Chapter 80. To establish a national military park at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
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CHAP. 80.— An Act To establish a national military park at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.February 11, 1895. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Gettysburg National Park. That the Secretary of War is hereby authorized to receive from the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association, a corporation chartered by the State of Pennsylvania, aAcceptance of land from Battlefield Memorial Association. deed of conveyance to the United States of all the lands belonging to said association, embracing about eight hundred acres, more or less, and being a considerable part of the battlefield of Gettysburg, together with all rights of way over avenues through said lands acquired by said association, and all improvements made by it in and upon the same.
Upon the due execution and delivery to the Secretary of War of such deed of conveyance, the Secretary of War is authorized to pay to the said Battlefield Memorial Association the sum of two thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary to discharge the debts of said association, the amount of such debts to be verified by the officers thereof, and the sum of two thousand dollars is hereby appropriatedAppropriation. out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated to meet and defray such charges.
Sec. 2. That as soon as the lands aforesaid shall be conveyed to theSecretary of War to take possession, etc. United States the Secretary of War shall take possession of the same, and such other lands on the battlefield as the United States have acquired, or shall hereafter acquire, by purchase or condemnation proceedings; and the lands aforesaid, shall be designated and known asDesignation. the “Gettysburg National Park.” Sec. 3. That the Gettysburg national park shall, subject to the supervisionCommissioners to be appointed. and direction of the Secretary of War, be in charge of the commissioners heretofore appointed by the Secretary of War for the location and acquisition of lands at Gettysburg, and their successors; the said commissioners shall have their office at Gettysburg, and while on duty shall be paid such compensation out of the appropriation providedCompensation. in this Act as the Secretary of War shall deem reasonable and just.
And it shall be the duty of the said commissioners, under theDuty. direction of the Secretary of War, to superintend the opening of such additional roads as may be necessary for the purposes of the park and for the improvement of the avenues heretofore laid out therein, and to properly mark the boundaries of the said park, and to ascertain and definitely mark the lines of battle of all troops engaged in the battle of Gettysburg, so far as the same shall fall within the limits of the park.
Sec. 4. That the Secretary of War is hereby authorized and directedAcquiring additional land, etc. to acquire, at such times and in such manner as he may deem best calculated to serve the public interest, such lands in the vicinity of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, not exceeding in area the parcels shown on the map prepared by Major-General Daniel E. Sickles, United States Army, and now on file in the office of the Secretary of War, which were occupied by the infantry, cavalry and artillery on the first, second and third days of duly, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and such other adjacent lands as he may deem necessary to preserve the important topographical features of the battlefield: *Provided*, That nothing contained*Proviso*.Rights not prejudiced. in this Act shall be deemed and held to prejudice the rights acquired by any State or by any military organization to the ground on which its monuments or markers are placed, nor the right of way to the same.
Sec. 5. That for the purpose of acquiring the lands designated andCommissioners to acquire lands designated. described in the foregoing section not already acquired and owned by the United States, and such other adjacent land as may be deemed necessary by the Secretary of War for the preservation and marking of the lines of battle of the Union and Confederate armies at Gettysburg, the Secretary of War is authorized to employ the services of the commissioners heretofore appointed by him for the location, who shall proceed, in conformity with his instructions and subject in all things to his approval, to acquire such lands by purchase, or by condemnation 652FIFTY-THIRD CONGRESS.
Sess. III. Ch. 80. 1895. proceedings, to be taken by the Attorney-General in behalf of the United States, in any case in which it shall be ascertained that the same can not be purchased at prices deemed reasonable and just by the said commissioners and approved by the Secretary of War. And such Condom nation proceedings.Vol. 25. p. 357.condemnation proceedings may be taken pursuant to the Act of Congress approved August first, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, regulating the condemnation of land for public uses, or the Joint Resolution authorizing the purchase or condemnation of land in the vicinity of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, approved Juno fifth, eighteen hundred *Ante*, p. 584.and ninety-four.
Sec. 6. That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of War to establishRegulations, etc. and enforce proper regulations for the custody, preservation, and care of the monuments now erected or which may be hereafter erected within the limits of the said national military park; and such rules shall provide for convenient access by visitors to all such monuments within the park, and the ground included therein, on such days and within such hours as may be designated and authorized by the Secretary of War.
Sec. 7. That if any person shall destroy, mutilate, deface, injure, orPenalty for destroying columns, etc. remove, except by permission of the Secretary of War, any column, statue, memorial structure, or work of art that shall be erected or placed upon the grounds of the park by lawful authority, or shall destroy or remove any fence, railing, inclosure, or other work for the protection or ornament of said park or any portion thereof, or shall destroy, cut, hack, bark, break down, or otherwise injure any tree, bush, or shrubbery that may be growing upon said park, or shall cut down or fell or remove any timber, battle relic, tree or trees, growing or being upon said park, or hunt within the limits of the park, or shall remove or destroy any breastworks, earthworks, walls, or other defenses or shelter or any part thereof constructed by the armies formerly engaged in the battles on the land or approaches to the park, or shall violate any regulation made and published by the Secretary of War for the government of visitors within the limits of said park, any person so offending and found guilty thereof, before any justice of the peace of the county in which the offense may be committed, shall, for each and every such offense, forfeit and pay a fine, in the discretion of the justice, according to the aggravation of the offense, of not less than five nor more than five hundred dollars, one-half for the use of the park and the other half to the informer, to be enforced and recovered before such justice in like manner as debts of like nature are now by law recoverable in the county where the offense may be committed.
Sec. 8. That the Secretary of War is hereby authorized and directedBronze tablet containing Lincoln’s address, etc. to cause to be made a suitable bronze tablet, containing on it the address delivered by Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, at Gettysburg on the nineteenth day of November, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, on the occasion of the dedication of the national cemetery at that place, and such tablet, having on it besides the address a Medallion.medallion likeness of President Lincoln, shall be erected on the most suitable site within the limits of said park, which said address was in the following words, to wit:
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on thisInscription. continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. “Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure, We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.
It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. “But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or FIFTY-THIRD CONGRESS. Sess. III. Chs. 80, 81. 1895.653 detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here; but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us; that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” And the sum of five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may beAppropriation for tablet and medallion. necessary, is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to pay the cost of said tablet and medallion and pedestal.
Sec. 9. That, to enable the Secretary of War to carry out the purposesAppropriation for expenses, etc. of this Act, including the purchase or condemnation of the land described in sections four and five of this Act, opening, improving, and repairing necessary roads and avenues, providing surveys and maps, suitably marking the boundaries of the park, and for the pay and expenses of the commissioners and their assistants, the sum of seventy-five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated; and all disbursements made under this Act shall require the approval of the Secretary of War, who shall make annual report of the same to Congress.
Approved, February 11, 1895. Chapter 81: Granting right of way to the Forest City and Sioux City Railroad Company through the Sioux Indian Reservation. Chapter 81 28 Stat. 653 1895-02-12 United States Government Publishing Office text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Digitization Vendor 2026-02-15 53 3 public
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Chapter 80
To establish a national military park at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Stat.28 Stat. 653
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