PART TWO: THE WAR DEPARTMENT YEARS
by Frederick W. Hawthorne
On May 22, 1895, the Board of Directors of the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association instructed its officers to make preparations to transfer all holdings of the organization to the War Department. Several months earlier, on February 11, Congressman Daniel E. Sickles' bill to establish the Gettysburg National Military Park had become law. The War Department promptly took steps to further develop the battlefield making it more accessible and to complete the process of marking the lines of battle. Their effort resulted in a further increase in visitation and the need for visitor services.
One of the chief goals of the War Department during their first twenty years of park control would be the removal of the rail and trolley lines that had scarred the battlefield's south end. In the case of the Battlefield Trolley, the right-of-way had caused quite a bit of disruption to key terrain areas on the south end of the field to the disgust of many veterans. A long court battle ensued that would ultimately result in the removal of this intrusion, although not until it had already gone out of business. (The excursion railroad would not be removed until the Second World War) Unfortunately for visitors, the removal of the trolley rails also removed a ready means of access to the field.
At the same time Gettysburg was in the process of transfer from GBMA to War Department control, several individuals were at work at various places in the nation on an invention that would again provide access on a much greater scale than trains and trolleys ever could. In Chicopee, Massachusetts, September of 1892, two bicycle makers--Charles and Frank Duryea successfully tested a gasoline-powered automobile. After two more years of testing they would be issued a U.S. patent for their development on June 11, 1895. In 1896 the brothers produced a total output of ten automobiles for public consumption. That same year, the man destined to eclipse their fame and drastically alter the face of guiding at Gettysburg, built his first automobile. At 2 A.M. on June 4, 1896, Henry Ford completed work on a similar machine at his workshop in Detroit, Michigan. Within twenty years his assembly-line factory would be turning out over a thousand cars a day, at a price the average family could readily afford. During the first decade of the Twentieth Century, automobile ownership went from abut 4,000 in 1900 to nearly 200,000 by 1910. By the time of the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg at least a half-million automobiles were in use in the nation.
The introduction of the automobile made the guiding business lucrative for the first time for large numbers of people. Trolley and train excursionists continued to come for some time into the new century to compete with the still thriving livery business. Now, privately-owned motor-vehicles were seen on the field in increasing numbers and the demand for increased guide services brought a new group or individuals onto the scene. Along with the new competition came a whole gamut of new problems. The high standards an knowledge of the early guides had now given way to a more uncertain quality. Many of the older guides, witnesses to the event they described, were now gone. The guide at the turn of the century, in many cases, had grown up since the war and had limited exposure to the first-hand accounts of veterans, whose visits by this time were becoming rarer and rarer as age thinned the ranks of the GAR.
Many good, well informed, knowledgeable guides still were active on the battlefield at this time but they were increasingly being joined by a group of men and boys with little or no knowledge of the battle. A solid knowledge of the basic facts, strategies, tactics, personalities, and stories of Gettysburg, had been replaced with a blend of fiction, myths, impossible stories, and outright falsehoods. Stories of guides gouging the visitor with whatever fee the market that day would bear became commonplace. These individuals began telling purely fabricated stories that seemed to capture the attention of an unsuspecting visitor. It became commonplace to cite statistics of the battle designed to fit the sympathies of the visitor in an effort to please rather than inform. Many times, colorful stories that were substituted for accurate accounts came simply from an effort to hide the guide's own ignorance of the basic facts, facts that were often as interesting as the made-up tale. One visitor to the field during this era, a Union veteran who had lost a leg in the battle, left an account of his experiences with the Gettysburg guides that underscored the low esteem to which this honorable service had sunk due to the activities of some of these individuals:
"I have heard some of the best descriptions given by the many guides and I have also heard some of the worst. Some of these guides, who have teams, have never made a historic study of the field and obtained what little they know of what took place there ... front a smattering of stories they picked up or from what came to them from their own conceptions, ideas, and exaggerated rumors. "
When one the these guides encountered a question that stumped him (apparently a frequent occurrence given the preparation of many of them) the observer noted a tactic used to cover up the lack of knowledge:
"Some of these men, if their listeners would ask them anything out of their knowledge, had a habit of pulling the reins to make the horse start off, and after they made the animal stop (following) a two-minute struggle, the question asked was forgotten in the absorption in new points of interest. One of the most important buildings still left on the field is the McPherson barn where in the first day's fight a Pennsylvania regiment held for a considerable time. After the battle dead men strewed the ground in the vicinity, and there was a pile of legs and arms several feet high from amputations ... Imagine my surprise a few years since when my guide drove past and said to the party in the carriage 'Ladies and Gentlemen, Look There! That is the McPherson Barn. It is known today as the McPherson barn! But why is it known to history, be ... ! Get up! Whoa!' The guide shouted to his horse, pulling on the lines. When he got the horses stopped we were away over by the railroad cut..."
An excellent example of the 'colorful story' tactic was also given by this veteran-observer in his account of these turn-of-the-century guides: "Another guide used to bring tears to the eyes of sympathetic women when he would conclude his description of the carnage in front of Little Round Top like this: 'And now, ladies and gentlemen, every year on the 3rd of July since that awful conflict, by some strange happening of nature, the same smoke of battle falls over this historic field, and the waters in the brooks turn red just like it was when Lee's veterans were turned back into their- own devastated South- broken, disheartened, and crushed, leaving the flower of their youth behind."
Obviously the activities of these individuals reflected poorly on the men who legitimately had prepared themselves with extensive factual knowledge of the battle. The visitor could not tell whether he was getting true fact or absolute fiction. Indeed, as the years passed, inevitably fictitious stories, often told, would take on the appearance of fact in the minds of many. Examples of this may be the popular tale of the positioning of the horse's hoofs on equestrian statues and the Wheatfield story of' "... the men without arms carrying the men without legs across the whirlpool of death." The very nature of' guiding required a visitor that looked upon their guide as an authority on the battle well worth contributing time and money to obtain. As more and more clearly unqualified individuals began to actively guide, the danger of' their practices became readily apparent to the qualified.
The first decade of the Twentieth Century would only serve to heighten the problems that had been plaguing guiding for some time. More automobiles meant more visitors, and more visitors required a greater number of individuals to guide them over the field. At the same time the older, more prominent guides such as Captain J. T. Long and Luther W. Minnigh, recognized authorities, were now reaching an age where they could no longer offer the services they did previously. A number of' locals began conducting parties around the field--several representing the second generation of the family to guide--such as the Shealers and the Holtzworths. Just prior to the Fiftieth Anniversary of the battle in 1913, it is estimated that perhaps a hundred individuals were guiding.
The advent of automotive travel also marked attempts by the borough council to control somewhat the activities of' these new businessmen. In the pre-auto days, control was undertaken through the licensing of hackmen at a rate of' $10 per year. The auto allowed non-hack guides to enter the market simply by flagging down a visitor's auto, explaining the service offered, negotiating a price, and proceeding with the tour. As the vehicle was owned by the visitor, no license or fee was paid.
It was the new manner of' solicitation that began to cause the city fathers some concern. Increasing numbers of' auto-borne visitors coming into town combined with an increasing number of guides resulted in an increasingly chaotic downtown scene. Virtually every car that drove through the square was being stopped in the middle of the street and accosted by eager guides. In order to control such activities, just prior to the 1913 commemoration, the Borough Council passed an ordinance restricting the solicitation methods used by guides. Specifically, guides were forbidden from stepping more than two feet from the curb in pursuit of a trip.
One of the first individuals prosecuted under the statute was J. A. Myrick as reported in the July 12, 1913 issue of the Gettysburg Times:
"It appears that on the morning of July 10, "Eddie" Gilbert, one of the local battlefield orators, was called into the square by the driver of an auto which came in Carlisle Street. While Mr. Gilbert was making a bargain with his man, the second car of the party came up and Mr. Myrick ran out from the pavement into the square without being summoned. He persuaded the driver of this car not to go over the field with Gilbert claiming, according to evidence presented at the hearing, that he had been the only guide since Captain Long's death. Furthermore Myrick explained the apparent differences in prices asking for the service by saying that he was a $3.00 man whereas Gilbert was worth only $2.00, the price asked by the latter. These remarks, along with others reflecting on Gilbert, evidently convinced the tourists that Myrick was selected and took charge of the two machines. "
As a result of this incident, Gilbert reported that Myrick had violated borough ordinance by stepping well out into the square when he approached the second car. Ultimately he was fined by the magistrate $10.85.
The bad blood engendered by this action spilled over within a week of' the magistrate's decision and again illustrated the activities that were becoming commonplace in the streets.
July 21, 1913 - Gettysburg Times
Guides Altercation
J. Warren Gilbert, on whom a warrant was served Saturday charging hint with assault and battery on J. A. Myrick, brought a countersuit against Myrick on a similar charge, and at a hearing before Squire Harnish on Saturday evening each gave bail in the sum of $100 for appearance at court. The story of the quarrel has to do with an automobile party which stopped affront of the Kalbfleisch Building on Chambersburg Street. Both guides were at the Eagle Hotel and crossed over to solicit the task of guiding the visitors over the field. On the way over Myrick, it is alleged, struck Gilbert with his elbow and Gilbert retaliated with his fists.
Visitors returning to the field were becoming painfully aware of the lack not only of decorum, but quality, among Gettysburg's newer guides. One such man, Henry Walker of Pittsburgh, felt compelled to write about his experience:
"The visitor arrives and is immediately surrounded by guides soliciting patronage. Some of these are good, but most of them are poor and illiterate. Some years, ago there was a guide named Captain Long who started out by giving the visitor a brief account of the events leading up to the battle and a short synopsis of its plan. He then followed with each day's fighting step by step, ending with a quite eloquent peroration at the Bloody Angle. When the visitor left he had not only a good idea of the battle but in addition had his patriotism stirred up to a considerable extent. Now the guide is illiterate and mixes the battle up. On my last visit with some friends the guide took us to the angle first instead of last, and mixed everything else up until, instead leaving well pleased and impressed, you leave with no clear comprehension of the event except that there was a lot of men killed. One of the principle items (the new guides tell)... the visitor being statistics on the cost monuments instead of what the monuments stand for. "
Walker finished by stating his opinion that the government should step in and license the guides, teach them what to say, how to say it, and how to show people Gettysburg. If they failed to do so he believed there was great danger that many of their inaccurate stories would be handed down to the future as fact.
Poor quality, over aggressive solicitation methods, open conflicts in the streets, and a tendency on the part of some guides to short change the visitor by giving a partial trip for full price, all were combining to give the town of Gettysburg a bad reputation at a time when the potential for a large tourist-based trade was becoming greater. The more reputable guides were also becoming concerned as their reputation was suffering because of these practices and problems.
As such incidents were becoming more and more commonplace, and were taking place in front of the eyes of innocent visitors to tile field it was inevitable that the Gettysburg Battlefield Park Commissioners, and ultimately the War Department, would decide that steps needed to be taken. Possibly spurred on by the reports of these actions by individual guides in the local papers, Colonel John P. Nicholson wrote to the Secretary of War on July 16 and July 23, 1913 concerning the situation and the need to take action. The Acting Secretary of War, Henry Breckinridge, visited Gettysburg prior to the anniversary and was made aware of the problem. He commented to Nicholson that perhaps they would be wise to look into licensing of guides as a tool, not only for regulating the conduct of the guides, but also the quality of their presentation. With Nicholson's letters in mid-July, Breckinridge apparently initiated action within the War Department.
Within a week of Nicholson's letters, Breckinridge commissioned a draft of a proposed bill asking for comments, suggestions, and perhaps most importantly, an opinion is to whether the bill would indeed address the specific problems that the Gettysburg park was facing.
The bill, as proposed by the War Department is quoted in full:
A BILL
To regulate guide service on National Military Parks, Memorial Battlefields, and National Monuments, under the administration of the Secretary of War; and to authorize the Secretary of War to establish and promulgate rules and regulations for government of said parties, etc.
Section 1 That the Secretary of War be and he is hereby authorized to establish and promulgate rules and regulations for the government of National Military Parks, Memorial Battlefields, and National Monuments under his administration including police, fire, traffic, guide, and other regulations.
Section 2 No person or persons shall be permitted to offer their services as or to act as guides, operate vehicles for transportation of passengers for hire, or conduct a private business, in or upon any National Military Park, Memorial Battlefield, or National Monument unless duly licensed under rules and regulations thereof, by the Commissioner or Superintendent of such park or battlefield or the Superintendent or Caretaker of such National Monument. Such licenses may be summarily revoked by said Commissioner, Superintendent, or Caretaker, at their discretion, subject to review and approval or disapproval by the Secretary of War.
Section 3 That violation of the foregoing Section 2, or of any rule or regulation established by authority of Section I hereof, by any person, in, on, traveling upon or through any such park, battlefield, or national monument, or any person offering or attempting to act as a guide without a license or after revocation of said license shall constitute a misdemeanor, punishable as provided by Section 45 of the act of March 4, 1909, Criminal Code (33 Stat., 1907).
Section 4 That the Commissioner, Superintendent, Officers, Caretakers, Guards, or Guardians of such parks, battlefields, or monuments, or any of them, are authorized to arrest on view forthwith any person engaged, and by properly issued legal warrant of arrest any person who may have been engaged in committing a misdemeanor under this act, and shall bring such person before any U.S. Commissioner or Judge of any District Court of the United States within either of the districts within which the park is situated and within which the misdemeanor has been committed for the purpose of holding him to answer for such misdemeanor and then and there shall make complaint in due form.
Nicholson and his fellow commissioners felt the proposed law was a good one and would deal with the Gettysburg guide problem. On August 19 he wrote Breckinridge that the bill was "...well drawn, essential, and will if enacted, be of great benefit to the traveling public." So certain were Nicholson and Breckinridge of the bill's passage that on August 28th Nicholson was instructed to begin drawing up a proper regulation for War Department approval.
Support within the Gettysburg Community and specifically among many guides was also in evidence. In early September, the Star and Sentinel printed Henry Walker's letter to the commissioners in full. In introducing it the editor mentioned that the conduct of the battlefield guides had been a concern for a number of years "That regulation of some sort is desirable has been the inside opinion for some time ..."
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