The first week in July this year will mark the 150th anniversary of the Battle at Gettsyburg in Pennsylvania. The battles, and there were several of them, occurred over a three day period from July 1 to July 3, 1863. It is a very moving and emotional experience to walk through this area and recount what happened here.
We stopped at the fairly new and very beautiful visitor's center which is operated by both the National Park Service and Friends of Gettysburg. You can tour the area by car and by foot on your own and there are several ranger led walks that will give you a nice overview of the site that are free of charge. However, if you want to see the movie or the museum that's located in the Visitor's Center, there is a charge as this is run and maintained by the Friends Association. You also can take narrated bus tours or hire your own tour guide for an additional price. They even have segway tours.
We opted for a combination of the two. We did see the movie and the museum which were excellent and filled with a large amount of great information. We then went to two of the ranger led programs. The first program was a cemetery tour where we learned that this was the first National Cemetery established for soldiers. Ironically, no Confederate soldiers are allowed to be buried in a National Cemetery.
The ranger did a wonderful job of setting the stage up to the battles and the need to bury the dead, and the selection of this site for the cemetery. She also spoke of the dedication of the cemetery on November 19, 1963. President Lincoln was not the key note speaker and his presence there was really just a gesture at the time. The keynote speaker was a great orator of the time and he spoke for over two hours. When Lincoln got up to speak, his speech was so short (272 words lasting roughly 2 minutes), that the photographer didn't even have a chance to set up his camera equipment and thus there are no pictures showing the President giving his address. The story goes that when President Lincoln sat down, the keynote speaker (Edward Everett) leaned over and said, "Mr. President, you said more in 2 minutes, than I did in two hours."
It is a beautiful cemetery and a fitting tribute to future generations of American soldiers.
The second ranger program was not as good. It was about the battle on July 3rd, Pickett's Charge. After reading the park brochure, seeing the movie and the Cyclorama, I thought it was a bit repetitive. Fred listened to the program while I wandered around the battlefield.
I ran across a very interesting individual.
This union soldier, walked up to the "line", looked around, posed for a few pictures and walked away.
It is a humbling experience to look across the fields and imagine what it must have been like to be a soldier or a townsfolk back then. The Park Service has done a great job preserving this site and telling the story for future generations to continue to learn and appreciate our history.
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