Gettysburg Iced Earth The Glorious Burden

The following sample from Iced Earth's 2004 double album, "The Glorious Burden" is taken from "The Devil to Pay", the first part of a three part, 40 minute Heavy Metal and Symphonic combination on the second CD, which describes the events of 1st-3rd July 1863. The mpg sample, which is 955kb, will load automatically, but if you want to save it to your hard drive, right click and "save as" here

Attack! Attack! General Lee gives command,
They're overwhelmed the situation demands.
The Federals retreat, they rush out of town,
But they have fortified and saved the high ground.
The day ends, victory for the South.
Lee's as convinced as God's Will is profound.
They are invincible and their Cause is just.
But Longstreet is cautious and lacking in trust.
Across the way, the Union digs in.
The Roundtops, Cemetery Ridge and out to Cups Hill.
Their lines are strong, no denying they'll stay.
When the Confederates strike,
There'll be the Devil to pay.
This tragedy and what it brings,
All the devastation...

Sample from "The Glorious Burden" by Iced Earth

For stage by stage description of the Battle of Gettysburg (1-3 July 1863) see the word iQ website

General Robert E. Lee's farewell to the Army of Northern Virginia

"After four years of arduous service, marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources.
I need not tell the survivors of so many hard-fought battles who have remained steadfast to the last that I have consented to this result from no distrust of them; but feeling that valor and devotion could accomplish nothing that could compensate for the loss that would have attended the continuance of the contest, I determined to avoid the useless sacrifice of those whose past services have endeared them to their countrymen.
By the terms of the agreement, officers and men can return to their homes and remain until exchanged. You may take with you the satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of duty faithfully performed, and I earnestly pray that a merciful God will extend to you his blessing and protection.
With an unceasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to your country, and a grateful remembrance of your kind and generous consideration of myself, I bid you all an affectionate farewell."

"All that the South has ever desired was that the Union as established by our forefathers should be preserved and that the government as originally organized should be administered in purity and truth."
Robert Edward Lee

In an 1856 letter to his wife Mary, Lee called slavery "a moral and political evil".
According to the US Census of 1860, less than 4.8% of Southern whites owned slaves.

Federal President Lincoln

"I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the United States where it exists...."
Abraham Lincoln

Duke University professor John H. Franklin, an African-American historian, records that 3,000 free Negroes in New Orleans (1860 figure; 28% of all there) owned slaves.
There were at least six black-owned businesses in Louisiana alone with 65 or more slaves; one had 152.