"July 4, 1863. Was ever the Nation's Birthday celebrated in such a way before?"
- Elisha Rhodes
"The next morning was the Fourth of July, but it seemed at the time to those who were at Gettysburg a somber and terrible national anniversay, with indescribable horrors of the field, as yet hardly mitigated by the work of mercy before the eye in every direction. They army did not know the extent of the victory; the nation did not realize as yet what had been done. The armies were still watching each other"
- Lieutenant Jesse Bowman Young, 3rd Army Corps
The town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, with a population of about 2,400, arose on July 4th in 1863 to care for dead and wounded numbering some 23,000 on the Union side alone. Casualties on both sides from the three day battle reached 51,000. The United States survived.
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