Transcripts For CSPAN3 General Lees Headquarters In Gettysbu

E lees quarters. A Nonprofit Organization purchase the house and surrounding land in 2015. Of the with jim and gary trust about the properties history and restoration. This house is significant to the battle of gettysburg. One of the most, if not the most important battle of the civil war. It was the epicenter of the confederate effort. This is where robert e lee was. Hes was a building in which made crucial decisions during the course of those three fate three days of that battle. It literally determined the outcome of the battle. This property, when we bought it, looks nothing like it does right now. It was a Hotel Complex with a restaurant at 10 attached to it. Envision a 40 or 50 room 1950s style motel, with a restaurant saloon at hatch to it. All surrounding this building was i am standing in, it lees headquarters. His headquarters were hated and in plain sight. What we did to restore this site was get rid of the 20th century. That was to tear down and move out all of the debris that encompassed the hotel, or motel to be more precise. It. We had to restore we had to tear out Something Like 15 different structures, including the swimming poor and a whole bunch of gift shops. Layered with 20th century commercial establishment. We tour that stuff out and restored everything and it looks the way robert e. Lee would recognize it in the 19th century. American trust is an Heritage Land and preservation organization, with the emphasis on saving the battlefields from three different wards. The revolutionary war, the war of 1812 and of course the civil war. Saving the battlefields where the issues that created and defined this country were settled. We saved that land. In addition to that, we have a strong education component. We use that land as an educational platform, in outdoor platform to teach americans about their history. The National Park service is our number one partner. We work very closely with them they eitherthat cannot buy, for whatever reason, they cannot move fast enough or have the money. We can then buy the land. We restore the land, then we turn the land over to the National Park service to add to National Park Service Parks that re exist. We enhance their product, if you will. Gettysburg was not such a small town. There were churches, inks, to educational institutes and houses like this one got in countryside. You have rural living with people tending small farms. This is one of the 10 roads that lead into gettysburg, and one of the many houses where you will one occupants living life. The battle of gettysburg would descend upon this town and forever change it. As robert e lee arrived on the on 1863, that is one of the bloodiest days already. He comes upon a horrendous scene with hospital operations beginning. The union army in full flight. It made him happy that his site was winning, but he wouldve seen a scene of incredible not only humans, but to the terrain, to the structures, to the fences and debris all over the face. This house was owned by a very famous individuals, he is a radical republican congressman. The abolition movement. He purchased this house in trust for a widow named Mary Thompson. Thompson had eight children. By the time of the battle they had all grown to her she was living alone, probably with a small dog. Thought to have been here in the house as robert e lee and the Confederate Army descended upon it. There are not good accounts counts as to how she may have , or not interacted with general lee, but we know she is a part of the recoverable recovery of hospital operations. More not know if the lot than that. By the time robert e lee arrived on seminary ridge, his staff already selected this vicinity as the headquarters of his army. The army of northern virginia. Is aa headquarters is, very difficult question to answer. Is the headquarters where the general actually is . Tent is, is it where the general is conducting most of his work . Here is how it comes down. We know the general robert e lee use this house. We know he was a man was about the field and would have conducted numerous tasks on horseback in his tent and things like that. Incredibly, we do not have a great detailed account about what he did and where, other than we note use the house and his tent was summer outside the house. We know he also made critical decisions. The battle of gettysburg lasted three days. The first date that confederates win overwhelmingly. As the confederates buckled the union flanks, the union army pulls back to this ridge, seminary ridge. There are 25 cannons, thousands of troops lined up as the southerners pushed on either side. The union line in this particular area, just west of the house was particularly strong. Cannons are blazing away trying to push in this direction. Eventually, the flanks are so crumbling that this is the last position to hold. The battlet day of of gettysburg, this is the last union position. Army away the union from this ridge. The union retreats down what is now route 30. The southerners occupied this ridge at this point. Then they lay out their cannons on this ridge as well, it is a commanding ridge with a great view towards the town of gettysburg. Becauseall of this gettysburg is the greatest battle of the civil war and people wrote a lot about it. Historian whoarly collected people stories. There are maps made with the years of the battle. There is a map of the burials made. That actually shows a union and confederate soldier on this property itself. That testifies to the severity of the fight, and all of the accounts maps really bolster that. The postwar history of the house is interesting as well. Here you have one of numerous houses on the battlefield. Civil war battles are usually fought in peoples backyards. Whether it be in someones backyards are right outside of the house any town. War is fought in peoples houses and on their lands. This was no exception. Nobody thought of preserving all of every bit of every battlefield. You cannot do it. Became one of numerous places, right along a major route where people could stay and receive travel services. Area. Ame a tourist they had cabins and a full motel complex. During that time, there might have been things going on in the house to wear battlefield guides are taking people to the headquarters. People aboutling lees headquarters because there might have been a body house running out of the house. It theyalked about might explain why they could not go in. They do not want to expose their tourist to that. That is one of the many reasons. This is a northern victory in a union state. Maidsthey preserve the headquarters, maybe this was not as much as a priority. By the time people considered it a priority, it had become an expensive, booming Hotel Complex. When the Civil War Trust acquired lees headquarters, the former owners were generous the numerousd artifacts that they still had in their holdings from when this house served as general lees Headquarters Museum for eight decades. It was a very Popular Museum at the time. Right away, we wanted to identify everything that was associated with the house and deed those interns to the National Parks association. We wish there was more, but we are happy to have the few things we have. We have the original deed to the house. It says that that he is thadius purchased the house. Think the best artifacts would be a locked plate from a door that is known to remove be removed from Mary Thompsons road and taken across the to serve as a map table. Something without Robert Eva Lee and other Staff Members would use to conduct the battle of gettysburg. We not only have a locked plate from it, but a piece of the door was well documented from that. It matches up with another piece of the door that supposedly came from the door as well. This is what the park service and other Museum Curators do in trying to assure that it is correct. It is really cool. The door its self became so famous that it was removed from the headquarters, been used as a map table. It became of great interest to people. In the 19th and early 20th century, people were interested in mementos. The craze was bigger back then. People would crave a piece of the door robert e lee use. And sold top people. I guess i am glad Something Like that happen. I wish we had the entire door, but if not i will take a small piece of it. One of the most compelling pieces to come out of the collection associate it with the house is a pair of bullet riddled shutters. On there not shutters Mary Thompson house itself, but there are numerous outbuildings associated with this house. There are clearly bullet holes and they are really compelling when you see this visual example of the battle of gettysburg, that it affected peoples houses and. Went through their shutters imagine being a family at gettysburg at the time. We are really pleased to have a chair, which is a mid19th century painted chair thought to have been at the house at the time. It was not in the house during the fire. There is more than one chair. I believe there is a table and tablecloth not to have been here when robert e. Lee was here. We are fortunate to have any of this. Artifacts another 100 , and we open up to the National Park service to have and add to their collection anything they wanted. Deeding up beating to places like fort mchenry and cedar creek, other battlefields which could benefit from things and werellection traced to people who were connected with those places. Purchaseswar trust and preserves the Hallowed Ground where citizen soldiers made this country what it is today. Some of the major decisions of American History has been decided on battlefields. A lot help in elsewhere, but they were ultimately decided to military that three. The Civil War Trust preserves that land, where the soldier struggle. The prisons,ly in hospitals, forts, cemeteries, those places are very important. We say those places if there is also fighting at those laces. The Civil War Trust became interested in this property and historians had already not long known that we would be lucky to have the resources we have. The famous photographer arrived on the scene within two weeks of the battle of gettysburg and recorded six photos of her from this property. He recorded four of the houses staff, one of with Matthew Brady with the widow Mary Thompson. Doorhe went to a home next and took the most famous panoramic photo of the town of gettysburg, just as it appeared during the battle. He went across the road and recorded one of the most famous photos of the civil war. It is of three confederate prisoners standing dignified with some of the hills of gettysburg in the background. Not only a compelling story to tell with these photos, but a great ability to get down to the details of which stone in the house were where, and which features were actually part of the complex at the time. Stone houses not unlike a lot of other mid19th century stone houses in that vicinity. You have an idea of what these things look like inside and out. This particular house was gutted by an interior fire 120 years ago. It burned to almost a shell. Of the outdoor stones and indoor configurations are in the same place. The house itself, we do not have a good record of what it would like because of the fire. Afterward, this became part of a tourist complex. Hotel buildings were all around it. So house it self changed they could put a guest room upstairs in the house. We knew that there were no dormers at the time of the civil war. Our restoration plan focused on the exterior, furs. How could we remove these doors and put the right fence a thing, put the arbor on the front of the house, restored the doghouse. When it came to the interior, we acquired the house and it was a museum for eight decades. To remove the museum cases. Once we did that, we opened up the house into what it likely was at the time. A standard for room house. With the a duplex. There are two different fireplaces here. We have good reason to think, very good reason to think that it is in it original configuration. Reason it is important to save parts of land like we have here, is because it is American History. Americaher places where was created and defined. This is we are. The battlefield, whether you are talking about the declaration of independence, the United States constitution, the emancipation proclamation, documents that were huge and American History are useless unless they are ratified by winning wars. What these places do, what these pieces of ground do is, they howh American Public about to become better citizens. It teaches them about their history. These are where the great things happen. I personally believe that humans crave is sense of place. They want to be there, they want to be an authentic places where real, important things happened. Real, important things happen on these places, on these grounds. Americans can come to these places and stand where great offense happened, and be there. For more information about lees gettysburg headquarters and the work of the Civil War Trust, visit their website civil war. Org. Tonight on afterwards, journalist on her book. She is interviewed by the former chair of the rnc. Where it is unity come into play, and how does this book provide prescriptions for turning that important corner to recognize how important unity is . This book is a refresher of civics. I wrote it in a way, as you know, we needed little help. America is a great country, but we are a little bit confused i who we are and what we want. I think that is what we are wrestling with. Tos unity peace, we have break this down because the problem you saw in the last election is that half the country feels one way and another half feels another. Tonight at 9 00 eastern on afterwards. All weekend long, American History tv is joining our Comcast Cable partners to showcase the history of san jose california. To learn more about the cities on our current tour, visit cspan. Org cities tour. We continue with our look at the history of san jose. Are at the Mining Museum in santa clara, california