USA History
Civil War Trivia
Explanation!
The principal speaker at the ceremonies dedicating the militarial burial ground on November 19, 1863, was Edward Everett, former governor of Massachusetts and famous orator. His speech lasted about two hours; Lincoln's lasted two minutes. Everett wrote Lincoln: "I should be glad, if I could flatter myself that I came as near the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes."