CASSIE & TOM'S GETTYSBURG PHOTOS

After the battle most of the Union bodies were buried on the field right where they died. As support grew for a Soldiers National Cemetery Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin backed a proposal to purchase the cemetery grounds with state funds. The new cemetery was to be right next to Evergreen Cemetery. Reburial of the bodies was barely under way when President Lincoln visited Gettysburg for the dedication ceremony on November 19, 1863. The re-interments went on all that winter and into the following spring. The landscaping was completed in 1872 at which time the cemetery was turned over to the care of the Federal government. In 1933 it was transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service. This beautiful cemetery is the final resting place for American Veterans from all of this country's major wars. There are over 7,000 interments including over 3,500 from the Civil War. Except for the nearby Cemetery Annex it is closed to new burials.

Completed in 1869 the Soldiers' National Monument was the first monument placed in Gettysburg. It sits close to the site of President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in 1863.

Music playing is "The Vacant Chair"