Editing William R. Rathvon (section)

==At Gettysburg==
On November 19, 1863, four months after the historic [[Battle of Gettysburg]] in Pennsylvania, a crowd of more than 10,000 gathered at [[Gettysburg, Pennsylvania]], for the dedication of the [[Gettysburg National Cemetery|National Cemetery]] to the soldiers who had fallen in what is widely acknowledged as the greatest battle of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] (in terms of the total number of troops engaged and casualties on both sides, the intensity of the fighting, and the strategic and emotional significance of the outcome) as well as the point at which the war turned in favor of the Union and permanently against the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]]. Among those thousands was nine-year-old William Rathvon, who had traveled with his family from nearby Lancaster to hear [[Abraham Lincoln|President Lincoln]] [[Gettysburg Address|speak]].

In a 30-minute recording,<ref name=recording>[http://www.historyonthenet.com/authentichistory/1860-1865/2-sounds/2-historical/19380212_Gettysburg_Eyewitness_William_V_Rathvon.html "History of the Net: Historical Recordings - Comments by eyewitness, William Rathvon on Lincoln's Gettysburg Address"], History of the Net</ref> Rathvon describes searching the battlefield for souvenirs with his friends and finding Confederate muskets thrown into the bottom of a creek. He also describes the experiences of his relatives during the battle, including his uncle’s farm being used as the headquarters for Confederate General [[Richard Ewell]] and his grandmother hiding Union soldiers from capture by Southern troops.

Like most people who came to Gettysburg, the Rathvon family was aware that the president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, was going to make some remarks. The family went to the town square where the procession was to form to go out to the cemetery that had not been completed yet. At the head of the procession rode Abraham Lincoln on a gray horse preceded by a military band that was the first the young boy had ever seen. Rathvon describes Lincoln as so tall and with such long legs that they went almost to the ground; he also mentions the long eloquent speech given by [[Edward Everett]] of Massachusetts, whom Rathvon described as the "most finished orator of the day." Rathvon then goes on to describe how Lincoln stepped forward and "with a manner serious almost to sadness, gave his brief address."

During the delivery, along with some other boys, young Rathvon wiggled his way forward through the crowd until he stood within 15 feet of Mr. Lincoln and looked up into what he described as Lincoln's "serious face." Rathvon recalls candidly that, although he listened "intently to every word the president uttered and heard it clearly," he explains, "boylike, I could not recall any of it afterwards." But he explains that if anyone said anything disparaging about "honest Abe," there would have been a "junior battle of Gettysburg." In the recording Rathvon speaks of Lincoln's speech allegorically "echoing through the hills."<ref name="William Rathvon Indiana History">{{cite news|title=William Rathvon Speech |url=https://indianahistory.org/wp-content/uploads/willaim-rathvon-speech-ca-1938.pdf |publisher=Indiana History |date=1938}}</ref><ref name="William Rathvon I Heard Lincoln">{{cite news|title=I heard Lincoln That Day |url=https://www.amazon.com/Heard-Lincoln-Narrated-William-Rathvon/dp/B005VR9U7Q |publisher=Indiana History}}</ref>