Four score and seven years ago….. We all remember those words. Well, this is the battlefield they were written for. The story goes that Lincoln wrote the speech on the back of an envelope during the trip to Gettysburg. Rather, he took great pains in writing the speech. He composed it while in Washington and revised it in Gettysburg the night before the dedication.
The battle of Gettysburg lasted three days and when it was over 51,000 soldiers lay dead, wounded or missing. The wounded and dying were crowded into nearly every building. Most of the dead lay in hastily dug and inadequate graves; some had not been buried at all.
The situation so distressed Pennsylvania’s governor, Andrew Curtin, he commissioned a local attorney to purchase land for a proper burial ground for Union dead. Within four months the dead were reinterred on the 17 acres that became Gettysburg National Cemetery. Following the war the remains of 3,320 Confederate soldiers were removed from the battlefield to cemeteries in the South.
The battle at Gettysburg was almost an accident. The two armies, the Confederates led by Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Union by Gen. Gordon Meade, actually didn’t know where each other was until they reached here. The main battle opened on July 1 with the Confederates attacking Union troops on McPherson Ridge west of town. Though outnumbered, the Union held their position until afternoon, when they were driven back, south of town.
Day 2, July 2, both armies battled back and forth but neither was overwhelmingly successful.
July 3 saw Lee’s artillery opened a two-hour bombardment of the Federal lines but this did not soften up the Union defensive position. Some 12,000 Confederates advanced across open fields toward the Federal center in an attack known as “Pickett’s Charge”. The attack failed and cost Lee over 5,000 soldiers in one hour. The battle was over.
Eternal Light Peace Memorial – at 1 pm Maj Gen Robert E Rodes’ Confederates attacked from this hill, threatening Union forces on McPherson and Oak ridges. 75 years later, over 1,800 Civil War veterans helped dedicate this memorial to “Peace Eternal in a Nation United.”
North Carolina Memorial – Early in the day, the Confederate army positioned itself on high ground here along Seminary Ridge, through town, and north of Cemetery and Culp’s hills, and along Cemetery Ridge south to the Round Tops. The lines of both armies formed two parallel “fishhooks.”
Pennsylvania Memorial – Union artillery held the line alone here on Cemetery Ridge late in the day as Meade called for infantry from Culp’s Hill and other areas to strengthen and hold the center of the Union Hill.
High Water Mark/Copse of Trees – Late in the afternoon, on July 3, after a two-hour cannonade, some 7,000 Union soldiers posted around the Copse of Trees, The Angle, and the Brian Barn, repulsed the bulk of the 12,000-man “Pickett’s Charge” against the Federal center. This was the climatic moment of the battle. On July 4, Lee’s army began retreating.
We stopped at a local restaurant for lunch. It was an Irish pub called the Garryowen Irish Pub. The food was good but the service was a bit slow. I had fish and chips and Bill had a BBQ pork sandwich. It also sprinkled off and on all day. One day we will have to come back and spend some time walking around town.
We last came to Gettysburg in 2000 with the Donner party gang. Things have changed a lot since then. The visitor’s center is new, the car tour has changed, and some places have been allowed to return to a natural state. This time we had a CD instead of a tape so we didn't have to listen to a chipmunk. In 2000 our tape player didn't work real well and that is what it sounded like.
When we got home we had a light dinner, Weight Watcher's meals, and watched some of the new season of show. I hope you enjoy all the pictures.
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