Type: Exhibition caption

Detail: Robert McAllister’s Eleventh New Jersey came under heavy fire during the second day of fighting at Gettysburg and suffered severe casualties. Luckily for McAllister he was wounded early in the battle. Nurse Helen Gilson wrote encouragingly to his wife in this 1863 letter: "He has two wounds; one in the thigh one in the foot. They are both flesh wounds neither the bone or the artery were injured. Dr. Welling says there is no immediate danger."

Type: Exhibition case

Name: Gettysburg

Detail: Gettysburg, the most famous battle of the Civil War, was fought July 1 through 3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was the battle with the largest number of casualties in the Civil War and is often described as the war's turning point. New Jersey troops were heavily engaged at Gettysburg, while doctors, nurses, and other volunteers were among those who flocked to the battlefield to care for the wounded and dying.