No one is better fitted to describe the Battle of Gettysburg and the
National Park established on its site than Mr. William C. Storrick. Born
a short distance from the field, he was seven years old at the time of
the battle. He remembers the flight from home as the army drew near; he
remembers also the return to a house which had been occupied by troops.
Still more distinctly he recalls going to Gettysburg on November 19,
standing with his hand clasped in his father’s, watching a doorway from
which the President of the United States was shortly to appear. He shook
hands with Lincoln, was awed by his great height, and listened eagerly
to his plain and simple address.
For more than twenty years Mr. Storrick was connected with the
Battlefield Commission, first in charge of the farms, then of the guide
service as well. The history of the campaign which forms a part of this
volume was prepared at the request of the War Department.
There is no corner of the field which Mr. Storrick does not know; there
is no detail of its history which he has not studied; there is no
disputed question of which he cannot give both sides. His clear and
uncontroversial account of the battle is but an outline of his store of
information upon which he plans to draw more largely in a volume of
greater scope.