By command of Major-General Meade.
S.Williams, A. A.-General.
It is fitting we should close this chapter with President Lincoln's brief yet comprehensive announcement to the country:
Washington, D. C., July 4, 1863, 10 A. M.
The President of the United States announces to the country, that the news from the Army of the Potomac, up to ten o'clock P. M. of the third, is such as to cover the army with the highest honor—to promise great success to the cause of the Union—and to claim the condolence of all for the many gallant fallen; and that for this he especially desires that on this day, "He whose will, not ours, should ever be done," be everywhere remembered and reverenced with the profoundest gratitude.
Abraham Lincoln.