That was a question posed by James Hanni who was invited to speak to the Rotary Club of Waxahachie. Many hands in the room went up in a silent answer. “Well, that’s quite a few of you,” Mr. Hanni said as he started his presentation on behalf of the Gettysburg Foundation.
The Foundation was started to help preserve the location of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War and to share the history of the event. The Battle of Gettysburg was one of the largest and hardest fought between the Union and Confederate troops, so much so that “just about either side could have claimed victory” according to Mr. Hanni. At the end of the battle on July 4, 1863, with the Union troops ultimately claiming victory, the townspeople came out to view the damage and begin to rebuild.
It is here that Mr. Hanni spoke of the various people such as Elizabeth Thorn, a six-month pregnant woman, who helped to bury over 100 men and became known as the “Angel of Gettysburg.” She along with many townspeople cared for troops with no regard for race, religion, or affiliation. Although, Mr. Hanni points out the Union troops sometimes got slightly better apples.
As Abraham Lincoln said in his Gettysburg Address five months after the war, “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” Many people recall the great leaders of the war and great events that unfolded but it important to preserve the stories so that we can all know that anyone can have a place in history and that service no matter how small is worth doing.
