank, Confederates from General Richard Ewell's corps struggled up Culp's Hill, which was steep and heavily wooded, before being turned back by heavy Union fire. But the most significant action was on the south end of the Union line. General James Longstreet's corps launched an attack...

WASHINGTON—The National Archives on Thursday unveiled a handwritten note by Abraham Lincoln exhorting his generals to pursue Robert E. Lee's army after the battle of Gettysburg, underscoring one of the great missed opportunities for an early end to the Civil War. An archives Civil War specialist discovered the July 7, 1863, note three weeks ago in a batch of military papers stored among the billions of pages of historical documents at the mammoth building on Pennsylvania Avenue. The text of Lincoln's note has been publicly known because the general to whom Lincoln addressed it telegraphed the contents verbatim to the...

We thank you President Bush for 20 years of peace and freedom. Here in 2027, as we look back on all that has happened, we salute you for your steadfastness in the face of unstinting vitriol from the left, including books and movies advocating your assassination, in holding fast to your belief that America’s future could only be secured by facing the terrorists on their ground, not ours. Your decisions to go first into Afghanistan and then into Iraq before they could supply nuclear weapons to terrorists and to finish that job has turned out to be as important to...

Can any good brothers from Maine or Alabama confirm to me the source of this quote, said to be found in a book written by Joshua Chamberlain. An Amazon review says this is found on page 21 in the book, but a search of other internet links does not mention this letter as much as one would imagine. Here is the Amazon quote/review: A letter written to Chamberlain...by a Confederate combatant of the 15th Alabama Regiment which assaulted Little Round Top on July 2...is astonishing(p.21).The former rebel soldier simply states that he COULD HAVE SHOT CHAMBERLAIN TWICE during the battle...

GAMING CONTROL BOARD REJECTS SLOTS PARLOR NEAR HISTORIC GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD After 20 months of debate, the Control Board concludes that Gettysburg and gambling don’t mix. (Harrisburg, Pa., 12/20/2006) – During a public hearing today, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board rejected a proposal to build a 3,000-machine slots parlor one mile from the Gettysburg Battlefield. James Lighthizer, president of the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT), issued the following statement in the wake of the vote: “This is a great day for Gettysburg and for preservationists throughout the nation. By not allowing gambling to encroach on this famous town and battlefield, Pennsylvania...

GETTYSBURG, Pa. - A woman admitted to smoking marijuana daily with her 13-year-old son to reward him for completing his homework. Amanda Lynn Livelsberger, 30, pleaded guilty to several charges Monday and will be sentenced Nov. 27. Livelsberger, of Conewago Township, admitted in Adams County court that she had been smoking marijuana with her son since he was 11, and that she often gave it to him as a reward. The boy told police that he was required to do his homework as soon as he got home from school, and then was allowed to smoke marijuana with his mother,...

Klan holds rally at GettysburgGETTYSBURG, Pa. - About 30 Ku Klux Klan members proclaimed hatred for blacks, Jews, gays and Latinos as they stood behind barricades at the Civil War battlefield where Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. Gordon Young of the World Knights of the Ku Klux Klan also called Saturday for the U.S. to pull its troops out of Iraq and use them to patrol the Mexican border to stop illegal immigration. The World Knights obtained a permit in July for the two-hour demonstration. The National Park Service granted it under the group's First Amendment rights to free...

From the time of the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, John Bachelder (1825-1894) proved himself the leading historian of that historic battle. Bachelder made maps, hosted reunions, interviewed thousands of participants and assisted in the placement of monuments. Without him, the "open book" (a bronze monument on Cemetery Ridge) at the "Angle," otherwise known as the "High Water Mark of the Confederacy" monument, might not exist. In fact, the term "high water mark" was one of Bachelder's many contributions. Bachelder was so thorough in his work, so detailed and exacting, and so convincing in his presentation that Gen. Winfield...

The National Park Service granted a request by the Ku Klux Klan to rally and protest near the spot where a failed offensive by the Confederacy turned the tide of the Battle of Gettysburg. Gordon Young of the World Knights of the Ku Klux Klan obtained the permit Wednesday for about 100 people to participate in a Sept. 2 event on the lawn of the Cyclorama Center at Gettysburg National Military Park, near the site of Pickett's Charge. The purpose, according to the permit, will be to oppose the Iraq war and speak on "white unity between the North and...

With the loss of his advantage at Culp's Hill, Lee decided to alter his strategy. Having already ordered his cavalry chief, "JEB" Stuart, to ride around the Union position and attack the Union supply line, Lee decided to strike what he thought to be a weakened Union center on Cemetery Ridge where he observed few troops and only a handful of batteries. If this section of Meade's line collapsed, it would threaten the Union rear and those strong hill positions. He issued orders for a massive bombardment aimed at this area followed by an assault of 18,000 men,

This Day In History | Civil War July 2 1863 The second day of battle at Gettysburg General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia attacks General George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac at both Culp's Hill and Little Round Top, but fails to move the Yankees from their positions. On the north end of the line, or the Union's right flank, Confederates from General Richard Ewell's corps struggled up Culp's Hill, which was steep and heavily wooded, before being turned back by heavy Union fire. But the most significant action was on the south end of the Union...

JOHN GIBBON: THE MAN AND THE MONUMENT by Steven J. Wright and Blake A. Magner -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT THE AUTHORS Steven J. Wright is the curator of collections at the Civil War Library and Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is presently preparing a book on General Gibbon's and General Hancock's papers concerning the battle of Reams Station. He is the author of The Irish Brigade and various magazine articles on the Civil War. Blake A. Magner is the owner of C. W. Historicals, a small New Jersey publishing house. He is the book review editor for the Civil War News, co-author...

They got standing ovations upon arrival at Gateway Gettysburg and again during the parade. People walked up to shake their hands and say thanks. But for the wounded soldiers from Washington, D.C.'s Walter Reed Army Medical Center visiting Gettysburg on Monday, fighting in Iraq was just part of their job. "A lot of the military don't even consider themselves heroes," said Natalie Cobb of West Virginia, whose husband, Steve, was wounded in Iraq. "It's their job." Nathan Hart, 3, left, along with his father David and brother Ryan, 6, watch the Hanover Memorial Day Parade as it makes its way...

Biography of Elon John Farnsworth Elon Farnsworth was born on July 30, 1837 in the small town of Green Oak, Michigan. The son of James Patten Farnsworth and Achsah (Hudson), he was descended from veterans of the French and Indian, Revolutionary, and 1812 wars. An older brother, Robert, died while very young, and he had one younger half-brother, Julius, who was born in 1855 of his father's second wife. When Elon was 18, his family moved to Rockton, Illinois, and the following year he enrolled in the University of Michigan. A young prankster, Elon often led other students in mischievous...

Gettysburg was the site of one of the largest battles fought on American soil, but today it is playing host to a different type of fight: Whether slot machines should come to town. A proposal that would bring gambling a little more than a mile away from the Pennsylvania battlefield propelled it to the top of a preservation group's list of the 10 most endangered Civil War battlefields released Tuesday. Proposed development was one threat cited by the Civil War Preservation Trust in the naming of the 10 sites located in Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Georgia, Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and...

Before I moved here four years ago, I frequently used to drive northward from my home in northern Virginia to Western New York and Niagara Falls for business, or visiting friends and relatives, or attending funerals, or college-lecturing, or any number of reasons. I would always use Route 15 to get through Pennsylvania. Not only was that venerable highway widened and vastly improved during the administration of former governor Tom Ridge -- it also went through Gettysburg. I've been a Civil War buff since I was in knee pants. My parents encouraged that, and in my two-plus decades living in...

Heritage March on the PA State Capitol Saturday, April 29, 2006 Come to Harrisburg for a short march from City Island. Assemble City Island 9-10 AM; March begins at 10:30; Rally on Capitol Steps at Noon. Public Rally at 12 Noon at the Capitol Steps to deliver petitions and tell the Gaming Control Board, the Governor and Legislature there will be NO casino near hallowed ground!

Vandals hit Gettysburg National Military Park overnight, damaging three Civil War monuments and stealing a 120-year-old sword. Park spokeswoman Katie Lawhon said the intruders pulled the top stone and sculpture off the 11th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Monument, which was dedicated on Oct. 8, 1885. They also stole a sword from that monument. Ms. Lawhon said this morning that the sword was taken from a sculpted arm attached to the monument. Park rangers hope the theft will help them solve the case. A healthy market exists for Civil War-era weapons, particularly from Gettysburg. Many collectors, though, are on the lookout for...

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do...

It is hard to imagine anything breaking the air of quiet reverence that the pervades the sweeping grasslands, orchards and cornfields that were the stage for the US civil war's most famous battle. In the streets of Gettysburg, a sleepy Dutch colonial-style town built on the plains beneath the distant Allegheny mountains, elderly ladies thumb through postcards and sip cooling drinks. But beneath the surface Gettysburg is engaged in its fiercest battle since the smoke cleared on the morning of July 4, 1863 and the shocked and bewildered townspeople were greeted by the apocalyptic sight of more than 50,000 dead...

Mansfield Threatened by Mining Company

PITTSBURGH -- A Pittsburgh woman is auctioning off a picture that he claims shows a ghost from a recent tour she took of the Gettysburg Civil War battlefield. Maryanne Wegert said she took the picture when she visited the battlefield on her 56th birthday last September. EBay is taking bids on the picture through July 17. The picture, as it appears on the auction site, isn't terribly clear -- but the seller says that's because he took it with a disposable camera and he doesn't have a digital original. So the man took a digital picture of the picture and...

On this day of July the 3rd in 1863 the Army of Northern Virginia left the field at Gettysburg PA , broken . On this same day CSA forces at Vicksburg in Mississippi surrendered after a long and difficult siege . To all the brave men that died on this day in 1863 , on both sides of North and South , I offer a toast ,and a heartfelt thanks for their sacrifice . You are not forgotten.

We missed our opportunity yesterday to pay tribute to the heroes of Gettysburg Day 2, the decisive day of the battle. Among the heroes who saved the Union on July 2, 1863 were the 282 men of the First Minnesota Volunteers. Their story cannot be told often enough, and Mackubin Thomas Owens made it the centerpiece of his terrific 2003 "Reflections on Memorial Day." As John has previously observed here: The pivot of American history turns on the second day at Gettysburg, and, while thousands of men fought gallantly on both sides that day, there were two points where the...