Civil War Soldiers Telling War Stories in 1938: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Veteran's Reunion

0:00 Introduction
1:22 Civil War Vets Speaking
3:35 Veteran's Original Questionnaires

These are Civil War veterans telling war stories in 1938. The Gettysburg reunion was an encampment of American Civil War veterans on the Gettysburg Battlefield for the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. The gathering included approximately 25 veterans of the battle with a further 1,359 Federal and 486 Confederate attendees out of the 8,000 living veterans of the war. The veterans averaged 94 years of age. Transportation, quarters, and subsistence was federally funded for each veteran and their accompanying attendant. If an attendant was needed it was provided. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's July 3 reunion address preceded the unveiling of the Eternal Light Peace Memorial; a newsreel with part of the address was included in the Westinghouse Time Capsule for the 1939 New York World's Fair.

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[ArthurSanford]

Amazing to hear the voices of people born in the 1840's

[ViscidBeltUSA]

Whoever invented the camera and recorder, we thank you a million in the future

[derelictxci]

Fascinating, I pity those that dislike history class, they're really missing out.

[EgbertWilliams]

None of those shown wanted to see a battle re-enacted. No surprise there.

[seandelap]

There's still people around today that may have had an interaction with these soldiers when they were children proving it really wasn't all that long ago when you think about it

[SewPrimitive]

Did you notice how they all marked No on viewing a reenactment of Pickett’s charge. Can you imagine the PTSD … yikes for even asking them. We are blessed to have this footage ❤ 🤍 💙

[stevenkollars]

My wife’s grandfather was there and met some
of the veterans. He is 93 now.

[Skyvault_secrets]

I'm only 44 years old in 2024

This was only 42 years before my birth.

That's wild.

[ronniecoleman]

I'm 47 in 2024 and my great great grandfather fought in the Union Army of Tennessee from 1862 to 1865. He died in 1940 and was McMinn County Tennessee's last Union Veteran. My grandmother told me stories of him as she lived with him in the 1920s and 30s because he drew a government pension as a civil war vet during the great depression. His father fought in the War of 1812 by the way and his father for George Washington.

[matrox]

The last Civil war vet died in 1957. He was a drummer boy during war age approx. 12.

[zzitzer]

Fascinating to hear the influence from 17th and 18th century English accents in the second man’s accent- helps me see the point where the typical “American” accent evolved.

[jamestaylor]

Part of history, now gone, but not forgotten.
Men of both causes fighting for what they believed in, many giving their all for it. Salute.

[DiscoverHudsonValley]

This is cool! I just sent it to my father who is a huge history buff and is on the board of the American Battlefield Trust, which preserves historic battlefields in the U.S. He's going to love this and thank you for sharing. 👍💯😎

[jamesferris]

My wife and I are both 68 years old and my wife's grandfather was a Luitentent in the Calvary in Tennessee during the Civil War. Her father was born when his father the Civil War soldier was 76 years old and his wife was in her late 30s. They lived in the mountains in Tennessee and he left his wife soon after my father in law was born with three young children to raise and no means to take care of them. My wife and I have made several trips back to the small town in Tennessee where her father as well as her and her siblings were born and lived until she was one and they moved to Oklahoma. Her father was a WWll vet who passed away in 2001 in his late 80s. I have taken photos of the grave stone of her grandfather who has his Civil War service inscripted on his headstone. I also had family who fought for the confederacy that lived in Georgia but were much farther back than just my grandfather. My wife is the only person who I personally know alive today who has family that close who served in the Civil War.

[bamaguy]

I’m speechless. These brave brave men fighting close combat like that. So much respect for these men.

[josephbingham]

Thank you for helping to preserve this history.
There is a story I once read or perhaps a Civil War documentary. It began with a Gettysburg Ranger in the late 1950's telling visitors about the 1938 reunion and how some veterans had a boy scout assigned to him as a helper. Where upon one of the visitors spoke up and said he had been one of those boy scouts. He told of how he was assigned to a Confederate who had actually participated in Picket's Charge. The Confederate veteran had the boy accompany him out across the field toward the wall once held by the Union. After a certain distance the Confederate veteran stopped. He looked around. Then informed the boy he did not need to walk any farther. He said that this was "About as far as I got." Then he took off his hat and the boy could see the side of the man's head had a indented "crease" along the side were a cannon ball had grazed his skull! So, he had just wanted to re-walk the distance one last time of an important event in his life

[theeducatedredneck]

Both of my Great, Great Grandfather's were Civil War veterans. 31st Wisconsin infantry.

[thomasreed]

Fought in civil war lived through WW1 and possibly WW2 amazing

[stst]

I believe at 1:57 he said he crumbled his hard tack down not hard pack. Hard tack was a sort of survivalist food of the time. The military, sailors and pioneers would carry this food with them because it lasted a long time without spoiling. Even Laura Ingels Wilder talked about her family taking hardtack with them on their journey in her Little House book series.

[davidbrooks]

Imagine kids today in June 2024 listening and the amount of knowledge they could gain