Gettysburg Aftermath  "A Scene Of Horror And Death"  July 1863

Saturday, July 4, 1863, was the 87th anniversary of the independence of the United States. Dawn broke that day on a scene of horror and death along the southern outskirts of a sleepy little Pennsylvania town called Gettysburg, population 2,400.

Sgt. Thomas Marbaker of the 11th New Jersey described the scene. "Upon the open fields, like sheaves bound by the reaper, in crevices of the rocks, behind fences, trees and buildings; in thickets, where they had crept for safety only to die in agony; by stream or wall or hedge, wherever the battle had raged or their weakened steps could carry them, lay the dead. Some, with faces bloated and blackened beyond recognition, lay with glassy eyes staring up at the blazing summer sun; others, with faces downward and clenched hands filled with grass or earth, which told of the agony of the last moments.

"Here a headless trunk, there a severed limb; in all the grotesque positions that unbearable pain and intense suffering contorts the human form, they lay. Upon the faces of some death had frozen a smile; some showed the trembling shadow of fear, while upon others was indelibly set the grim stamp of determination."

"All around was the wreck the battlestorm leaves in its wake- broken caissons, dismounted guns, small arms bent and twisted by the storm or dropped and scattered by disabled hands; dead and bloated horses, torn and ragged equipment and over all, hugging the earth like a fog, poisoning every breath, the pestilential stench of decaying humanity."

More than 39,000 Americans were killed or wounded and more than 10,000 were listed as missing in the Battle of Gettysburg- the largest battle ever fought in the Western Hemisphere.

Fascinating Fact:  When Gettysburg resident Isaac Lightner returned home after the battle, he found his house being used as a field hospital and his family huddled in the barn. When allowed back in their house, they found the stench to be so horrible that they could not live there again.


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