Draw the Sword is a Gettysburg Monument Project — in blog format.

This page explains what the Draw the Sword Gettysburg Monument Project is all about.

Writing almost fifty years after the end of the Civil War, Union General Joshua Chamberlain, who commanded the 20th Maine Regiment in the fighting on Little Round Top at Gettysburg, put into words the importance of this “deathless field:”

No chemistry of frost or rain, no overlaying mould of the season’s recurrent life and death, can ever separate from the soil of these consecrated fields the life-blood so deeply commingled and incorporate here. Ever henceforth under the rolling suns, when these hills are touched to splendor with the morning light, or smile a farewell to the lingering day, the flush that broods upon them shall be rich with a strange and crimson tone,–not of the earth, nor yet of the sky, but mediator and hostage between the two.

The monuments at Gettysburg were for the most part placed by the veterans who fought here — to honor their role in the battle and to remember the sacrifices of their comrades who died here. Gifted with the pen, Chamberlain wrote of “generations we know not of” coming to visit Gettysburg. We are those generations and it is in our hands the care of the battlefield and its monuments falls.

To that end, Draw the Sword exists to honor the sacrifices of the men of both armies who fought at Gettysburg by featuring each monument on the battlefield. Through this site the visitor can hopefully learn more about Gettysburg’s monuments — their locations, their symbolism, the men they represent.

Please visit the frequently asked questions page for more information about this website and the scope of the monument project.

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Ready to begin looking at the Project? Enter: the project main page here.