Nicholas Codori

While taking some family around the battlefield this afternoon, I spent some time talking about Pickett's Charge. Suddenly it occurred to me that Nicholas Codori was incredibly important in that Charge. Now, I've been studying the Civil War since I was 10 (only 10 years now....hahaha) but this idea never really occurred to me until today when I was looking at the battle through the eyes of my 10 year old brother. Hmmmm.

First, I'll give a little background on Nicholas and then explain why he played such an important role. He immigrated to the United States in 1828 with his brother George. Nicholas married Elizabeth Martin in 1835. And he died July 11, 1878. He lived at 44 York St in Gettysburg and was a local butcher. At some point (and I haven't been able to determine when) he purchased a farm on Emmitsburg Road which he used as a rental property. This is the property that plays an important role in the battle. This farm is on the eastern edge of Emmitsburg Road. The barn is very distinctive (although it is not the barn that was there at the time of the battle) in that it has three small cupola's on the top of the barn.

On July 3, 1863, the Confederate Army (mostly the men under Pickett) used the barn as an orientation device, with the ultimate goal being Cemetery Ridge. Pickett's Charge (of the Longstreet Assault...or the Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble Charge....or whatever name you would like to use.....I use Pickett's Charge only because that's what most people know it as) went right across the fields of his farm. And as far as we know, George Pickett watched the charge from the barn.

For all these years that I have been wandering the fields around his farm, I never really thought about how that farm impacted the Civil War. What if he had divided it up and had houses built on it? How would that have impacted the battle? What if he had left the trees grow up on the farm? How would that have impacted the battle? What if someone else had purchased the farm and dug up the fields in such a way as to make it impossible for the men to cross the fields? What if's. There are just so many unanswerable questions.

When Nicholas Codori died in 1878, he left behind a huge legacy....not just of himself, but of his property. To this day, we cannot study the battle without knowing and understanding who Nicholas was. Recently, I went to the St. Francis Xavier Church Cemetery on High Street in Gettysburg and located Nicholas' grave. I stopped by to thank him for allowing the men who struggled to use his property. I also thanked him for leaving behind a legacy that will probably never die.