“FOUR SCORE AND SEVEN YEARS AGO”
In Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, you can see the place where one of the
bloodiest battles of American history was fought. Some people say that
the Battle of Gettysburg was the turning point in the Civil War. General
George G. Meade and his Northern troops met General Robert E. Lee and
his Southern troops at Gettysburg. General Lee lost the battle after
three days. So many men were killed that people came from many parts of
the country to look for dead relatives on the battlefield. Today almost
one thousand unknown soldiers are buried in a graveyard there. President
Lincoln dedicated the cemetery with one of his most famous
speeches—the Gettysburg Address. It began “Four score and seven years
ago. . . .”
In Gettysburg, you can see statues of General Meade and General Lee as
well as the graves of the thousand unknown soldiers. And the large
Soldiers’ National Monument stands on the spot where Lincoln made his
famous speech.
This cemetery is called Gettysburg Military Park. It is where the Battle
of Gettysburg was fought.