Gettysburg, Pennsylvania City Guide
For over 20 years, Pamela Lanier's Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Travel Guide has been your connection to Gettysburg's tourism community with invaluable details on local attractions, restaurants, shopping, museums, history, outdoor recreation and more.
Gettysburg History
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was the turning point of the Civil War on July 1-3, 1863 and also the site of President Abraham Lincoln’s famous speech, The Gettysburg Address. When General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia met by chance with General George C. Meade’s Union Army of the Potomac in Gettysburg it was not a decisive battle in the Civil War but it was the most fatal battle ever to have been fought on American soil. An attack known as Picket’s Charge served as the conclusion to the Battle at Gettysburg, and though the Civil War continued for two more years, the Confederacy never recovered from the Gettysburg battle. The Gettysburg National Cemetery was dedicated four months after the battle and state government officials decided to consecrate the grounds with appropriate ceremonies and were pleased when President Abraham Lincoln agreed to participate. The Honorable Edward Everett of Massachusetts was selected to give the ceremony’s main speech, and he spoke for more than two hours. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address lasted only two minutes and remains in the history books as one of America’s most famous and revered speeches. Today Gettysburg, Pennsylvania exists as a premier bed and breakfast destination artfully blending the past with the present.
