Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

We drove about 1.5 hours from Lancaster to Gettysburg in Pennsylvania and got parked in another RV park.  This time for three nights.  We had a rare occurrence where we had to park and set up in the rain. 

 

On our first day in Gettysburg, we started off at the Visitor's Center in a slight drizzle.  Putting my new raincoat from Bar Harbor, Maine to good use!

 

 

We bought tickets for $18.75/each which included a Film, Cyclorama & Museum.  We visited the museum first while we waited for the film to start. 

The Gettysburg Battlefield is the area of the July 1–3, 1863, military engagements of the Battle of Gettysburg within and around the borough of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Civil War handguns and rifles

While handguns were standard issue to cavalrymen, officers had to purchase their own.  No army regulation precluded the common soldier from carrying a handgun.  Many soldiers went to war carrying handguns from home.  Others may have purchased them or, more likely, picked one up from a battlefield.  

Confederate Infantryman Uniform

Union Infantryman Uniform

George Daniel Rosensteel (1884-1971)
Member of a pioneer Gettysburg family.  An authority on the battle, who in 1922 founded the Gettysburg National Museum to permanently record the battle and to house the Rosensteel collection.  The world's largest collection of Civil War relics.

Joseph Louis Rosensteel (1914-1964)
Gettysburg historian and scholar who designed the  first electric map in 1939 and the present enlarged and improved map in 1963 which have been viewed by thousands including the worlds fore most military leaders and historians.

Emily Minnick Rosensteel (1891-1982)
Wife of George and mother of Joseph.  She was their inspiration in the founding of the Gettysburg National Museum and the creation of the electric map.  Mrs. Rosensteel was an active participant in the management of both enterprises.

After we saw enough in the museum, we joined the National Park Ranger's Gettysburg History Hike (90 minutes).  It provided an overview of the battle with interesting information on cannons and their identifying features.

The intersection of roads in Gettysburg

The Ranger gave us lots of information about the battle but made it interesting.  He also told us about the cannons used and how to identify the various models.  There are many cannons in the park. 

I learned:

Infantry:  The infantry's job was to take and hold ground.

Artillery:  Artillery supported the infantry in attack and defense and tried to destroy the enemy's artillery.

Cavalry:  The main responsibility of the cavalry was to scout and screen, to act as the eyes and ears of the army.

  

I also learned from the Ranger that there were 630 cannon used at the Battle of Gettysburg—360 Union and 270 Confederate.  The same types of cannon were used by both armies.  They were 12 pounders, either howitzers or "Napoleons."  They could hurl a 12-pound iron ball nearly a mile and were deadly at short ranges, particularly when firing canister.  Other bronze cannon included 24 pounder howitzers and 6 pounder guns.

 

 

After the Park Ranger was finished with his presentation, I asked if he could point me in the direction of my Grandfather's grave.  I had some basic information about its location from the internet and he was able to get us to the correct area with just a short walk from our current location.

 

My Grandfather did not fight in the Civil War but is buried in Gettysburg National Cemetery due to his service in World War II.

 

 

 

In the top corner was a letter and number which helped us find the row (P) and then count over 79 graves to his grave at P-79.

My Mom's Father's grave in Gettysburg National Cemetery.

Surrounding area of the grave site

Friend to Friend Monument near my Grandfather's grave site.

Now that we found the grave, it was time to walk back to the Visitor's Center to view the Cyclorama.  On the walk back we passed the Abraham Lincoln Monument.

Kentucky honors her son, Abraham Lincoln, who delivered his immortal address as the site now marked by the Soldiers' Monument.

Soldier's National Monument

Lincoln Address Memorial

This monument commemorates Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863.
Inscribed on the two plaques is his speech.

Before feature films. Before IMAX. Before virtual reality. There was the cyclorama.

The must-see entertainment of the 1880s, cycloramas were the blockbuster movies of their time. Often depicting epic battles or historical places, the enormous, paintings-in-the-round transported viewers into the middle of the fray; surrounding them with a 360-degree, hand-painted canvas longer than a football field and higher than a four-story building.

Created by French artist Paul Philippoteaux in 1884, The Battle of Gettysburg Cyclorama depicts the fury of Pickett’s Charge during the decisive third day of fighting. Reviews of the time called it “marvelous,” “remarkable” and “must be seen.”

The painting survived years of exhibition, multiple moves, vandalism, fire, cuts and neglect before finding a home in Gettysburg in 1913. Purchased by the National Park Service in 1942, the painting underwent multiple restoration efforts–including a multimillion-dollar restoration from 2004-08–and now hangs as the centerpiece of the cyclorama building at the Museum & Visitor Center.

With its landscaped foreground and dramatic sound and lighting effects, the Battle of Gettysburg still creates the three-dimensional illusion of being in the midst of the battle. It is an immersive experience today’s visitors call “moving,” “riveting” and “breathtaking.”

And nearly 140 years later, it still “must be seen.”

It is hard to do it justice but here are my photos of the cyclorama.  Imagine viewing it in 360 degrees. 

Photos of soldiers.

Al hanging with Abe Lincoln

The next day we toured some of the battlefield by taking a driving tour.  There were SO many markers and monuments. 

 

 

Veterans of the Union and Confederate armies from across the nation converged on Gettysburg in 1938 - 75 years after the battle - for their last great reunion.  All Civil War veterans were invited with expenses paid, and nearly 2,000 attended.  The majority were in their 90s, and many were over 100.

On the warm evening of Sunday, July 3, they gathered here with others to dedicate a monument to peace and national unity, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered a dedication speech to a crowd estimated at 200,000.

The monument, designed by Paul Philippe Cret, is built of Alabama limestone and Maine granite, topped by a natural gas torch to be lit eternally to symbolize the unity of the United States.  

Eternal Light Peace Memorial

On the afternoon of
July 1st, 1863
The regiment charged to this point capturing two battle flags and a number of prisoners.
Erected by survivors
August 27, 1883

 

 

Railroad tracks in the area of the battlefield

Checking out more monuments next to the railroad tracks

On this spot at 10:30 AM, July 1, 1863, this regiment participated in the repulse of Davis' Mississippi brigade and the capture of a large portion of that command.  Took into the engagement 355 officers and men and by the war department record lost during the three days 217.

North Carolina
To the eternal glory of the North Carolina soldiers, who on this battlefield displayed heroism unsurpassed.  Sacrificing all in support of their cause.  Their valorous deeds will be enshrined in the hearts of men long after these transient memorials have crumbled into dust.

Thirty two North Carolina regiments were in action at Gettysburg July 1, 2, 3, 1863.  One confederate soldier in every four who fell here was a North Carolinian.

3rd Lieut. William B. Taylor was among the North Carolinians who took part in the attack here July 3.  He wrote to his parents, "our company went into the fight on the third day with 30 men rank and file....Our company came out with 8 men and myself...."  Taylor was paroled at the end of the war in 1865 at Appomattox Court House.

Tennessee Memorial

11th Mississippi Infantry Regiment Memorial

Virginia to her sons at Gettysburg

Virginia contributed over 19,000 men to the Army of Northern Virginia at Gettysburg, the largest contingent from the twelve Confederate states. Almost 4,500 of these – almost 1 out of 4 – became casualties, the second highest state total.

 

The monument stands 41 feet high, with the statue of Lee and Traveler standing 14 feet high. It is the largest of the Confederate monuments on the Gettysburg battlefield, a fitting tribute to the state that provided the largest contingent to the Army of Northern Virginia, its commander, and its name. Lee’s figure, stands atop the monument astride his favorite horse, Traveler. The statue was created by sculptor Frederick Sievers from photographs and life masks of the general. Sievers even went to Lexington, Virginia to study Traveler’s skeleton, preserved at Washington and Lee University. The total cost of the monument was $50,000.

The group represents various types who left civil occupations to join the Confederate Army.  Left to right; a professional man, a mechanic, an artist, a boy, a business man, a farmer, a youth.

The Storm of Battle (July 3, 1:00 PM-3:00 PM)
At 1:00 pm on July 3, approximately 150 Confederate cannon opened fire on Cemetery Ridge and Cemetery Hill, one mile to your front.  Federal artillery responded.  This thunderous bombardment, a prelude to the Confederate assault known as Pickett's Charge, lasted nearly two hours and was heard miles away.  At 3:00 pm, Confederate General Robert E. Lee watched his battle line, nearly 12,000 Confederate infantrymen, step out across these open fields toward Union troops on Cemetery Ridge.  Federal artillery and musketry pelted the advancing Southerners with lead and iron, killing and mangling hundreds, but they pressed forward into the storm of battle.  A few hundred Confederates reached Cemetery Ridge, clashing in hand-to-hand combat.  Within an hour it was over.  Nearly half of the 12,000 had fallen.  Pickett's Charge had failed. 

As the Confederates streamed back across the fields from their failed assault, Gen. Robert E. Lee rode out to meet them.  "It has been all my fault" he was heard to say.  The attack had cost his army nearly 6,000 casualties.

With the failure of "Pickett's Charge," Lee sensed his opportunity was gone.  His men were exhausted, and the number of dead, wounded, and missing was enormous.  They could no longer take the offensive.  The following day, July 4, Lee's men held their position on the ridge behind you, but the Federals did not attack.  That evening Lee gave the order to retreat.

The retreat began in a heavy rain that soaked the downcast Southern troops.  The high spirits that had carried them into Pennsylvania were dashed on the bloody, sodden fields of Gettysburg.

Lt. Thomas C. Holland commanded Company G, 28th Virginia Infantry.  Shouting, "Come one, boys," Holland broke through the Union line on Cemetery Ridge.  He fell moments later when a bullet pierced his cheek and exited the back of his head.  He was carried to a Union field hospital, and later recovered.

Of the 88 men in his company who took part in Pickett's Charge, 81 were listed as killed, wounded, or missing that night.  Fifty years after the battle, Holland returned to the spot where he fell and shook the hand of the Union soldier who had shot him.

The Pennsylvania Memorial way off in the distance.

By this point we were "monumented out" but should have gone over to the Pennsylvania Monument.

 

The Pennsylvania State Memorial is a monument in Gettysburg National Military Park that commemorates the 34,530 Pennsylvania soldiers who fought in the July 1 to 3, 1863 Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. The memorial stands along Cemetery Ridge, the Union battle line on July 2, 1863. Completed in 1914, it is the largest of the state monuments on the Gettysburg Battlefield.

Courtesy of Google Images

And that was how we spent our two days at Gettysburg National Military Park.  There was so much to see and even interesting to a non-war history person.  If you ever get near south central Pennsylvania it's worth a drive over to the park.

The campground was closing for the season so we needed to move on.  We're headed south to Virginia and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Thanks for following along!