Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Hill are forever joined in history because of the great battle fought on their grounds—but they also share a common family history going back generations. Prior to becoming hallowed ground, Cemetery Hill was known locally as Raffensperger’s Hill, a prominent rise just south of Gettysburg. In the early 19th century it was owned by Peter Raffensperger, a prosperous farmer born in 1706. Raffensperger’s only daughter, Anna, married Henry Culp (owner of the adjacent Culp’s Hill), linking two families whose names now echo on Gettysburg’s landscape. Upon reaching old age, Peter Raffensperger sold his hill and went to live with the Culps. For decades thereafter the hill’s slopes remained quiet farmland overlooking the town.

By the 1850s, Gettysburg’s citizens saw the need for a new public cemetery. The existing town churchyards were limited in space, and the mid-19th-century rural cemetery movement – favoring park-like, landscaped burial grounds – was in full swing. In November 1853, local leaders called a meeting to establish a town cemetery, recognizing that “[c]ould a more lovely spot have been chosen?” than the green hill south of town. The following year, a group of prominent townspeople formally organized the Ever Green Cemetery Association of Gettysburg (later styled Evergreen Cemetery). They secured the purchase of 6+ acres of Raffensperger’s former hill for this purpose, laying the groundwork for Cemetery Hill’s transformation from pasture to consecrated burial ground.

Founding of Evergreen Cemetery (1854)

Evergreen Cemetery was officially established in 1854 after about a year of deliberation and planning. A committee of roughly 21 prominent citizens – including attorneys, clergymen, and civic leaders – managed subscription sales, drafted a charter and regulations, and oversaw land acquisition. David McConaughy, a noted Gettysburg attorney, emerged as the key founder. He led the effort from the start and was elected the first president of the Evergreen Cemetery board of trustees. Under McConaughy’s guidance, the association began selling burial lots by spring 1854; 118 lots were sold by April of that year. The very first interment in Evergreen took place on October 29, 1854, and the formal opening dedication was held on November 7, 1854. At the dedication, Reverend John H.C. Dosh delivered an address praising the selection of this “lovely spot” for a cemetery.

To serve the new cemetery, the association hired a caretaker and built a distinctive gatehouse. Philadelphia architect Stephen D. Button designed the brick gatehouse in an Italianate villa style, symbolically representing the “gates of heaven” at the entrance to the grounds. The gatehouse was completed in late 1855 and would double as the caretaker’s residence. The first caretaker appointed was Peter Thorn, a German immigrant and local resident. Peter and his wife Elizabeth Thorn moved into the new gatehouse in February 1856, bringing Elizabeth’s elderly parents with them. The Thorns started a family here; by the outbreak of the Civil War, they had three young sons living on Cemetery Hill. Evergreen Cemetery thus began as a family-operated resting place, maintained by its association and resident caretakers. Upkeep was funded by lot sales and association dues, and the grounds were laid out in the pastoral style of Victorian rural cemeteries – with winding paths, greenery, and monument lots – intended as a dignified park for both the dead and the living. Locals and visitors could stroll the scenic cemetery, decorate graves with flowers, or even picnic while paying respects, as was common in that era.

From its inception, Evergreen Cemetery became an important part of Gettysburg’s civic life. It was not a church-owned graveyard but a privately operated, non-sectarian cemetery, open to all residents for burials. Over time it replaced the old town burial grounds, and even some earlier remains were relocated there (for example, in 1992, remains from an 1804 Presbyterian cemetery in Gettysburg were reinterred at Evergreen). By the eve of the Civil War, Evergreen was firmly established as Gettysburg’s main cemetery, admired for its tranquil beauty and cared for by the Thorn family on behalf of the community.

Cemetery Hill’s Strategic Importance in the Battle of Gettysburg (1863)

When the Battle of Gettysburg erupted in July 1863, Cemetery Hill’s lofty position suddenly took on immense military significance. Union Major General Oliver O. Howard, upon arriving on July 1 with the Eleventh Corps, immediately recognized the hill as the key high ground south of town. He left troops and artillery to hold Cemetery Hill as a fallback position while heavy fighting raged to the north and west of Gettysburg. Indeed, as Union lines collapsed on the first day, retreating Federal soldiers from the First and Eleventh Corps rallied on Cemetery Hill, using its height as a natural fortress. The Baltimore Pike and Emmitsburg Road converged at the hill, making it a vital interior position for the Union Army’s defensive “fishhook” line. General Howard established his headquarters in the Evergreen Cemetery gatehouse itself, and he positioned dozens of cannon amid the tombstones, effectively turning the cemetery into an artillery platform commanding the approaches to town. One local boy recalled that a Union battery was posted across the “Citizen’s Cemetery” gates, stopping civilians from entering during the battle.

On July 2, 1863, Cemetery Hill was the target of fierce Confederate assaults. In the evening twilight, two Confederate brigades under Brig. Gen. Harry T. Hays and Col. Isaac E. Avery charged up East Cemetery Hill from the east, striking the portion of the hill occupied by Evergreen Cemetery. Union artillerymen and infantry hastily knocked down headstones and monuments to clear fields of fire and to take cover. Many grave markers were used as improvised breastworks – Union soldiers even sheltered behind family tombstones for protection. The roar of battle on this sacred ground was vividly described by one Union officer: “How those quiet sleepers must have been astounded in their graves when the twenty-pound Parrott guns thundered above their gravestones! The flowers, roses, and creeping vines…were trampled to the ground, and black with the cannon’s soot. A dead horse lay by a marble shaft, and over it the marble finger pointed to the sky… Such are the incongruities and jumblings of battle.” Despite breaching the Union line, the Confederate attackers were finally driven back by reinforcements rushing through the cemetery. A Pennsylvania regiment held in reserve “rushed out through the cemetery gateway to help drive the Confederates away” from the guns, successfully repelling Hays’s Louisiana Tigers and Avery’s North Carolinians in desperate close-quarters fighting among the graves.

Throughout the three-day battle, Cemetery Hill remained the linchpin of the Union defense. Confederate commander Lt. Gen. Richard Ewell, whose troops encircled the town to the north and east, understood its importance. On the battle’s first day he had a fleeting chance to seize Cemetery Hill (before Union reinforcements solidified it) but hesitated – a controversial decision many believe spared the Union from disaster. On July 2, Ewell’s artillery bombarded Cemetery Hill from distant Benner’s Hill, but the Union guns perched on Cemetery Hill’s heights enjoyed a superior position. (At ~503 feet elevation, Cemetery Hill stands over 50 feet taller than Benner’s Hill, giving Union artillerists a decided ballistic advantage.) The Confederate batteries were outgunned and forced to withdraw with heavy losses, including their “Boy Major” Joseph Latimer. This ensured that when the climactic Confederate infantry attack (Pickett’s Charge) came on July 3, Cemetery Hill was still securely in Union hands to anchor the right flank of the line. In fact, Union guns on Cemetery Hill and nearby Culp’s Hill swept the fields with enfilading fire during Pickett’s Charge, contributing to its failure.

By battle’s end, Cemetery Hill had saved the Union Army from envelopment and proved crucial to its victory at Gettysburg. But the hill paid a price. Evergreen Cemetery’s grounds were left in shambles – fences destroyed, graves and monuments damaged or overturned, and the site littered with debris and the dead. One Union officer lamented on July 4 that “[a] beautiful cemetery it was, but now is trodden down, laid a waste, desecrated… 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 who had been mortally wounded in the fighting were hastily buried within Evergreen Cemetery itself. The civilian proprietors of Evergreen would later find that their revered burial ground had been a battlefield for three days – an honor, and a horror, that ultimately gave “Cemetery Hill” its enduring name and place in history.

Aftermath: Evergreen Cemetery During and After the Battle

During the battle’s shelling and chaos, the Thorn family was forced to flee their gatehouse home on Cemetery Hill. As civilians, Elizabeth Thorn (then six months pregnant) took her elderly parents and young children to seek safety, only to return after the Confederate retreat to a scene of destruction. The Evergreen gatehouse had been riddled by bullets and shells – every window shattered – and much of the Thorns’ furniture and food stores had been looted. Amid this ruin, a new and grisly duty fell upon Elizabeth Thorn. Her husband Peter was away serving with the 138th Pennsylvania Volunteers, so as acting superintendent, Elizabeth received a heartbreaking request from Evergreen’s president, David McConaughy: she was to help bury the dead left on the battlefield. Despite being pregnant and in poor health, Elizabeth bravely undertook the task. With the help of her elderly father, she spent the sweltering summer weeks of July–August 1863 digging graves and burying the fallen in Evergreen Cemetery’s grounds. It is estimated that Mrs. Thorn interred around 91 Union soldiers in Evergreen’s rocky soil during that time. The physical and emotional toll was enormous – she later wrote “my health failed and for years I was a very sickly woman” after performing this somber duty. Tragically, the baby daughter she delivered in early 1864 suffered frail health and died young, a loss Elizabeth attributed to the strain she had endured.

The Thorn family’s service did not end there. In the immediate months after the battle, Gettysburg citizens and officials began planning a proper Soldiers’ National Cemetery for the Union war dead. As that process unfolded (see next section), many of the Union soldiers Elizabeth had buried were eventually moved to the new National Cemetery. Once Peter Thorn returned from the army in 1865, approximately 50 bodies that Elizabeth had laid to rest were exhumed and reinterred in the Soldiers’ National Cemetery, with the remainder left in Evergreen at their families’ request. To this day, dozens of Union soldiers’ graves from the battle (sources cite about 69 such graves) still lie within Evergreen Cemetery’s bounds, honored as those whose families chose not to disturb their original burials. The two Confederate graves in Evergreen met a different fate – local outrage over a Confederate presence in the town cemetery led to those remains being quietly relocated later on, and today only cenotaph stones hint at their existence.

Elizabeth Thorn’s heroism has become a legend of Cemetery Hill. In November 2002, nearly 140 years after the battle, a bronze statue of a weary, pregnant Elizabeth leaning on a shovel was dedicated at Evergreen’s entrance as the Gettysburg Women’s Memorial, honoring the women who served and suffered in the battle’s aftermath. Fittingly, Elizabeth Thorn herself is buried in Evergreen Cemetery (she died in 1907), not far from the very plots where she toiled in 1863. Peter Thorn continued as cemetery caretaker until 1875, living at the gatehouse for a total of 19 years. Under the Thorns’ watch, Evergreen remained a solemn yet functional town cemetery even as war raged around it.

In the post-war decades, Evergreen Cemetery evolved but stayed in operation as a private cemetery run by its association (it was never government-owned, even though it sits adjacent to the National Park). After Peter Thorn’s resignation, William Pfeffer became caretaker (superintendent) in 1875. During Pfeffer’s tenure, an addition was built onto the gatehouse, and a tourist trolley line was laid along the cemetery’s edge (the Gettysburg Electric Railway, running 1893–1916). Pfeffer was succeeded in 1895 by Harry Trostle, who served as superintendent for 25 years. Under Trostle, the historic gatehouse gained new porches and six old cannon were placed on the grounds as relics of the battle. The cemetery also modestly expanded southward after the trolley tracks were removed in 1917.

Evergreen Cemetery holds many local notables and Civil War figures among its burials. In 1865, Mary Virginia “Jennie” Wade, the only civilian killed during the battle, was reinterred here (she had been temporarily buried elsewhere). At the turn of the century, Jennie’s older sister Georgia Wade McClellan – by then a leader in the National Women’s Relief Corps – spearheaded a campaign to honor Jennie. On September 16, 1901, Georgia led a delegation from Iowa to Gettysburg to dedicate a marble monument at Jennie Wade’s grave, ensuring the tragic 20-year-old would not be forgotten. Today a statue of Jennie tops that monument, and the American flag uniquely flies 24 hours a day over her gravesite (one of the few U.S. locations accorded that honor). Another Evergreen resident, John L. Burns, is similarly honored – Burns was a 69-year-old Gettysburg civilian who grabbed his musket and fought alongside Union troops on July 1, earning fame as the “old hero of Gettysburg.” He survived his wounds and died in 1872; he too is buried in Evergreen with an American flag flown day and night over his grave. Evergreen also became the final resting place for other community leaders, like David McConaughy (who died 1902), and distinguished figures such as Reverend Samuel S. Schmucker (founder of the Lutheran Theological Seminary and Gettysburg College) and Marianne Moore (a 20th-century Pulitzer Prize-winning poet), reflecting the cemetery’s ongoing significance to the town.

Though overshadowed by the adjacent National Cemetery, Evergreen Cemetery remains active and well-maintained to this day. It stands not just as a burial ground but as a historic landscape, part of the Gettysburg Battlefield Historic District. The old Evergreen gatehouse (the “archway house”) is itself listed as a contributing historic structure (designated in 1972). Evergreen’s legacy is entwined with the Battle of Gettysburg, yet it also continues to serve Gettysburg families in peaceful memorial, much as envisioned in 1854.

Establishment of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery on Cemetery Hill (1863–1864)

In the immediate aftermath of the battle, Gettysburg faced the enormous task of properly burying over 7,000 fallen soldiers. In late July 1863, Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin visited Gettysburg and was appalled by the sight (and smell) of hastily dug battlefield graves – bodies buried where they fell, many shallow and already exposed by rain. Local pressure for a dignified solution mounted quickly. A group of concerned Adams County citizens proposed creating a special cemetery to honor the Union dead of the battle. Governor Curtin agreed at once. He committed Pennsylvania to fund the project and initiated a multi-state effort to establish a Union soldiers’ cemetery on the battlefield.

Curtin appointed David Wills, a prominent Gettysburg lawyer, as his agent to coordinate the plan. Wills was charged with acquiring an appropriate tract of land on Cemetery Hill and arranging for reburial of Union soldiers in a new “Soldiers’ National Cemetery”. The choice of Cemetery Hill for the cemetery’s location was deliberate and, as one account put it, “most fittingly” chosen. Cemetery Hill was centrally located on the battlefield and already consecrated by the presence of Evergreen Cemetery (and the graves of some Union dead buried there immediately after the battle). It was also high ground with a commanding view – a place of honor. Other proposed sites (such as Benner’s Hill farther east) were rejected, in part because Cemetery Hill’s prominence and symbolism made it the ideal site. At roughly 80 feet above the town and 500 feet above sea level, Cemetery Hill towered over alternative locations. (For comparison, Cemetery Hill is about 50–80 feet higher in elevation than Benner’s Hill, giving it a superior vista and artillery position during the battle.) Moreover, land on west Cemetery Hill was readily available: notably, David McConaughy himself had quietly purchased several plots adjacent to Evergreen just weeks after the battle. McConaughy – who was still Evergreen Cemetery’s president in July 1863 – had envisioned expanding the civilian cemetery to include a soldiers’ burial ground “without distinct borders,” effectively creating one continuous cemetery for both citizens and fallen soldiers. He quickly bought about 2.5 acres abutting Evergreen (as well as other key battlefield parcels like East Cemetery Hill, Culp’s Hill slopes, and Little Round Top). This proved pivotal: the plot McConaughy secured on Cemetery Hill was exactly the land needed. After some negotiation and a personal appeal from Governor Curtin, McConaughy agreed to sell that land to the state of Pennsylvania. Thus, the Soldiers’ National Cemetery was established on the west side of Cemetery Hill – adjacent to Evergreen – on ground that both the veterans and public officials deemed most appropriate.

Once the site was secured, David Wills moved rapidly to develop the cemetery. He reached out to other Northern governors for support, since the cemetery would bury dead from many Union states. By August 1863, 14 states had agreed to share the costs. Wills then hired William Saunders, a renowned landscape architect and horticulturalist, to design the cemetery layout. Saunders, a Scotsman by birth, was chosen for his expertise in rural cemetery design and parks. He conceived a simple yet eloquent plan emphasizing equality among the fallen: the Union dead would be reinterred in semi-circular rows arranged by home state, radiating out from a central focal point (where a future national monument would stand). There would be no distinction of rank – privates and generals alike would have identical humble headstones, their graves arranged in concentric arcs by state. This design ensured that no Union soldier would be forgotten or segregated, and every state’s sacrifice would be clearly recognized around a common center.

The enormous task of exhuming and reburying over 3,500 Union soldiers began in October 1863 under Wills’s supervision. Teams of local laborers and outside contractors were hired to carefully remove bodies from shallow battlefield graves across dozens of farms. A Gettysburg farmer, Basil Biggs, played a major role in this operation. Biggs, an African American entrepreneur, was contracted to help disinter and transport the remains to Cemetery Hill. He and his crews used wagons to collect the fallen, reportedly reinterring more than 3,000 Union soldiers in the new cemetery over the autumn and winter of 1863–64. Each identified body was placed in a coffin and buried in the state section corresponding to the soldier’s unit, with unknowns grouped separately. This grim but important work continued even as a great dedication ceremony was being planned.

On November 19, 1863, the Soldiers’ National Cemetery was formally consecrated in a public dedication ceremony that drew around 15,000 people to Gettysburg. Dignitaries, military bands, and citizens gathered on Cemetery Hill for the event. A speakers’ platform was erected just outside the new cemetery’s boundary, on the Evergreen Cemetery side of the hill (at a spot now believed to be near the graves of George Kitzmiller, Israel Yount, and John Koch). This placement on the adjacent civilian cemetery was chosen likely because the National Cemetery grounds were still a work in progress with open graves. The ceremony’s featured speaker was the renowned orator Edward Everett of Massachusetts, who delivered a two-hour formal address recalling the battle and extolling the valor of the Union troops. Following Everett, President Abraham Lincoln was invited to give “a few appropriate remarks”. In just about two minutes, Lincoln delivered what is now known as the Gettysburg Address, one of the most famous speeches in American history. Standing on Cemetery Hill, Lincoln honored the Union dead and reframed the war as a test of the nation’s commitment to the principles of liberty and equality. “We cannot dedicate…we cannot consecrate…we cannot hallow this ground,” he remarked, for the brave men living and dead “have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.” Instead, it was for the living to resolve that “these dead shall not have died in vain” and that “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Lincoln’s address, delivered on Cemetery Hill within Evergreen Cemetery’s borders, forever linked the site to the larger ideals of the nation.

Despite the grandeur of the dedication, the work of burying the dead was not yet finished. Reburials continued for roughly five more months. It was late March 1864 by the time the last Union soldiers’ remains were transferred from the fields into their permanent graves on Cemetery Hill. In all, the Soldiers’ National Cemetery received about 3,512 Union burials (about half of them unknowns). The Confederate dead, by contrast, were not included – they remained in scattered field graves until Southern memorial groups later reinterred many of them in Southern cemeteries like Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. Lincoln’s dedicatory words thus truly were spoken “for the Union dead” resting in ordered rows before him.

With the cemetery established, the focus shifted to completing its landscape and memorial features. In July 1865, on the second anniversary of the battle, a cornerstone was laid at the cemetery’s center for a grand monument to honor the fallen. General George G. Meade, the Union commander at Gettysburg, returned to participate – he had been unable to attend the 1863 dedication (being busy pursuing Lee’s army), but on July 1, 1869, Meade came again to dedicate the completed Soldiers’ National Monument. This monument, designed by sculptor Randolph Rogers, featured a 60-foot granite column surmounted by the allegorical figure “Genius of Liberty,” with four seated marble figures at the base representing War, History, Peace, and Plenty. The dedication ceremony on July 1, 1869 – six years after the battle – was another major event on Cemetery Hill. Meade himself gave an address, noting that he stood on the same ground now “widely different” in peace than during war, and poignantly calling for care of the Confederate dead as well (urging that even “fallen enemies [be] buried with decency and respect”).

Administration of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery initially fell to a civilian board of commissioners representing each sponsoring state. However, in 1872 the cemetery was transferred to the U.S. Federal Government. The War Department assumed responsibility on May 1, 1872, incorporating Gettysburg into the system of national cemeteries for Union war deadnps.gov. A permanent Superintendent (often a war veteran) was appointed by the War Department to oversee daily care of the grounds. The cemetery later became part of Gettysburg National Military Park when that park was created in 1895, and since 1933 it has been managed by the National Park Service. Over time, the “Soldiers’ National Cemetery” expanded beyond the Civil War section; it was opened to burials of veterans from later wars. Additional sections were added for Spanish–American War, World Wars, and Vietnam veterans, bringing the total interred to over 6,000 before the cemetery closed to new burials in 1978. The historic Civil War portion on Cemetery Hill, however, remains the heart of what is now called Gettysburg National Cemetery, preserving the semicircular layout and identities of those who fell in the pivotal battle.

Commemorative Events and Evolving Legacy of Cemetery Hill (1863–Present)

From the Civil War era to today, Cemetery Hill – encompassing Evergreen Cemetery and the National Cemetery – has been the scene of many commemorations, memorial dedications, and visits by dignitaries. Below is a chronological overview of major events that have honored the history and people of Cemetery Hill:

• November 19, 1863 – National Cemetery Dedication: As detailed above, this was the first great ceremonial event on Cemetery Hill. The presence of President Lincoln and the delivery of the Gettysburg Address gave the hill lasting fame. Each year since, the anniversary of this dedication is observed in Gettysburg (“Dedication Day”), often with speeches and Lincoln’s words repeated.
• May 1864 – First Decoration Ceremonies: Even before the war ended, Gettysburg locals began decorating the graves of soldiers. The practice formalized into Memorial Day (originally called Decoration Day) by 1868. Gettysburg’s National Cemetery became a focal point for annual Memorial Day observances, which continue to this day. In the late 19th century, the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) – the Union veterans’ organization – held memorial services every May 30, with veterans marching to the Cemetery Hill graves to strew flowers and pay respects.
• July 1, 1869 – Soldiers’ National Monument Dedication: The central monument in the National Cemetery was unveiled on the sixth anniversary of the battle, with Maj. Gen. George Meade and other dignitaries in attendance. Meade’s speech that day added significance, as he reflected on the battle and even advocated for honorable burial of Confederate dead. This dedication firmly established Cemetery Hill as a place of national memory, not only for the Union victory but for somber reflection on war’s cost.
• 1870s – Era of Monument Dedications: In the post-war decades, many regimental monuments and memorials were erected on the Gettysburg battlefield (mostly outside the cemeteries). Within the National Cemetery, the only statue to an individual is that of Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds, the beloved Union corps commander who was killed on July 1. Reynolds’ statue (a bronze bust on pedestal) was placed near the north cemetery gate and dedicated in 1872. The Minnesota State Memorial Urn (honoring the 1st Minnesota Infantry) was one of the earliest state memorials at Gettysburg, installed in the National Cemetery by 1867 and formally dedicated by 1869. Such memorials often involved ceremonies with state officials and veterans paying tribute at Cemetery Hill.
• 1879 – Construction of the Rostrum: As annual ceremonies grew, a permanent speakers’ platform called “The Rostrum” was built inside the National Cemetery in 1879. This brick podium with a grass floor provided a dignified stage for Memorial Day addresses and reunions. Although Lincoln spoke from a simple wooden platform in Evergreen, subsequent generations of orators would use the Rostrum. Over the years, world leaders and dignitaries – including at least six U.S. Presidents – have spoken from the Rostrum during Cemetery Hill ceremonies. Notably, President Rutherford B. Hayes attended Memorial Day services in 1878 and delivered remarks from Cemetery Hill. In later years, Presidents Theodore Roosevelt (1904), Calvin Coolidge (1928), Herbert Hoover (1930), Franklin D. Roosevelt (1934), and Dwight D. Eisenhower (1955) all used the Rostrum to address crowds at Gettysburg, typically during Memorial Day or anniversary events. These visits underscored the national importance of the site. (Dwight Eisenhower, who would retire in Gettysburg, even held a presidential press conference at the cemetery Rostrum in 1955, reflecting his personal connection to the battlefield.)
• July 1888 – 25th Battle Anniversary: Gettysburg’s 25th anniversary saw Union and a few Confederate veterans return for commemorations. A highlight was the dedication of the New York State Monument on Cemetery Hill. Completed in 1888 (and finally dedicated a bit later on July 2, 1893), this towering 90-foot monument in the National Cemetery honors the 979 New York soldiers killed in the battle – more than from any other state. The 1893 dedication ceremony for the New York monument was one of the largest post-war events on Cemetery Hill since the original 1860s ceremonies, with Governor Flower of NY, veteran General Daniel Sickles, and throngs of New York veterans present. (The monument still dominates the New York section of the cemetery today.) In 1888, veterans also unveiled unit memorials like the 1st Pennsylvania “Garibaldi Guards” monument in Evergreen Cemetery. These gatherings reinforced Cemetery Hill’s role as a place where former foes and comrades alike could honor their dead and reminisce.
• November 19, 1913 – Gettysburg Address 50th Anniversary: The 50th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1913 was marked by the famous “Great Reunion,” where over 50,000 Union and Confederate veterans camped together on the battlefield for three days of fellowship. While the main reunion camp was west of Cemetery Hill, many veterans visited the National Cemetery to place wreaths or find comrades’ graves. President Woodrow Wilson came to Gettysburg on July 4, 1913, and although he spoke at the reunion grounds, his presence symbolized national unity and healing – sentiments strongly connected to Lincoln’s message given on Cemetery Hill. Later that year, on November 19, 1913, a semi-centennial commemoration of the Gettysburg Address took place at the National Cemetery Rostrum, with orations honoring Lincoln’s words. By this time, November 19 observances at Gettysburg had become a tradition, often organized by the Lincoln Fellowship of Pennsylvania (founded in 1938 to annually commemorate the Address).
• July 3, 1938 – 75th Battle Anniversary: The 75th anniversary brought the last large reunion of Civil War veterans (now in their 90s). A grand ceremony on July 3, 1938, unveiled the Eternal Light Peace Memorial on nearby Oak Hill, with President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicating it. While that event was not on Cemetery Hill, the aging veterans did hold a joint “Blue and Gray” memorial service in the National Cemetery as part of the reunion. There, Union and Confederate survivors together observed silence and prayers for their fallen comrades of both sides. The symbolism of former enemies united in the Cemetery was powerful: it fulfilled Lincoln’s hope that the nation, “under God, shall have a new birth of freedom”, in a spirit of reconciliation. The Cemetery Hill ceremonies in 1938 effectively marked the last time Civil War soldiers gathered in significant numbers on the field.
• May 30, 1963 – Centennial Memorial Day Speech: During the 100th anniversary year of Gettysburg, the nation was in the midst of the civil rights movement, and Gettysburg again became a stage for invoking American ideals. On Memorial Day 1963, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson gave a landmark speech from the Gettysburg Rostrum. Speaking to a crowd among the gravestones, Johnson linked the sacrifices of 1863 to the struggles of 1963, declaring that the cause for which Union soldiers died at Gettysburg included the cause of racial equality. “We have not fully achieved the ideals for which they gave their lives,” Johnson warned, urging America to fulfill the promise of “a new birth of freedom” by ensuring equality for all citizens. His oration – coming just months before President Kennedy’s assassination – is remembered as a pivotal moment when Gettysburg’s legacy was applied to contemporary justice and unity. That November (1963) saw the 100th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, observed in a ceremony at the National Cemetery. (President Kennedy had been invited to attend the centennial but sent a message instead; ironically, he visited Gettysburg in March 1963, but not on November 19. He was assassinated three days after the Address centennial, giving Lincoln’s words an even more somber resonance that week.)
• November 19, 1963 – Gettysburg Address Centennial: Despite the looming national tragedy, a ceremony went on at Cemetery Hill to mark 100 years since Lincoln’s speech. Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the keynote address, and thousands gathered in the National Cemetery to hear the Gettysburg Address recited and to reflect on its meaning a century later. This event reinforced the tradition of Dedication Day observances every November 19.
• Modern Era (21st Century): Cemetery Hill remains a centerpiece for commemoration. The annual Dedication Day ceremonies on November 19 continue, often featuring noted speakers (historians, officials, even U.S. Presidents via video) and naturalization ceremonies for new citizens – a living tribute to Lincoln’s ideals. Memorial Day services also persist each year, often sponsored by the American Legion or VFW, with military honor guards and speeches from military leaders or public figures. In July 1993, Gettysburg marked the 130th battle anniversary with re-dedications, and in July 2013 the 150th anniversary drew massive crowds for a week of events. On November 19, 2013 (the sesquicentennial of the Address), an estimated 10,000 people gathered on Cemetery Hill; the U.S. Interior Secretary and renowned historian James McPherson spoke, and President Obama penned a tribute. In recent years, the site has also hosted special ceremonies such as the 2009 reburial of Civil War remains (when a Union soldier’s remains found on the battlefield were interred in the National Cemetery with honors). Evergreen Cemetery, for its part, celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2004, and continues to hold occasional guided tours and commemorative events highlighting its unique history.
• Monument Dedications in Evergreen (Late 20th – 21st Century): A significant recent event was the dedication of the Gettysburg Women’s Memorial (Elizabeth Thorn statue) on November 16, 2002. Descendants of the Thorn family, Civil War re-enactors, and townspeople gathered at Evergreen’s gatehouse as the bronze statue was unveiled, finally giving permanent recognition to the women of Gettysburg. Additionally, new grave markers or memorials sometimes are placed; for example, in 2021 a wayside marker was added to honor Basil Biggs and other African Americans who participated in the cemetery’s creation.

Through these many commemorations, Cemetery Hill has served as a backdrop for honoring American sacrifice, memory, and ideals for over 160 years. Whether in speeches by presidents and generals, or silent Decoration Day flower-layings by families, the hill continues to witness the nation’s homage to those who came before.

Notable Figures Associated with Cemetery Hill

To appreciate the rich history of Cemetery Hill, it is important to know some of the key people – local citizens, organizers, caretakers, and famous visitors – who shaped its story or were touched by it. Below is a summary of notable individuals connected to Cemetery Hill and its cemeteries:

Name	Role and Significance
Peter Raffensperger (1706–??)	Early owner of “Raffensperger’s Hill” (later Cemetery Hill). A successful farmer, he sold the hill in 1853 when retiring to live with his daughter’s family (the Culps). His sale paved the way for establishing Evergreen Cemetery.
David McConaughy (1823–1902)	Gettysburg attorney and civic leader who led the founding of Evergreen Cemetery. He advocated for a town cemetery in 1853 and became the first president of the Evergreen Cemetery Association (1854–63). After the battle, McConaughy purchased land on Cemetery Hill and envisioned a soldiers’ cemetery adjoining Evergreen. Though edged out by David Wills for control of the National Cemetery project, McConaughy pivoted to battlefield preservation – buying portions of East Cemetery Hill, Culp’s Hill, Little Round Top, etc., and later founding the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, which he helped create.
Peter Thorn (1824–1907)	The first caretaker (superintendent) of Evergreen Cemetery. A German immigrant and Mexican–American War veteran, Thorn was hired in 1855 and lived with his family in the cemetery gatehouse. He enlisted in the Union army (138th Pennsylvania) in 1862, leaving his wife in charge of the cemetery. After the war, he returned and continued as superintendent until 1875. Peter Thorn oversaw the reinterment of some Union dead from Evergreen to the National Cemetery in 1863–64 and resumed normal cemetery operations post-war. He is buried in Evergreen along with his wife Elizabeth.
Elizabeth Thorn (1832–1907)	Wife of Peter Thorn and acting superintendent of Evergreen during the Battle of Gettysburg. Six months pregnant, she courageously buried over 90 Union soldiers’ bodies in July–August 1863 while her husband was at war. Elizabeth’s heroic service left her in weakened health, but ensured fallen Union troops received a proper burial before the National Cemetery opened. For her sacrifice, she is honored by the Gettysburg Women’s Memorial (a statue in her likeness) at the cemetery gatehouse. Elizabeth Thorn is herself interred in Evergreen, not far from the soldiers she laid to rest.
Basil Biggs (1819–1906)	An African American farmer and veterinarian of Gettysburg who played a pivotal role in the National Cemetery’s creation. After the battle, Biggs was contracted by Pennsylvania’s agent to exhume Union soldiers from field graves and rebury them in the new cemetery. He led a team that disinterred over 3,000 bodies in fall 1863, ensuring graves were in place for the dedication ceremony. Biggs later purchased a farm adjacent to Cemetery Ridge and helped establish Gettysburg’s Lincoln Cemetery for Black residents. His behind-the-scenes labor made Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address possible “in front of orderly rows of graves”.
David Wills (1831–1894)	Gettysburg attorney appointed by Gov. Curtin as the lead agent for establishing the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. Wills organized funding from the states, purchased the Cemetery Hill land from McConaughy, and oversaw design and construction of the cemetery. He famously invited President Lincoln to give “a few appropriate remarks” at the dedication. Lincoln stayed at Wills’s house in Gettysburg the night before delivering the Gettysburg Address. In essence, David Wills “organized and executed” the National Cemetery project, leaving a lasting legacy in Gettysburg.
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)	16th President of the United States. Lincoln’s connection to Cemetery Hill is indelible: on Nov. 19, 1863, he delivered the Gettysburg Address from a platform on the hill (within Evergreen Cemetery). Though he spoke for only two minutes, his words transformed Cemetery Hill into sacred ground in the American imagination. Lincoln’s speech redefined the war’s purpose and consecrated the cemetery “far above our poor power to add or detract.” He never visited Gettysburg again, but a century and more of commemorations at the site have been inspired by his presence there. A small Lincoln Speech Memorial tablet now marks the likely spot on Evergreen Hill where he spoke.
Edward Everett (1794–1865)	Statesman, former Harvard president, and famed orator who was the featured speaker at the National Cemetery dedication in 1863. Everett delivered a two-hour formal address recounting the battle and praising the Union cause. Though later overshadowed by Lincoln’s brief remarks, Everett’s eloquent speech was highly acclaimed at the time. He later complimented Lincoln, telling him, “I should be glad if I came as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours as you did in two minutes.” Everett’s role exemplifies the 19th-century oratorical tradition, and his presence lent great prestige to the Cemetery Hill dedication.
Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard (1830–1909)	Union XI Corps commander at Gettysburg and the defender of Cemetery Hill on July 1, 1863. Howard was first to recognize the hill’s importance and posted artillery and troops there, using the Evergreen gatehouse as his headquarters. He later commanded a wing at Gettysburg and survived the war, becoming a celebrated veteran. In 1932, a bronze equestrian statue of Howard was erected on East Cemetery Hill (near where his batteries stood) to honor his leadershipgettysburgdaily.comgettysburgdaily.com. This statue, funded by the State of Maine (Howard’s home state), is one of only a few equestrian monuments at Gettysburg. Howard also spoke at Gettysburg’s post-war reunions; by securing Cemetery Hill during the battle, he ensured it would become the nation’s shrine.
Maj. Gen. George G. Meade (1815–1872)	Commander of the Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg. Though Meade did not make decisions specific to Cemetery Hill during the fight (entrusting that to subordinates like Howard), he was the overall victor of the battle. Meade’s direct link to Cemetery Hill came post-war: he laid the cornerstone for the Soldiers’ Monument in 1865 and returned to dedicate the monument on July 1, 1869. In his 1869 speech on Cemetery Hill, Meade movingly honored his fallen soldiers and even called for reburial of Confederate dead. Thus, Meade bookended the story: winning the battle that made Cemetery Hill famous, and later consecrating the hilltop monument to his troops.
Jennie Wade (1843–1863)	A Gettysburg civilian, Mary “Jennie” Wade was the only civilian killed during the Battle of Gettysburg. She was struck by a stray Confederate bullet on July 3 while kneading dough in a house at the foot of Cemetery Hill. Initially buried in town, Jennie was reinterred in Evergreen Cemetery in November 1865. Her grave, near the Cemetery Hill crest, became a pilgrimage site. In 1901, her sister Georgia and the Women’s Relief Corps of Iowa dedicated a monument with a statue at Jennie’s grave. Jennie’s story personalized the tragedy of Gettysburg for civilians, and her gravesite (with an eternally flying flag and floral tributes) is one of Evergreen Cemetery’s most visited spots.
John L. Burns (1793–1872)	A Gettysburg resident and War of 1812 veteran who, at age 69, famously grabbed his musket and joined Union troops as a volunteer on July 1, 1863. Burns fought in McPherson’s Woods and was wounded, becoming a folk hero hailed by Lincoln and others. After his death, Burns was buried with honor in Evergreen Cemetery. His grave, like Jennie Wade’s, is marked by a distinctive monument and is one of two graves in Evergreen over which the U.S. flag is authorized to fly. Burns’s brave tale and presence on Cemetery Hill in death symbolize the civilian contribution to the battle’s legacy.
U.S. Presidents and Dignitaries: Over the years, Cemetery Hill has welcomed many national figures. Aside from Lincoln and the dignitaries of 1863, at least six sitting U.S. Presidents have given speeches or attended ceremonies at the National Cemetery. These include Rutherford B. Hayes (Memorial Day 1878), Theodore Roosevelt (1904), William Howard Taft (visited 1909, spoke at 50th PA monument rededication), Calvin Coolidge (Memorial Day 1928), Herbert Hoover (1930), Franklin D. Roosevelt (visited 1934, and again for the 75th anniversary in 1938), and Dwight D. Eisenhower (Memorial Day 1955, while President, plus numerous visits as a retired Gettysburg resident). In addition, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1963 delivered a potent civil rights-themed Memorial Day address from Cemetery Hill. Foreign dignitaries (e.g. British PM Winston Churchill’s representatives, etc.) and famous orators/historians (Carl Sandburg, Marian Anderson singing in 1963, etc.) have also taken part in Cemetery Hill ceremonies. Each of these visits and speeches ties new layers of meaning to the site, connecting the sacrifice of 1863 to later generations’ endeavors.

(Table: Notable individuals associated with Cemetery Hill, Gettysburg.)

Conclusion

Cemetery Hill in Gettysburg has a multi-faceted history spanning from pastoral farmland to battlefield stronghold, and from burial ground to national memorial. In the chronological journey of this hill: it passed from the Raffensperger family to become Evergreen Cemetery in 1854, reflecting a community’s hope for a beautiful, everlasting resting place. It then found itself at the epicenter of war in 1863, its slopes turned into defensive breastworks and its soil into soldiers’ graves. In the battle’s wake, Cemetery Hill was chosen, above all other sites, as the proper location to honor Union sacrifice – leading to the creation of the Gettysburg Soldiers’ National Cemetery, where President Lincoln’s immortal words gave the hill a lasting sanctification.

Over time, the hill bore witness to countless acts of remembrance: grieving widows and mothers in the 1860s tending fresh graves; veterans reuniting to clasp hands atop the very ground they bled for; states and regiments erecting stones and statues to claim a piece of memory; and orators – from Everett and Lincoln to modern presidents – using Cemetery Hill as a pulpit to reaffirm American ideals. Evergreen Cemetery and the National Cemetery, though administratively separate (one private, one public), form a continuous landscape of memory on Cemetery Hill. The careful maintenance by the Evergreen Association and the National Park Service, respectively, has preserved the character of the hill’s cemeteries through the centuries.

For the town of Gettysburg, Cemetery Hill has always been a place of local significance – the site of the town cemetery, the caretaker’s home, and the graves of neighbors and heroes. For the nation, Cemetery Hill is nearly unparalleled in symbolic significance – hallowed by the Union’s stand in battle and by Lincoln’s address in peace. Major commemorations from 1863 to the present have kept that symbolism alive, each generation finding new meaning in the “last full measure of devotion” given by those who rest there. Today visitors can walk up the gentle slope of Cemetery Hill, pass under the Evergreen Cemetery arch, and gaze upon row after row of identical National Cemetery headstones. They can see battle-scarred tombstones in Evergreen and monuments like the Soldiers’ National Monument at the hill’s crown. Standing there, one easily appreciates why an observer in 1863 said: “Could a more lovely spot have been chosen?” – and how that lovely spot became sacred ground in the American story.

Cemetery Hill’s history is thus the story of Gettysburg itself: a landscape of life and death, war and remembrance, transformed by human devotion. From the early settlers who farmed its slopes, to the townsfolk who founded a cemetery, to the soldiers who fought over it, and ultimately to the generations who consecrated it with words and monuments – Cemetery Hill endures as a testament that honor and memory can indeed make “these dead shall not have died in vain.”