Gettysburg Sentinels

Since 2016 Gettysburg Sentinels has presented the Witness Award to a deserving member of the senior class. The recipient must submit an essay. This year's essay was based on the author imagining they was their current age and transformed back to November 19, 1863 where they found themselves sanding next to a sycamore tree on Baltimore Street where they watched President Lincoln pass by on his way to the dedication of the new cemetery. They then followed and listened to the president deliver his Gettysburg Address. I was pleased to present the award (a replica minnie ball created from the General Lewis Armistead Witness Tree) as well as a check for $500 to Paul Kennedy. Paul's essay was exceptional and included back stories that showed that he immersed himself in life in 1863. Congratulations Paul!

While April is a month of change in the seasons around Gettysburg, it also contains key dates for the Civil War.

April 9, 1865: General Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House.

April 14, 1865: President Abraham Lincoln is shot at Ford’s Theatre by John Wilkes Booth (dies on April 15).

April 12, 1861: Confederate forces fire upon Fort Sumter in South Carolina, formally starting the Civil War.

April 26, 1865: General Joseph E. Johnston surrenders his army to General Sherman in North Carolina



Photograph below shows people at the Wilmer McLean House, where Generals Lee and Grant agreed on the terms of surrender.Circa 1865