Cp 370.73 
 
 Report of the North Carolina 
 Gettysburg Battleground Com- 
 mission to the Governor of 
 North Carolina 
 
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REPORT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 GETTYSBURG BATTLE GROUND 
 
 COMMISSION 
 
 TO THE 
 GOVERNOR OF NORTH CAROLINA 
 
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 1913 
 
REPORT OF THE NORTH CAROLINA 
 GETTYSBURG BATTLE GROUND COMMISSION 
 
 Raleigh, N. C., July 14, 1913. 
 
 To the Governor. 
 
 Sir: — The Commissioners appointed by 
 your Excellency under Joint Resolution 51, 
 Public Laws, 1913, respectfully make the fol- 
 lowing report of their actions and proceed- 
 ings: 
 
 In relays the members of the Commission, 
 between June 19 and July 3, 1913, visited 
 Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and the fields 
 around the place upon which were fought 
 the great battles of July 1, 2 and 3, 1863. 
 The Commissioners had no difficulty in iden- 
 tifying the several points and positions on 
 those battlefields where North Carolina sol- 
 diers marched and fought, and they are satis- 
 fied after a careful examination and inspec- 
 tion of the grounds, of official reports of 
 those battles made by officers, Union and 
 Confederate, and after the examination of 
 witnesses who were participants, that North 
 Carolina's claims that her troops bore the 
 brunt of the first day's battle and .suffered 
 greater losses in killed and wounded in the 
 three days' battles than did the troops of 
 any other State; that on the late evening of 
 July 2d, they pierced and broke the Federal 
 infantry lines on East Cemetery Hill and 
 captured several pieces of artillery; and that 
 
they advanced as far, or farther, than any 
 other troops engaged in Longstreet's Assault 
 on the afternoon of the third day's battle, 
 are all well founded. 
 
 To mark by substantial tablets the sev- 
 eral positions of the North Carolina troops 
 which the Commissioners wish to empha- 
 size, was denied them by the Gettysburg Na- 
 tional Park Commission under their regula- 
 tions concerning the location of tablets and 
 monuments proposed to be erected on the 
 battlefield and the inscriptions on such tab- 
 lets and monuments. This decision of the 
 Gettysburg National Park Commission was 
 not made on the ground that North Caro- 
 lina's claims are not accurate and true. That 
 question was not considered. 
 
 The Commissioners had gone to Gettys- 
 burg with tablets of a temporary character" 
 already prepared for the purposes above 
 mentioned to be substituted afterwards by 
 more permanent ones of stone or bronze. 
 They carried with them also other material 
 and things necessary for the carrying out of 
 the above mentioned resolution. 
 
 There is appended the pamphlet contain- 
 ing the regulations under which the Na- 
 tional Commissioners acted in their refusal 
 to allow the North Carolina Commissioners 
 to erect the proposed tablets, and your Ex- 
 cellency's attention is specially directed to 
 sections 15, 16, 17 and 18. 
 
 The Commissioners, feeling that justice to 
 the North Carolina troops and a proper re- 
 gard for the truth of history entitle them to 
 
 5>x^3^« 
 
erect these markers, propose to make fur- 
 ther efforts to have them placed in proper 
 positions on the battlefield. With this end in 
 view they contemplate taking up the matter 
 with the Federal authorities and will pre- 
 pare, to support this request for memorials, 
 on the ground, a full statement, accompa- 
 nied by maps, official reports, affidavits and 
 other evidence of the part taken by North 
 Carolina troops in the battles around Get- 
 tysburg. 
 
 The State's Commissioners invited Hon. 
 Walter Clark, who has done more to put into 
 permanent form historical accounts of the 
 numbers and deeds of our soldiers than any 
 other citizen of the State, to join them at 
 Gettysburg for purposes of consultation. 
 They also employed Mr. C. B. Park as arti- 
 ficer and practical helper on the ground. 
 
 Several members of the Commission at- 
 tended the Commemoration of the Fiftieth 
 Anniversary of the battles. 
 
 Respectfuly submitted, 
 
 W. A. Montgomery, 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 R. D. W. Connor, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 EDWARDS a BROUGHTON PRINTING CO., RALEIGH N. C. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 00032726630 
 
 This book may be kept out one month unless a recall 
 notice is sent to you. It must be brought to the North 
 Carolina Collection (in Wilson Library) for renewal.