Evergreen Cemetery – formerly called Citizen's Cemetery and Ever Green Cemetery – is a historic 29.12 acre

rural cemetery A rural cemetery or garden cemetery is a style of cemetery that became popular in the United States and Europe in the mid-19th century due to the overcrowding and health concerns of urban cemeteries, which tended to be churchyards. Rural cemeter ...

located just outside Gettysburg Borough, in

Cumberland Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania Cumberland Township is a township in Adams County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 7,031 at the 2020 census. In 1863, the American Civil War Battle of Gettysburg took place mainly in Cumberland Township, which surrounds the b ...

, United States. It is part of

Gettysburg Battlefield Historic District The Gettysburg Battlefield Historic District is a district of contributing properties and over 1000 historic contributing structures and 315 historic buildings, located in Adams County, Pennsylvania. The district was added to the National R ...

, and is surrounded by

Gettysburg National Military Park The Gettysburg National Military Park protects and interprets the landscape of the Battle of Gettysburg, fought over three days between July 1 and July 3, 1863, during the American Civil War. The park, in the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania area, is m ...

and

Soldiers' National Cemetery Gettysburg National Cemetery, originally called Soldiers' National Cemetery, is a United States National Cemetery System, United States national cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, created for Union army casualties sustained in the Battle of ...

. The cemetery played a strategic role in the July 1 to 3, 1863

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was a three-day battle in the American Civil War, which was fought between the Union and Confederate armies between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, won by the Union, ...

. Four months after the battle, at the dedication of the immediately-adjacent National Cemetery, President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

delivered his "

Gettysburg Address The Gettysburg Address is a Public speaking, speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, U.S. president, following the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. The speech has come to be viewed as one ...

" from a platform in Evergreen Cemetery.

History

Founding

The Ever Green Cemetery Association of Gettysburg was established at a November 29, 1853 meeting. The association managed the property and oversaw selection of its caretakers. By April 3, 1854, 118 lots had been sold, and the association members' first payments were due. The first interment took place on October 29. Opening ceremonies were held on November 7, 1854, and in hi
dedication address
Reverend John H. C. Dosh asked, "Could a more lovely spot have been chosen?" The Evergreen Cemetery gatehouse was designed by Philadelphia architect

Stephen Decatur Button Stephen Decatur Button (June 15, 1813, in Preston, Connecticut – January 7, 1897, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an American architect and a pioneer in the use of metal-frame construction for masonry buildings. He designed commercial buildin ...

, built by local contractors George and Henry Chritzman, and completed in November 1855. The

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

gatehouse served as the caretaker residence.

Battle of Gettysburg

Evergreen Cemetery is

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

ous with

Cemetery Hill Cemetery Hill is a landform on the Gettysburg Battlefield that was the scene of fighting each day of the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863). The northernmost part of the Army of the Potomac defensive " fish-hook" line, the hill is gent ...

, the landform noted as the keystone of the Union position during the Battle of Gettysburg. Major-General

Oliver Otis Howard Oliver Otis Howard (November 8, 1830 – October 26, 1909) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the Civil War. As a brigade commander in the Army of the Potomac, Howard lost his right arm while leading his men again ...

lined the cemetery's high ground with cannons, turning it into an "artillery platform," and made its gatehouse into XI Corps (Union Army) headquarters. At dusk on

July 2 This date marks the halfway point of the year. In common years, the midpoint of the year occurs at noon on this date, while in leap years, it occurs at midnight (start of the day). Events Pre-1600 * 437 – Emperor Valentinian III begin ...

, 5 Louisiana regiments under Brigadier-General

Harry T. Hays Harry Thompson Hays (April 14, 1820 – August 21, 1876) was an American military officer serving in the U.S. Army during the Mexican–American War and a general who served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Known as the "Lou ...

and 3 North Carolina regiments under Colonel

Isaac E. Avery Isaac Erwin Avery (December 20, 1828 – July 3, 1863) was a planter and an officer in the Confederate States Army. He died at the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. Avery is most remembered for a poignant blood-stained note ...

commenced the

Battle of East Cemetery Hill The battle of East Cemetery Hill during the American Civil War was a military engagement on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, in which an attack of the Confederacy's Louisiana Tigers Brigade and a brigade led by Colonel Robert Hoke w ...

, charging Howard's artillery batteries from the east. "Federal soldiers in the Cemetery laid many of the tombstones on the ground" to limit damage, and some of the XI Corps batteries and infantry used the grave monuments "for shelter from the enemy's fire". Historian Frederick Hawthorne wrote of Howard's successful defense: “Lying in reserve in the Evergreen Cemetery, they (

73rd Pennsylvania Infantry The 73rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 73rd Pennsylvania Infantry was organized at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania beginning in June 1861 and must ...

) rushed out through the cemetery gateway to help drive the Confederates away from Rickett’s and Weidrich’s batteries.” Evergreen experienced three days as battlefield, and its resulting condition inspired a Union officer to lament: "A beautiful cemetery it was, but now is trodden down, laid a waste, desecrated. The fences are all down, the many graves have been run over, beautiful lots with iron fences and splendid monuments have been destroyed or soiled, and our infantry and artillery occupy those sacred grounds where the dead are sleeping. It is enough to make one mourn." Two Confederate soldiers mortally wounded during the battle were buried in Evergreen Cemetery.

Post-battle

1904 Cope map - Gettysburg National Cemetery

The

Consecration of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg The Consecration of the Soldiers' National Cemetery was the ceremony at which U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863. In addition to the 15,000 spectators, attendees included six state governors: And ...

took place on November 19, 1863. The speaker's platform used by orator

Edward Everett Edward Everett (April 11, 1794 – January 15, 1865) was an American politician, Unitarian pastor, educator, diplomat, and orator from Massachusetts. Everett, as a Whig, served as U.S. representative, U.S. senator, the 15th governor of Mas ...

, and then by President Abraham Lincoln to deliver his Gettysburg Address, was located just east of the National Cemetery, on the grounds of Evergreen Cemetery. From 1893 to 1916, the

Gettysburg Electric Railway The Gettysburg Electric Railway was a borough trolley that provided summer access1991 Gettysburg Times to Gettysburg Battlefield visitor attractions such as military engagement areas, monuments, postbellum camps, and recreation areas (e.g., ...

operated along the cemetery's east and south borders. Following the 1917 demolition of the trolley railway, Evergreen Cemetery expanded southward. In 1972, the " Evergreen Cemetery archway house" was designated an

historic district contributing structure History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

by the Gettysburg Borough Council (1 of 38 outside of the borough). Civilian remains at the site of the 1804

Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARPC) is a theologically conservative denomination in North America. The ARPC was formed by the merger of the Associate Presbytery ( seceder) with the Reformed Presbytery (covenanter) in 1782. It is one ...

cemetery were reinterred at Evergreen Cemetery in 1992.

Photo gallery

File:Evercemadams gatehouse.jpg,

Gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the most ...

File:Gaddress frassanito.jpg, The only published photographic analysis places the site of the platform for the Gettysburg Address at the graves of George Kitzmiller, Israel Yount and John Koch. File:Wade monument.jpg,

Ginnie Wade Mary Virginia Wade (May 21, 1843 – July 3, 1863), also known as Jennie Wade or Ginnie Wade, was a resident of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania during the Battle of Gettysburg. At the age of 20, she was the only direct civilian casualty of the batt ...

, lone civilian casualty of the Battle of Gettysburg File:Evercemadams burns.jpg, John L. Burns, geriatric civilian combatant at the Battle of Gettysburg File:Evercemadams culp.jpg, Esaias Jesse Culp's headstone shows battle damage. File:Evercemadams huber.jpg, Frederick Huber's headstone shows battle damage. File:Evercemadams_maurey.jpg, Maurey headstone shows battle damage. File:Evercemadams mcpherson.jpg, McPherson's obelisk was laid over by Union troops. File:Evercemadams smyser.jpg, Smyser's obelisk was laid over by Union troops. File:Evercemadms battcas usa.jpg, Some 69 Union battle casualties remain permanently. File:Evercemadms battcas csa.jpg, Confederate casualty cenotaphs. Due to local outrage, the remains were re-located to unmarked locations. File:Evercemadams thorns.jpg, At six months pregnant, Elizabeth Thorn acted as caretaker in her husband's absence and buried more than 100 casualties. Peter Thorn served in the 138th PA Volunteers. File:Evercemadams wills.jpg, David Wills organized and executed the adjacent National Cemetery. File:Evercemadams gh w cannons.jpg, Stewart's Battery straddled the Baltimore Pike, just north of the Gatehouse.

References

External links

Evergreen Cemetery Tour
is a seventeen-part, comprehensive, audio-visual introduction to this subject by Debra A. Novotny, who has served both as a Licensed Battlefield Guide and as a boardmember of the Evergreen Cemetery Association. * * {{Battle of Gettysburg American Civil War cemeteries Buildings and structures in Adams County, Pennsylvania Cemetery Hill Cemeteries in Pennsylvania Gettysburg Battlefield 1854 establishments in Pennsylvania Rural cemeteries