Restoration Of Gen. Lee’s Headquarters At Gettysburg Completed Preservation advocates join Trust to announce successful conclusion of an unprecedented campaign to preserve, restore and interpret Gen Robert E. Lee’s headquarters during the Battle of Gettysburg.
GETTYSBURG, PA.—During ceremonies this morning on Seminary Ridge, the Civil War Trust joined with local preservation advo cates and hundreds of supporters to announce the successful conclusion of a national campaign to preserve, restore and interpret the four-acre
headquarters site of Gen. Robert E. Lee during the Battle of Gettysburg The effort protects the small stone house – known as the Mary Thompson House – and adjacent lands that served as a combat command center during one of the most decisive bat tles in American history. “Today, we can truly celebrate o of the Civil War Trust’s keystone successes in the last 30 years,” sa Trust President James Lighthizer. “General Lee’s Headquarters is an educational and commemorative site on par with the most historic landmarks in the nation, and its restoration is an accomplishment in which every individual and organization involved should take pride.” For more than a year, the Trust has worked diligently to rehabilita the home, return the landscape to i Civil War appearance, and install a new interpretive walking trail on the property. In addition to servin
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as the nerve center of Lee’s army during the Battle of Gettysburg, the land also witnessed severe fighting on July 1, 1863. “As the National Park Service celebrates its centennial, we are looking ahead to the next century of preservation and discovery,” noted Gettysburg National Military Park Superintendent Ed Clark. “A historic place of the caliber of Lee’s Headquarters, vulnerable to development for 150 years, underscores the critical need for public-private partner ships to ensure these memorials will
be available for future generations Americans.” To return the headquarters to its wartime appearance, 10 modern structures were removed, as well as several post-war additions to the Thompson House. A historically appropriate cedar shingle roof was als added to the home, though two original beams dating to 1834 remain in place. Relying on post-war surveys by Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren (a civil engineer who served at Gettysburg) and period photographs of the home and grounds, historic contours were added back to the site, as well as a garden, fencing and dog house. The interpretive trail, produced in conjunction with Civil War Trails, explains the dramatic events at the headquarters from July 1-3, 1863. Twenty-four apple trees will augment the site in spring 2017 to recreate a historic orchard, in addition to six hardwoods that are already in place. The planting is part of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground’s Living Legacy Project, which aims to plant a tree for each the 620,000 soldiers who died during the Civil War. “We are grateful to play an important part in the restoration of t iconic land,” said Journey Chairman David Williams. “As we work
to raise awareness for all the sites along the Journey’s National Heritage Area, the Lee’s Headquarters grounds and trail create a must-see destination at one of our country’s defining battlefields.” To realize this vision, the Civil
Ken Raia, George Rabbai, and Jonat of the Civil War Trust in front of
2014 to acquire and restore the Le Headquarters site. Major contributions and grants came from FedEx,
the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program the Pennsylvania Historical and Mu seum Commission, Karen and Paul Isaac, Ira and Diana Riklis, Dick Gilder, Rupert Johnson, Civil War Trust Chairman Emeritus John Nau and wife Bobbie, and Frank and Jud
was raised with donations from ove 11,000 Trust members. Eventually, Lee’s Headquarters will be donated to the National Pa Service for incorporation into the existing military park. On this an other stewardship projects, the Tr
and the National Park Service work closely with the Gettysburg Foundation— the nonprofit partner that
hubert join Garry Adelman ary Thompson House. (Joe
owns and operates the museum and visitor center at Gettysburg Nation al Military Park and pursues a broa
mission including land, monument and artifact preservation, as well battlefield rehabilitation. Replace with: “Just remember thi site one year ago and how it has be preserved, restored and returned to its 1863 appearance,” said Foundation Chairman Robert Kinsley in his remarks. “It now has the ambiance of the day that Gen. Robert E. Lee chose it as his headquarters.” Rev. Michael Cooper-White, president of the Gettysburg Lutheran Theological Seminary, spoke to the importance of connecting Gettysburg’s history to other local attra
tions: “In addition to the battlefi projects like this shine a spotligh all of Gettysburg’s robust offering
and foster an appreciation for th community as a whole.” Some of the heaviest fighting July 1, 1863, took place around t home of 69-year-old widow Mary Thompson, a building co-owned by U.S. Congressman and abolitionist leader Thaddeus Stevens. Retreati Federal soldiers formed a new lin on Seminary Ridge, delivering rak ing canister fire into the advanc Confederate line. The Union stand on the property delayed, but coul not halt, the Confederate tide; t southerners ultimately seized the ridge and the outnumbered Federal fell back through town. That evening Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee arrived on the fiel and established his headquarters on the Thompson property. From here he dispatched and received couriers relaying the unfolding events elsewhere on the Gettysbur battlefield. On this land, Lee
Widow Thompson House Tim Quigley, Descendant of Mary Thompson. (Joe Bordonaro)