Civil War Drum

Civil War Drum And Fife At The Gettysburg Reunion In 1913

Following the Civil War, veterans began gathering at reunions to renew old friendships with those they shared a common bond. The largest of these events made headline news around the world and took place in 1913 at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

As aging Veterans began arriving on June 29, new friendships were born and old wounds healed. The youngest Veteran, Col. John C. Clem (known as the Shiloh drummer boy), was 62 years old, while the oldest Veteran was 112 years of age. Of the 55,000 in attendance, representing the half million living Confederate and Union Veterans, 22,103 hailed from Pennsylvania, of whom 303 were Confederate. The smallest delegation came from New Mexico; one, and he was a Union Veteran.

In a vast sea of over 5,000 tents, covering 280 acres in the middle of the battlefield.

On the fourth of July at high noon, a great silence fell over the battlefield, as the church bells began to toll. Buglers of the blue and gray prepared to play the mournful tune of Taps one last time. The guns of Gettysburg shook the ground, signaling the end of the weeklong event. And though many eloquent speeches were given, none expressed what these Veterans took away from this experience better than a scene witnessed at the train station:

"Nearly all of the men had said their good-byes and headed for home. On the station platform a former Union soldier from Oregon and a Louisiana Confederate were taking leave of each other. They shook hands and embraced, but neither seemed able to find the words to express his feelings. Then an idea seemed to strike both men at once. In a simple act, which seemed to say everything they felt the pair took off their uniforms and exchanged them. The Yankee went home in Rebel gray, the Confederate in Union blue."

The above quote is an excerpt from “Gettysburg: The 50th Anniversary Encampment,” by Abbott M. Gibney, Civil War Times Illustrated, October 1970. http://www.old-picture.com/.../014/Civil-Drum-Fife-and.htm