GETTYSBURG, JULY 3, 1863
On Cemetary Ridge, during Pickett's Charge, Confederate Brigadier General
Lewis A. Armistead and Union Major General Winfield S. Hancock were on the opposite sides of a fierce battle. Both were Masonic Brothers, who in calmer times had shared Fraternal ties. As the battle raged, each lay wounded
within a few hundred yards of each other. Armistead's cries for help were heard by several Brothers in the Union ranks who came to the aid of thier Brother, though a confederate officer.
Brother Captain Henry Bingham, a Union Aid to Hancock came upon the mortally wounded Armistead, who asked Bingham to relay a message of regret and convey his personal effects, including a Masonic watch, to his old friend Hancock. Armistead died two days later without seeing Hancock. But, his message was received and the spirit of Brotherhood servived.
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