<p>Three men wearing suits standing in front of the Tennessee Monument.</p>
<p>GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Rain dripped from the caps of the members of the color guard and the ground was a sea of mud. But it didn’t dampen the spirits of those witnessing the dedication fo the Tennessee monument at Gettysburg battlefield.
A hearty rebel yell pierced the air when the 30,00-pound granite monument was dedicated on the 119th anniversary of the Civil War battles’ final bloody day.
Of the states involved in the three-day battle, only Tennessee had been unrepresented among monuments dotting Gettysburg National Military Park.
“We’re proud in Tennessee today. These boys were from all over Tennessee. We’re proud of those who participated here that day,” Lt. Gov. John Wilder said during Saturday’s ceremony.
Wilder was among several dignitaries – including representatives of the Belgian and British embassies – huddling under umbrellas on the reviewing stand near the monument.
During the ceremony, representatives of each of the 29 states that participated in the battle placed their state flags around the Tennessee monument. When the Tennessee flag was put in place to complete the circle, a rebel yell went up from the crowd.
More than 500 people watched the colorful 1 ½ - hour ceremony of military pomp and splendor, highlighted by men from various re-enactment groups in blue and gray uniforms.
A 21-gun salute was offered by men dressed as Union and Confederate soldiers who fired across the rolling meadow of golden grain and green corn that served as a backdrop for the ceremony.
The dedication was the fulfillment of a dream by Donald Ramsey Sr., Tennessee Monument Commission chairman, who fought to raise private funds after the Tennessee General Assembly in the 1970s refused to appropriate any state money for the project.
The $35,000 granite monument is on the stie where the 1st, 7th and 14th Tennessee Infantry Regiments gathered on the battle’s final day for the ill-fated Pickett’s Charge.
It points directly to the High Water Mark where the charge briefly broke the Union battleline. But for the charge failed and the Confederate army withdrew to Virginia, ending its northernmost battlefield encounter of the war.
The monument is an upright slab 10 feet wide and 8 feet high resting on a 16-foot-long base cut in the shape of Tennessee. Life-size figures of a drummer boy, a flag bearer and an infantryman are cut into the face of the upright slab.
Three stars made of pink Tennessee marble sit atop the upright slab, representing the three regiments.
On the reverse side of the upright slab is the number of men in each regiment. Of the 775 Tennesseans who started the battle, 416 ended up as casualties, with 16 killed, 188 wounded and 282 missing.</p>
<ul><li>Keywords: Gettysburg; Gettysburg National Military Park; Photography; monuments; memorials; virtual experience; battlefield</li></ul>
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