Battle Lines The Official Newsletter of the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association

Spring 2007

Camp Letterman Update

An increasing amount of concentration of GBPA has been on the site of Camp Letterman, where thousands of Unionand Confederate wounded and dying were treated after the battle. Residential developers have plans for developing
the site directly north of the farm. There has been some cooperation with GBPA in hopes of locating and preserving any significant archeological sites and make them accessible to the public. Archeologists have uncovered indications that a portion of Letterman was actually on the Lady farm.

The Letterman cemetery remains elusive. It is believed that there could be remains, most likely Confederates, in the cemetery. Thus far, excavations on the Lady property and adjacent developer land have not turned up any remains or artifacts that point directly to where the cemetery was, though one dig on the Lady Farm did reveal what appears to have been a grave site occupied by a Union solider for two days before being removed to the national cemetery – and the empty greave was precisely where research indicated it would be.

The digging did turn up a misshapen bullet that was carefully removed from the ground without being touched, and which later tested positive for traces of human protein.

Other preservation organizations are taking an interest in Letterman, especially with the imminent threat of development. GBPA is in communication with them in hopes of increased cooperation among the parties.

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