A 69-year-old shoemaker came to the Battle of Gettysburg to "shoot the damned rebels"

In 1863, on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, a 69-year-old shoemaker took down his ancient musket and set out to shoot some rebels. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow John Burns' adventures in that historic battle, which made him famous across the nation and won the praise of Abraham Lincoln.

We'll also survey some wallabies and puzzle over some underlined 7s.

Show notes

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