Wooster author’s book tells story of Gettysburg reunion
It was the largest gathering of Union and Confederate veterans ever held — 53,000 comrades and former foes reunited on the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg — and front-page news throughout the country.
“(It) will be talked about and written about as long as the American people boast of the dauntless courage of Gettysburg,” said Elsie Dorothea Tibbetts, who accompanied her Maine veteran father to the reunion in 1913. But as the years passed, it was all but forgotten.
In his new book, “The World Will Never See the Like: The Gettysburg Reunion of 1913,” John L. Hopkins of Wooster retrieves this event from history’s footnotes. Filled with detail from the archival records of the organizers, the daily stories filed by scores of reporters who covered it, and the letters, diaries and published accounts of the veterans who attended, it’s the story of the reunion’s genesis and planning, the obstacles overcome on the way to making it a reality, its place in the larger narrative of sectional reunion and reconciliation, and the individual stories of the veterans who attended.
There’s even a cameo appearance by a young cavalry officer named George S. Patton Jr.
“For thousands of Civil War veterans who attended the 1913 reunion, the battlefield was a place for personal remembrance, recollection of lost comrades and reconciliation with former foes. That personal connection with the battle shaped their experiences during the reunion. In this groundbreaking study, author John L. Hopkins deftly examines the reunion through the lens of the veterans within the context of society, politics and the national mood at the time,” said Scott L. Mingus Sr., author of “Flames Beyond Gettysburg.”
Hopkins served for 17 years as associate vice president for college relations and marketing at The College of Wooster before retiring in 2019. He is a communication and public relations professional with more than three decades of experience in strategic communication planning, issues management, media relations, crisis communication, news and feature writing, and team building in higher education, nonprofit and agency settings.
Born and raised in New York City, he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Williams College and was transplanted to the Midwest in the mid-’90s. Hopkins and his wife Apple have three grown daughters. This is his first book.
“The World Will Never See the Like: The Gettysburg Reunion of 1913” has been published by Savas Beatie in hardcover, e-book and audio book formats and may be purchased directly from the publisher, at select independent bookstores or on Amazon.
