Editing Gettysburg Address (section)

==Background==
[[File:Gettsyburginvitationpage2.jpg|thumb|The written invitation sent by [[David Wills (Gettysburg)|David Wills]], the primary organizer of the ceremonial dedication of [[Gettysburg National Cemetery|Soldiers' National Cemetery]], inviting Lincoln to speak at the event]]
[[File:Battle of Gettysburg.jpg|thumb|''[[A Harvest of Death]]'', a photo taken by [[Timothy H. O'Sullivan]] immediately following the [[Battle of Gettysburg]], showing [[Union army]] soldiers then laying dead on the Gettysburg battlefield]]
In inviting President Lincoln to speak at the ceremony, [[David Wills (Gettysburg)|David Wills]], a member of the committee for the November 19 [[Consecration of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg]], wrote, "It is the desire that, after the Oration, you, as Chief Executive of the nation, formally set apart these grounds to their sacred use by a few appropriate remarks."<ref name="wills">Wills, Garry. ''Lincoln at Gettysburg''. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992, pp. 24–25, 34–36.</ref>

On November 18, 1863, Lincoln departed [[Washington, D.C.]] for [[Gettysburg, Pennsylvania|Gettysburg]], accompanied by three of his cabinet members, [[William H. Seward|William Seward]], [[John Palmer Usher|John Usher]], and [[Montgomery Blair]], several foreign officials, his secretary [[John Nicolay]], and his assistant secretary, [[John Hay]]. During the trip, Lincoln told Hay that he felt weak. The following morning, on November 19, Lincoln mentioned to Nicolay that he felt dizzy. Hay noted during the speech that Lincoln's face had "a ghastly color" and that he was "sad, mournful, almost haggard". After the speech, when Lincoln boarded the 6:30pm train to return to Washington, D.C., he was feverish and weak with a severe headache. He was subsequently diagnosed with a mild case of [[smallpox]], which included a vesicular rash. Modern clinicians believe that Lincoln was likely in a [[Prodrome|prodromal]] period of smallpox when he delivered the Gettysburg Address.<ref>{{Cite journal
 | pmid = 17551612
| year = 2007
| last1 = Goldman
| first1 = A. S.
| title = Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg illness
| journal = Journal of Medical Biography
| volume = 15
| issue = 2
| pages = 104–110
| last2 = Schmalstieg
| first2 = F. C. Jr.
 | doi=10.1258/j.jmb.2007.06-14
| s2cid = 26513017
}}</ref>

Lincoln arrived in Gettysburg later that night, just as the city was beginning to fill with large crowds who had arrived to participate in it the following day. Lincoln spent the night in Wills' house, where a large crowd appeared, singing and wanting Lincoln to speak. Lincoln left Wills' house to meet the crowd, but did not deliver any formal remarks, instead speaking briefly and extemporaneously. The crowd then continued on to the house where Lincoln's [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[William Seward]] was staying that night. Seward spoke to crowd. Later that night, Lincoln wrote and briefly met with Seward before going to sleep around midnight.{{sfn|LaFantasie|1995|pp=77{{endash}}78}}