Civil War 150th anniversary: Is Gettysburg America's most tragic little town?

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Susan, you're right: Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln thought Tad might die in 1863, as Willie had the previous year, but Tad ended up surviving his father (the boy died at the age of 18). And as you may know, a couple of Baltimore physicians say it was actually smallpox that afflicted Tad and the president, whose valet died of it a few months later.
On another subject altogether, three days after this story came out, Gettysburg National Military Park acquired 95 acres that was once farmland where the armies fought on the first day of the battle. It took almost 20 years to negotiate this acquisition; many observers thought it would never happen. The land will be restored to the way it looked just before that clash on July 1, 1863.

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