The 1880s battle over Gettysburg's first Confederate monument with Codie Eash

In this episode, Jake and Justin are joined by public historian Codie Eash of the Seminary Ridge Museum for a deep dive into one of the most contentious and misunderstood chapters in Gettysburg's postwar history: the fight over Confederate monuments on the battlefield.

What feels like a modern debate turns out to be anything but - Union and Confederate veterans arguing bitterly about memory, treason, and reconciliation as early as the 1880s.

The conversation centers on the first Confederate monument erected at Gettysburg, why it appeared when it did, and why Union veterans immediately pushed back. Along the way, Codie traces how battlefield monuments were negotiated, resisted, and weaponized - revealing that the "Lost Cause" argument didn't emerge quietly or uncontested, but sparked outrage from the very men who had fought the war.

This episode of Public History with Justin, Jake, and Molly explores:

• The first Confederate monument at Gettysburg—and why it caused an uproar
• Union veterans calling treason exactly what it was
• Bureaucracy, loopholes, and missing meeting minutes
• Why monument debates started long before the 21st century
• Bradley Tyler Johnson saying the quiet part out loud about the Lost Cause and power
• How Gettysburg became a battlefield for memory, not just history

Seminary Ridge Museum: https://www.seminaryridgemuseum.org/

Podcast Thumbnail: MD Center for History and Culture - 2nd MD Monument Group Portrait, October 28, 1894