Women’s Memorial-Evergreen Cemetery

The Gettysburg Women’s Memorial is a tribute to the women of Gettysburg who served and suffered because of the battle.

The Gettysburg Women’s Memorial is a tribute to the women of Gettysburg who served and suffered because of the battle. The woman depicted is Elizabeth Thorn, the wife of the caretaker of Evergreen Cemetery, who was away serving with the 138^th Pennsylvania Infantry during the Battle of Gettysburg. At the time, Thorn was six months pregnant and was caring for her three sons and elderly parents. She and her family were forced to flee their home in the gatehouse during the battle, and when they returned they found their food and possessions either strewn everywhere or stolen, and dead bodies lying unburied. As caretaker of the cemetery, Thorn was ordered to begin burying the bodies along with a detail of men. The men slipped away from their duty and only Thorn was left having to finish burying the 91 bodies herself. She gave birth to a daughter soon after, but the girl was never healthy and died at the age of 14. Thorn was convinced that the stress of the battle and of burying its victims affected her unborn daughter. Thorn’s husband returned safely after Appomattox, and the couple stayed at the cemetery until 1874.

The monument was created by Ron Tunison and was dedicated in 2002. Tunison created several other monuments at Gettysburg and also the bas reliefs on the Irish Brigade monument at Antietam.