Spring Vacation Part III (Gettysburg)

On Thursday May 5 Karen and I went to Gettysburg for the day. The Battle(s) of Gettysburg occurred over three days (July 1st to the 3rd) 1863. Over 50,000 Americans died in the battles on those three days. Many say that Gettysburg was a turning point in the Civil War. The Confederate army retreated to the south and never returned that far north, during the remaining years of the war. We have been to Gettysburg several times in the past, but not since there have been extensive restorations of the site. The original visitor's center has been replaced with an really nice facility that accommodates visitors and prominently displays artifacts and data related to the war. Since the 150 year anniversary is within a couple of years there is significant evidence of construction in and around Gettysburg, most likely to accommodate the anticipated crowds that will come for the next few years as the 150th years roll by.

The town of Gettysburg is in the midst of upgrading roads and walks. The battle field sites have had trees removed and other trees replanted to more closely demonstrate what the site might have looked like as these two great armies converged on this sleepy little town.

One of the impressive displays in a cylorama (377' long 42' high) oil painting that was complete in the late 1880's. It is easy to see at a glance the enormity of the battle as it is depicted, spread over the Gettysburg farm land. Portions of the map are displayed in various out door venues on the battle field showing what might have happen on the day of the battle at that location.



This is just a small section of the cyclorama

We went on the driving tour of the battle fields and stopped at most markers and tried to envision what it might have looked like when thousands of soldiers, cannons, supply wagons, horses were encamped in these locations. Early July, wool uniforms, having marched hundreds of miles and probably fought several battles. The sights, the sounds, the smells must have been over whelming. Today the site is dotted with hundreds of display cannons, rail and stone fences and commemorative monuments.

Some school group on a field trip are lined up like the soldiers of that time would have been staged to be prepared to march into combat. In the distance are little round top and big round top around which the Union army set up for the bulk of the battles. As it worked out the Confederate army pretty well won the first day of battle pushing the Union through the town of Gettysburg (early urban warfare) into what turned out to be the strategically best location for the Union to fight for the next two day. Ultimately the Union held their ground and the confederates retreated.

Although this is a peaceful looking shady road when it was originally a farm lane and was jammed full of confederate soldiers just inside the edge of the woods it must have been a mess.

This is Big Round top. It was nearly impossible to see the battle field from this place but it did give a high vantage point, an provided plenty of rock to hide behind.

The view below is from little round top where there was lots of intense fighting.

The site of this set of bolders (Devils Den) is reported to have been the site of some of the toughest and bloodiest fighting of the Civil War. The Confederates coming to this spot from the trees above and the fields to the right and the Union from below and from the left. really intense hand to hand combat occurred here for hours.

This Guy what an engineer credited with spotting a potential weakness in the Union line and notified command in time to block the route.

This is the site for Picket's Charge one of the costliest and final attacks of the Battle of Gettysburg. The scene below is about what the site might have looked like on that final day.

The panorama above is looking out from Little Round Top over the battle field from which the Confederates would have been coming. The shot below is looking up at Little Round Top from the Confederate side of the battle field. Of course on those couple of days in July 1863 those hills would have been covered with men in blue uniforms rows of cannons and death.