Autograph letter signed by Edward Everett to General Edward David Townsend. Boston, Massachusetts, 4 November 1863. 2 pages, 8vo. 

WITH Vignetted bust-length portrait of Everett. CDV-sized Albumen, mounted to modern paper. N.p., n.d. Matted with Cut signature of Everett. N.p., n.d. 3 1/2 x 2 3/16 in., matted to 3 1/8 x 1 7/8 in. 

An important letter written by renowned orator Edward Everett to General Edward D. Townsend (1817 - 1893), during the preparation for the former's oration given at the consecration of the Gettysburg National Cemetery, famously preceding Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. While Everett's speech is now overshadowed by the latter, it provided essential context and battle details for the audience. As he remarks in the speech itself: "In order that we may comprehend, to their full extent, our obligations to the martyrs and surviving heroes of the Army of the Potomac, let us contemplate for a few moments the train of events which culminated in the battles of the first days of July."

While writing the speech, he wrote to General Townsend, the acting Adjutant General of the Army and the principal executive officer of the War Department, who worked closely with President Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton to ascertain details on specific troop movements. This letter highlights the extraordinary research conducted by Everett to fully comprehend the battle, which is evident in the lengthy oration. 

Everett was considered one of the greatest American orators of the antebellum and Civil War eras. During his formal oration, he compared the late battle to great battles of antiquity and found examples of reconciliation after other civil wars. 

The letter reads in full: "I am greatly indebted to you, for your favor of the 2d and the papers accompanying it. They enable me to fill up a gap, in the movements of our army, from the time it broke up from the Rappahannock, till General Meade took the Command, which I was not able to do, from any published account, which had fallen under my eye. I remain, dear Sir, with sincere thanks, very truly yours, Edward Everett." 

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