James Rada Jr.

No North, No South...: the Grand Reunion at the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg James Rada Jr.

50 years after the Battle of Gettysburg, another army invaded Gettysburg In 1865, more than 165,000 soldiers fought and tens of thousands died on the battlefield of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Many historians consider this the turning point of the Civil War. As the years passed, the surviving veterans grew older and passed away. By the turn of the century, the remaining veterans were in the 70?s. As the 50th anniversary of the Civil War approached, it became apparent that if the country intended to honor its veterans, this would be the last chance to thank many of them. In the early years of the 20th Century, plans began forming for a Grand Reunion in Gettysburg for the 50th anniversary of the battle. More than 54,000 Civil War veterans plus tens of thousands of spectators, family, visitors and journalists descended on Gettysburg in 1913. The veterans stayed in a tent city on the battlefield as they remembered the great battle fought there. No North, No South... is the story of the reunion and the Union and Confederate veterans who came together there to remember their service to country and celebrate renewed friendships. It contains more than 100 photographs from the 1913 Grand Reunion of the Battle of Gettysburg that will give you a sense of what it was like to be part of the greatest reunion of Civil War veterans that there ever was.