Gettysburg Daily

Gettysburg Remembrance Day Parade 2008



A unit from the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment participated in the Gettysburg Remembrance Day Parade today. The 54th is the best known African-American regiment during the Civil War, and its exploits were featured in the movie Glory. This view was taken facing northwest at approximately 1:45 PM on Saturday, November 22, 2008.

This week marked the 145th anniversary of the dedication of the Soldiers National Cemetery, and President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Gettysburg hosts a Remembrance Day parade on the weekend closest to the anniversary of the cemetery dedication. But the annual parades didn’t begin until 1956, when the last surviving Union soldier, Albert Woolson, passed away. A monument was dedicated at Gettysburg to the memory of the Grand Army of the Republic. The monument dedication included a parade and ceremony, and this event, Remembrance Day, has taken place every year since the original dedication. Today it was cold and windy when the parade began at 1:00 PM. We took some pictures of the front of the parade.



The parade was delayed when one of the participants collapsed and had to be taken to the hospital. Here visitors lining the parade route are in the street wondering the cause of the hold up is. View facing northeast at approximately 1:45 PM on Saturday, November 22, 2008.



Finally the first group made its appearance, but well ahead of the rest of the parade. View facing northeast at approximately 1:45 PM on Saturday, November 22, 2008.



Here is the first musical group. We will continue their progress by video in the next picture. View is facing northeast at approximately 1:45 PM on Saturday, November 22, 2008.

A brief video clip of the first musical group. They are turning from Steinwehr Avenue to the road by the Old Cyclorama building which connects Steinwehr Avenue to the Taneytown Road. View facing northeast at approximately 1:45 PM on Saturday, November 22, 2008.



The first color guard that followed the first musical group. View facing northeast at approximately 1:45 PM on Saturday, November 22, 2008.



The Daughters of Union Veterans. View facing northwest at approximately 1:45 PM on Saturday, November 22, 2008.



The auxiliary group with the 54th Massachusetts. View is facing northwest at approximately 1:45 PM on Saturday, November 22, 2008.

This video clip shows a musical group, and a unit of Zouaves. The Zouaves modeled their uniforms after some French units who served in North Africa. During the American Civil War, there were approximately 70 Union Zouave Regiments, and 25 Confederate Zouave Regiments. View from the north facing northwest at approximately 1:45 PM on Saturday, November 22, 2008.



A few chose to ride during the parade instead of walk. View is facing west at approximately 1:45 PM on Saturday, November 22, 2008.



Then came the backbone of the army, the infantry. No army can take and hold any ground without the use of infantry. View facing west at approximately 1:45 PM on Saturday, November 22, 2008.



As Field Marshal Earl Wavell of the British Army said during World War II: “Let us be clear about three facts: First, all battles and all wars are won in the end by the infantryman. Secondly, the infantryman always bears the brunt. His casualties are heavier, he suffers greater extremes of discomfort and fatigue than the other arms. Thirdly, the art of the infantryman is less stereotyped and far harder to acquire in modern war than that of any other arm.” View facing west at approximately 1:45 PM on Saturday, November 22, 2008.

This video clip shows more United States infantry. Ernie Pyle said during World War II, “I love the infantry because they are the underdogs. They are the mud-rain-frost-and-wind boys. They have no comforts, and they even learn to live without the necessities. And in the end they are the guys that wars can’t be won without.” View facing west at approximately 1:45 PM on Saturday, November 22, 2008.



A unit of Berdan’s Sharpshooters made an appearance. Berdans’s Civil War era Sharpshooters formed two regiments, and consisted of companies from Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wisconsin. View facing west at approximately 1:45 PM on Saturday, November 22, 2008.