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Show LIBRARY OF CONGRESS UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY thirty-two ice-water drinking fountains were installed as well. The Utah delegates enjoyed an excellent location for their tents—near the 53,407 veterans and occupied camp headquarters, the big tent, and a field 278 acres. hospital.32 To care for the attendees, the campground included fourteen Red Cross stations and several regimental hospitals. “The magnitude of the undertaking would be difficult to grasp even if the encampment were for the entertainment of 50,000 men in the prime of life, but when one considers that the average age of the veterans is 72 years the task before those in charge of the camp is vastly more difficult.” Three hundred and fifty boy scouts stationed themselves throughout the camp to help answer the veterans’ questions and to guide them around. The camp’s extensive telephone system required “the stringing of 120 miles of wire” and made it possible to call anywhere in the country “reached by the telephone system.”33 Active duty military units, such as the Fifteenth U.S. Cavalry from Fort Myers,Virginia, and the Pennsylvania state police patrolled the tent city.34 The war department prepared for possible cold weather by purchasing forty thousand blankets at a cost of $100,000, but instead of cool weather during the celebration, veterans experienced extreme heat that covered Gettysburg “as a blanket.”35 Instead of twelve soldiers, eight veterans shared each tent in order to make them more comfortable. Upon arrival, each veteran was issued a cot, blankets, and a mess kit (with a plate, cup, knife, fork, and spoon). Each tent was equipped with two hand basins, a water bucket, candles, and two lanterns. Like other attendees, Utah veterans were required to carry everything they brought with them; no trunks were permitted in the camp. By giving veterans a place to sleep and meals to eat, the Army aimed to ensure that “the veterans will have nothing to do” except enjoy the reunion.36 The U.S. Army erected a tent city for the reunion that housed 32 “Map Showing Camp for Veterans,” Report of the Pennsylvania Commission, after page 281. Ibid. 34 “Veterans’ Vanguard Reaches Gettysburg,” Salt Lake Herald-Republican, June 27, 1913; “Hills of Gettysburg Mecca for Veterans,” Salt Lake Herald-Republican, June 23, 1913. 35 “Not Knave but Fool,” Salt Lake Herald-Republican, July 4, 1913. 36 “Hills of Gettysburg,” June 23, 1913. 33 274 |
