For almost a century and a half it stood against the elements, the last silent observer of the biggest of the American civil war .But now a tree that provided shelter for unionist soldiers during the battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, and meters from where Abraham Lincoln gave his monumental address four months later, has been destroyed in a thunderstorm. The giant honey locust tree was toppled by a gust of wind as rain and hail swept the Pennsylvania battle- field where 50,000 confederate and unionist soldiers died .Historians say that it was one of only four recognized “Witness tree” remaining. A spokeswoman for the Gettysburg national military park said the storm destroyed 80 per cent of the tree .But its legacy will live on.