The Gettysburg Address is a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln , one of the best-known in American history . It was delivered by Lincoln during the American Civil War , on the afternoon of Thursday , November 19 , 1863 , at the dedication of the Soldiers ' National Cemetery in Gettysburg , Pennsylvania , four and a half months after the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg .
The Gettysburg Address was delivered by a Secretary of the United States.