We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—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.

Abraham Lincoln, "Address Delivered At The Dedication Of The Cemetery At Gettysburg," November 19, 1863.

On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered a short speech at the close of ceremonies dedicating the battlefield cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Requested to offer a few remarks, Lincoln memorialized the Union dead and highlighted the redemptive power of their sacrifice. Placing the common soldier at the center of the struggle for equality, Lincoln reminded his listeners of the higher purpose for which blood was shed.

In composing his address, Lincoln must have been reminded of the words of David Wills. A prominent citizen of Gettysburg charged with cleaning up after the grisly battle of July 1-3, Wills urged the president to attend the ceremony. Lincoln's presence Wills stated in a letter of invitation would

kindle anew in the breasts of the Comrades of those brave dead, who are now in the tented field or nobly meeting the foe in the field, a confidence that they who sleep in death on the Battle Field are not forgotten by those highest in Authority; and they will feel that, should their fate be the same, their remains will not be uncared for.

David Wills to President Lincoln,
Invitation to speak at the consecration of a Civil War cemetery at Gettysburg, Pa., November 2, 1863.

Crowds at the Dedication of the Battlefield Cemetery, November 19, 1863, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Civil War Photographs, 1861-1865

Edward Everett, perhaps the most popular orator of the day, spoke for two hours at the ceremony. Yet, Everett admitted to Lincoln, "I wish that I could flatter myself that I had come as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours as you did in two minutes." In spite of Lincoln's disclaimer that "the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here," his brief speech continues to resonate in the American memory.

National Cemetery, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 1913.
Taking the Long View, 1851-1991

For more information on Lincoln and Gettysburg:

• The Library of Congress's online exhibition The Gettysburg Address features two of five known drafts of the Address. The exhibition includes a digitized version of the only known photograph of Lincoln at Gettysburg.
• Search the American Memory pictorial collections on Gettysburg to find more images of the town, battlefield, and memorials.
• Search the Today in History Archive on Gettysburg to read more about the battles waged there. Search on President Lincoln to read more about the Lincoln Administration.
• Visit the American Memory preview Mr. Lincoln's Virtual Library. When completed, it will bring together the wealth of Lincoln materials held at the Library of Congress including correspondence and papers accumulated primarily during Lincoln's presidency, prints, broadsides, books, pamphlets, sheet music, cartoons, maps, drawings, and other memorabilia that will offer a unique view of Lincoln's life and times.
• Find more American Memory resources on U.S. presidents. Visit Presidents, a feature presentation of the Learning Page.
• Search on the term Gettysburg in First-Person Narratives of the American South, 1860-1920 to learn more about the battle. For example, The Heart of a Soldier, the wartime letters of General George E. Pickett, reveals the anguish of General Robert E. Lee at the outset of the engagement:

  For several minutes after I had saluted him he looked at me without speaking. Then in an agonized voice, the reserve all gone, he said: 'Pickett, I am being crucified at the thought of the sacrifice of life which this attack will make.'

  General George E. Pickett, Letter to Sally Pickett from Gettysburg, July 4, 1863
  The Heart of a Soldier.
  Narratives of the American South, 1860-1920