The 1913 Gettysburg reunion was the largest meeting of Civil War veterans after the war. Yet genealogists and other researchers have never had access to a list of those who attended.

I am very pleased to report that I have discovered what I believe are the original, unpublished registers that were signed by the veterans at the 1913 reunion. In most cases, the registers include the veteran’s name, company, regiment, home town, and tent number within the Great Encampment.

Sadly, as unofficial and voluntary log books, these registers identify only a small portion (about 6000) of the veterans who attended. However, additional research has led me to State financial records, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and other original records which, altogether, identify approximately 28,000 of the 54,000 veterans who attended the reunion. Additional records are actively being collected through a variety of State, Federal, and private sources.

So, while I may never be able to compile a complete list of the veterans who attended, I’m off to a great start and I expect the list to grow as additional sources are collected.

Bob Velke

[Note: A previous call for help transcribing these records went to more than 15,000 Gettysburg junkies on Facebook and met with a disappointing number of (ok, ZERO) volunteers.  So I’ve withdrawn that proposal and intend to work on the project myself, perhaps eventually publishing a book on the subject.  I’ll continue to post progress updates below, however, for those who may be interested.]