Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Booknotes: The Lost Gettysburg Address

New Arrival:

The Lost Gettysburg Address by David T. Dixon (Author: B-List History, 2015).

This title puzzled me as I wasn't aware of any other major speakers at the Gettysburg cemetery dedication beyond Lincoln and Everett. Abraham Lincoln Online reveals that after the ceremony Lincoln had lunch and attended a public reception where he met the famous John Burns. Then "Lincoln walked down Baltimore Street with Burns to the last event of the day at the Gettysburg Presbyterian Church. Here they heard a speech by Charles Anderson, Lieutenant Governor of Ohio." Dixon's book explores the life of this Charles Anderson, as well as his speech (which was apparently lost to history until rediscovered in an old box in Wyoming). Anderson was a Kentucky-born slaveholder who ran afoul of Confederate authorities in Texas after declaring publicly for the Union. Escaping to the North, he joined the army, was wounded at Stones River, and was later elected Lieutenant Governor of Ohio in 1863 (becoming governor in late 1865 upon the incumbent's death).

No comments:

Post a Comment

***PLEASE READ BEFORE COMMENTING***: You must SIGN YOUR NAME when submitting your comment. In order to maintain civil discourse and ease moderating duties, anonymous comments will be deleted. Comments containing outside promotions and/or product links will also be removed. Thank you for your cooperation.