as i mentioned in my talk, emily roebling washington's wife was a truly remarkable woman. when he became very ill in the 1870s, the episode i just read to you was the beginning of his sickness. he got much, much sicker after that. in 1973 and 1875, he really thought that he would die. he didn't die. he remained in control of the bridge but emily was his extraordinary mn events is, helping him, going down to the bridge consulting with the other engineers, truck talking to the trustees, doing all the complicated politics that washington didn't like anyway himself and probably wouldn't have been particularly good at. she was an astonishing woman in her own right and he met her during the civil war which is also a fascinating period in washington's life so i thought i would tell you about their meeting. they met not long after the battle of gettysburg. that was in july 1863. in very late november and early december 1863, in orange county virginia, admiral mead made an attempt to strike at the right flank of the confederate army. of the old fortifications lee had prepared in th