THEY FOUGHT AT GETTYSBURG.
AFTER THE WAR, THEY SETTLED IN TABLE ROCK.
IN 1913, TWO OF THE GETTYSBURG VETS WENT TO A HUGE GATHERING THERE.
THE GREAT GETTYSBURG REUNION OF 1913
VETERANS FROM TABLE ROCK, NEBRASKA WERE THERE
others stayed behind
In the 50th anniversary year of the battle of Gettysburg, a huge reunion of Civil War veterans took place. Over 50,000 attended. Keep reading and you will find out who went from Table Rock.
an amazing video about the reunion
This awesome video gives you a good idea of what went on. It has a number of video clips strung together, starting a short one for this reunion and followed by another at a 75th reunion.
Amazing stuff.
BE SURE TO GO TO 4:21. There is a summary of the war deaths in various wars there that will give you goose bumps.
Amazing stuff.
BE SURE TO GO TO 4:21. There is a summary of the war deaths in various wars there that will give you goose bumps.
nebraska's participation: the state appropriates money for veterans' travel expensesThe State of Nebraska appropriated $4,000 to send its Gettysburg veterans to the reunion. It was combined with private donations and then split among those who were entitled to and wanted to go, coming out to about $25 each. This went toward their railroad fare. The U. S. government gave them lodging.
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the g.a.r. cleared the vets who would go
at least 6 of the 160 were from within 30 miles of table rock
Who was entitled to go? Apparently veterans who could demonstrate their presence at Gettysburg. The selection process was done by the Grand Army of the Republic, the organization of Civil War Veterans. On July 3, 1913, the Red Cloud (Nebraska) Chief published a list of those veterans who were going. That extensive list is at the bottom of this web page.
On that list. you will find 160 names. Of those, six are from the counties of Johnson, Pawnee, and Nemaha. (I didn't see any from Richardson County.) These six men:
W. T. Shorter - Table Rock 
Veterans arriving at the tent city
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red cloud chief
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MORE GETTYSBURG VETERANS AT TABLE ROCK
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This is not to say that there were no other surviving Gettysburg veterans in Table Rock or elsewhere. They have been physically unable to go, etc.
Indeed, there seem to have been at least two Gettysburg veterans at Table Rock. Their regiments were at Gettysburg during their terms of service. The first was Peter Gold, of the 153rd Pennsylvania Infantry. He was 73 years old by that time. The second was Charles Moe, a private in the 6th Ohio Cavalry. He was 74. Of the Table Rock men, Captain Jennings (Richard P. Jennings, not Richard O. as reported) was in the news enough to judge something of his character. It seems that he was a popular, good-nature, Confederate, probably the ONLY Confederate in Table Rock. He was 69 at the time of the reunion. He had enlisted in the 23rd Virginia Infantry, a private of less than 16 years old. At war's end, he was a captain. In between were battles like Second Manassas, Chancelorsville...and Gettysburg, where the unit lost 7% of its men. Jennings served during the duration of the war and records six times list him as wounded in action. Where did the three Table Rock men come to rest? Captain Jennings and W. T. Shorter are in the Table Rock Cemetery. Where is John Smith? That is still to be determined, but the guess would be here, because when the Table Rock Argus reported where he had been, he was simply called "Uncle John." |
Peter Gold
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July 11, 1913 Argus
Why would a man so familiar to the town move away in his old age? It's possible, but is it likely?
The Argus article also begs the question -- did W. T. Shorter go on the trip after all? Did he come back separately? The Argus in that year seems to have been in a shambles, with very little local news. There WAS a big article on the reunion, in the pre-formatted section of the paper. It's quite interesting and is also included below.
The Argus article also begs the question -- did W. T. Shorter go on the trip after all? Did he come back separately? The Argus in that year seems to have been in a shambles, with very little local news. There WAS a big article on the reunion, in the pre-formatted section of the paper. It's quite interesting and is also included below.
at the table rock cemetery
TOMBSTONES OF four veterans of
the battle of gettysburg
W. T. SHORTER
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july 11, 1913 table rock argus
recap of the reunion
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July 3, 1913 red cloud chief
the list of names
THE NAMES OF W. T. SHORTER AND JOHN SMITH ARE
NOT ON THE VETERANS MEMORIAL IN THE PARK
Our veterans memorial lists the names of our Civil War veterans. When the list was compiled in those days, a number of veterans' names were overlooked. None of these men's names are listed.
The American Legion has a possible project afoot to rehabilitate the memorial because many of the plaques are too sun damaged to be read. When that is done, they hope to add plaques for men like these.