I've never seen the GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELDS, so I wandered the countryside in my air-conditioned car, during the mid-day heat and direct overhead sun on Saturday, as a break during the BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL (see previous post).
During the AMERICAN CIVIL WAR (July 1-3, 1863) an historic battle was fought in and around GETTYSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA. More casualties occurred during this battle than in the whole Civil War. It made my heart heavy to realize the devastation that took place on these grounds. I don't understand why we can't all just "get along" and abolish "war". Seriously.
A good friend of mine has promised to give me a detailed, historical tour one day, which I really look forward to.
The countryside is so beautiful around GETTYSBURG. And as you can see, many people hike and backpack. I also saw several groups of "SCOUTS" learning some history.
Every year on the same weekend as the BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL is the GETTYSBURG OUTDOOR ANTIQUE SHOW. This was their 48th year. It takes place all along the streets and it's VERY well attended. I still have one framed picture in my house from this event, that I attended back in the 1980's, when I was living in Lancaster County.
In my wanderings, I also found GETTYSBURG COLLEGE and drove through the campus. How pretty! It was their COMMENCEMENT WEEKEND, so the town was bustling from 3 major events.
The town of GETTYSBURG is quaint and looks as interesting as LITITZ (2 Blog Posts ago).
I think I need to plan some time to go back and stroll the streets, check out the shops and take that long overdue tour of the battlefields.
JOAN
I think I need to plan some time to go back and stroll the streets, check out the shops and take that long overdue tour of the battlefields.
JOAN
A battlefield tour is fascinating, Joan; it was a complex engagement lasting three days, in part because of shoes. The "Southern" army approached, in part, from the north, and the "Northern" army from the south. My first visit there, we tried out a compass hike the park rangers had just composed, so we spent a long but exciting day traversing the battlefield from one end to the other, climaxed by a climb up the face of Little Round Top. That, after trying to keep to a straight compass bearing through Devil's Den, not an easy task.
ReplyDeleteOh goodness - at such a young age too John. Have you also toured as an adult and if so, how was it different for you?
DeleteWhat do you mean in part because of shoes?? And what is Devil's Den, John?
I try to get to Gettysburg at least once or twice a year, Joan, often on my way home from the Waterford Festival. I appreciate better how terrible was the fighting there now than I did when I first visited. When you look across the fields from Cemetery Ridge and imagine Pickett's Charge, thousands of soldiers marching across a mile or more of open ground into the main body of the Union army and artillery. So they say, the job of the last row of marchers was to shoot anyone from the rows in front of them who turned and ran.
DeleteThe Confederate army was in desperate need of shoes, many men marching barefoot or with nothing but rags with which to wrap thier feet. So the story goes, some rebels spied a freight car or two full of shoes on a siding in Gettysburg as they passed through town heading north and west. The word went up the chain and men were sent back into town to get the shoes at which time they encountered the newly arrived elements of the Army of the Potomac. Nobody planned to fight at Gettysburg, really; the Army of Northern Virginia was hoping to get a good head start on the Union forces and eventually threaten Washington, DC, sufficiently that the Federal Government would sue for peace. Perhaps, that wasn't a likely scenario, but, in Lee's mind, it was the best hope the CSA had.
Devil's Den is a particularly onerous piece of ground, near the bases of the Round Tops, chock-a-block full of large boulders. It was a difficult piece of ground to traverse in a straight line and made for deadly cover for Confederate sharpshooters aiming for Union troops on LRT.
Wow you sure don't let any grass grow under your feet, do you John?! Thank you for taking the time to explain some (additional) history to me here. I just can't imagine walking barefoot nor navigating those boulders, NOR facing a zillion rifles. Horrible.
DeleteEach time that you visit, do you take a tour?
That depends how much time I have. I have a CD auto tour...tells you where to go, wandering sites one day at a time, with narration. The new Visitor's Center is quite good, museum, shop, and the Cyclorama, a 360 degree painting depicting Pickett's Charge on the third day.
DeleteVery interesting. I'm looking forward to planning a day or two there. As for now, I'm off to Europe tomorrow and meeting Andy and Linda on the 7th in Salzburg. What fun, eh?!
DeleteI first visited Gettysburg in 1963, on the 100th anniversary of the battle. It struck a deep chord with me because there were actual pictures, not just paintings or drawings of people who looked very much like we did then. I've returned several times as well as visited many other Civil and Revolutionary War battlefields. Must come from using Valley Forge as a playground.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure your personal guide knows much about the site. When the movie "Gettysburg" came out our family took a park service guided tour where the ranger drove our car. He took us to various sites in order of the three day events. The most enlightening part for me was Little around Top. I always looked down onto Devils Den and thought that was what it was all about. The movie and the ranger enlightened me to the deadly battle fought behind the edge of the rocks in the woods.
I hope you go again and extend your trip to visit nearby Antietam, the bloodiest single day battle in American history. I see the landscape here, Gettysburg, Balls Bluff and am angry at the generals who sent men to sure deaths.
You've visited some interesting places Marjie. I can't imagine looking at the actual pictures and to look at them at age 11, I can see why that has stayed with you all these years. You'll have to tell me more about your battlefield excursions over some wine during our VA Wine Tour later this summer!
DeleteI'm going to try to visit Gettysburg again this Fall and will now include Antietam in my itinerary, although the thought of that place is horrifying.
So much to see and learn about and so little time!
I forgot to mention, take the walking ghost tour. Interesting stories. Not sure what still exists but there was a craft beer brew pub just outside the town
Deletetoo.
Darn Marjie, you know your brew pubs, don't you?! I'll have to meet you there one day!!
DeleteAntietam is well worth a visit. It's shocking to view the sunken road there and think of the huge number of dead in just that one area, so many one could walk a good distance and never touch the ground, according to one account I read.
ReplyDeleteJohn, that's bone chilling. WHY?? WHY???
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DeleteThe sunken farm lane was used as fortifications but the Confederate soldiers were eventually overrun. They were trapped. Landscape Turned Red by Stephen Sears is an excellent book on the battle.
DeleteIf you want to read a bit about Gettysburg, there's Michael Shaara's "Killer Angels", historical fiction with a large dose of fact. Shelby Foote's "Stars in Their Courses" is an excellent, and not too long, account of the battle. Bruce Catton's "Glory Road" is a more detailed telling of the events leading from Fredericksburg to Gettysburg. Harry Pfanz, a former ranger at Gettysburg has a number of in depth works on the battle, including "The First Day" and "The Second Day". While movies never do as good a job as a well-written book, "Gettysburg" is, in my opinion, well worth watching, if, for no other reason, to see how the 20th Maine saved the day.
ReplyDeleteFantastic recommendations John. I should add all of these to my reading "wish-list", but if I had to pick one to read, since I don't want to OD on war, which would you say suits me best?
DeleteI'd suggest Killer Angels if you're only going to read one but it might lead to the Jeff Shaara series.
Delete"General H. Norman Schwarzkopf described The Killer Angels as "the best and most realistic historical novel about war that I have ever read." The filmmaker Ken Burns has mentioned the influence of the book in developing his interest in the Civil War and his subsequent production of the PBS series on the subject. The book has also been cited by Joss Whedon as the original inspiration for his science fiction/Western hybrid series Firefly."
I agree. Killer Angels; it was also the basis for the movie Gettysburg.
DeleteOn your way to or from Gettysburg, if you take Rt 30, you might want to check out The Christmas Haus, a shop with mostly German Christmas decorations in New Oxford, 10 to 15 miles east of Gettysburg.
ReplyDeleteOh that sounds wonderful John. Thanks.
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