{"id":16909,"date":"2022-05-25T04:11:03","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T11:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=16909"},"modified":"2022-05-25T04:11:03","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T11:11:03","slug":"gettysburg-national-military-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2022\/05\/25\/gettysburg-national-military-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Gettysburg National Military Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was an epic battle, fought over just three days, with monstrous casualties incurred by both sides due to a deadly combination of improved weaponry and Napoleonic tactics.\u00a0 Muskets transitioned from smoothbores to rifled barrels (greatly enhancing accuracy); military formations (not yet adopted to the quantum leap forward in accuracy) fought in shoulder-to-shoulder advancing columns.\u00a0 Both sides held their fire until the Union and Confederate armies were at can’t-miss distances.\u00a0 It was brutal.\u00a0 Gettysburg suffered 51,000 casualties.\u00a0 Eleven general officers were killed.\u00a0 It was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, but it was turning point.\u00a0 General Robert E. Lee, the previously invincible and charismatic hero of the South, had been soundly defeated.\u00a0 General George Meade, appointed to command the Union troops just days before the battle, achieved a tactical victory regarded by his superiors as a strategic failure (Lincoln later said Meade held the Confederate Army in the palm of his hand but refused to close his fist).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Perhaps best known for Lincoln’s Gettysburg address given months after the fighting (delivered at the dedication of a cemetery), Gettysburg is a town, a free National Military Park, and hallowed ground.\u00a0 But first, read these 275 words…275 of the most elegant words ever assembled by anyone:<\/p>\n

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.<\/em><\/p>\n

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.<\/em><\/p>\n

Elegant, eloquent, and to the point:\u00a0 Lincoln spoke for a short two minutes after a two-hour speech by a former Harvard College president.\u00a0 Lincoln wrote the words himself (not, as rumor would have us believe, on the back of an envelope during the train ride to Gettysburg, but carefully crafted by Lincoln in the White House and then polished upon his arrival in Gettysburg).\u00a0 No speechwriters, no opinion surveys, no communications experts as would be the case today.\u00a0 I wish that in a nation of 330 million people we could find another Lincoln (rather than the continuing cascade of clowns we’ve had to choose from in the last several elections).<\/p>\n

I first visited Gettysburg 60 years ago as a little kid and I was a little kid again on this visit.\u00a0 Gettysburg was way more wonderful than I remembered but still the same.\u00a0 \u00a0 The Visitor Center is new and better equipped.\u00a0 There are more monuments (approximately 1,350 such monuments; you will see just a few in this blog).\u00a0 The battlefield remains the same.\u00a0 It is impressive.\u00a0 You need to see it.<\/p>\n

\"\"
There are many exhibits in the Gettysburg Visitor Center, including two large displays of Union and Confederate sidearms.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You can take your car or motorcycle through Gettysburg National Military Park on a self-guided tour, you can take a bus tour, or you can hire a guide.\u00a0 Any of these approaches are good.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Cannon line a typical road through the Gettysburg battlefield.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Battle of Gettysburg occurred over three days (July 1 to July 3, 1863) that changed the calculus of the Civil War.\u00a0 Lee took his Army of Northern Virginia north, hoping to continue an unbroken string of Confederate victories, so sure of his likely success that he ignored the tactical advice of his generals.\u00a0 \u00a0He prevailed on the first day, but flawed tactics and a combination of Union brilliance and resolve turned the tide and the War.\u00a0 It culminated in what has become known as Pickett’s Charge, a Confederate uphill advance across a mile of open land into unrelenting Union cannon fire.\u00a0\u00a0The Union artillery had the reach (two miles of direct fire; there were no forward observers adjusting fire as we have now).\u00a0 The cannons were deadly, and then troops closed to small arms distance, and then finally to hand-to-hand combat.\u00a0 More than 12,000 of Pickett’s men marched into the Union killing fields; nearly half were foolishly lost.\u00a0 It was the turning point for everything: The South’s success, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the Civil War.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The views are magnificent. We were aided by an overcast day, with diffuse lighting that made for improved photography.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Numerous state militia fought at Gettysburg.\u00a0 Each of the states and their militia erected monuments in the years following the Civil War.\u00a0 \u00a0The New York monuments were always the largest, at least until New York completed the last of its statues and structures.\u00a0 Pennsylvania, waiting and watching patiently, then built a monument that dwarfed New York’s best efforts.\u00a0 But all are impressive.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The 91st Pennsylvania Infantry monument on Little Round Top near Cemetery Ridge.\u00a0 This area was the high ground held by the Union.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The two armies had been maneuvering near each other, and as is usually the case in such things, first contact was accidental.\u00a0 The Confederate forces initially prevailed and their leader, General Robert E. Lee, assumed this success would continue.\u00a0 Lee’s subordinate’s told him it would not, as they did not hold the high ground.\u00a0 Lee pressed ahead anyway, suffering a defeat that marked a turning point (one of many) in the Civil War.<\/p>\n

\"\"
A view from Little Round Top, looking down into the killing fields of Pickett’s Charge.\u00a0 \u00a0 12,000 men marched forward; more than half were lost in a single afternoon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gettysburg National Military Park is a photographer’s dream, and many battlefield areas present dramatic photo ops.\u00a0 The monuments are impressive and more than a few offer several ways to frame a photo.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The 44th and 12th New York Infantry monument on Little Round Top at the south end of Cemetery Ridge, framing the field of battle. This is a massive and impressive monument.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Artillery lines in Gettysburg National Military Park. Many of the cannon are original items and saw actual use in the Battle of Gettysburg.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
When the ammunition ran out, it was hand to hand fighting at Gettysburg.\u00a0 This is the 72nd Pennsylvania Infantry monument on Cemetery Ridge.\u00a0 The 72nd Pennsylvania Infantry played a key role in defeating the Confederate advance known as Pickett’s Charge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was up early the next morning before we left Gettysburg, and I returned to the battlefield to capture a better photo or two of the State of Pennsylvania monument.\u00a0 It’s the largest in Gettysburg National Military Park. I was so impressed by it the day before I forgot to get a photo.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The State of Pennsylvania’s monument, at 110 feet tall, is the tallest of 1350 monuments on the Gettysburg battlefield. You can climb an interior spiral staircase to see the entire battlefield from this monument.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The beautiful 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry monument framing the State of Pennsylvania monument. The tree trunk beneath the horse was necessary to support the statue’s weight. Interestingly, the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry did not take part in the fighting at Gettysburg, but instead guarded supply lines in Maryland.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The country roads leading to Gettysburg, and the riding in Pennsylvania, are way beyond just being good.\u00a0 Several rides to Gettysburg are memorable, and everything on the battlefield is accessible via an extensive network of narrow lanes.\u00a0 Take your time when navigating the Park’s interior battlefield lanes; this is an area best taken in at lower speeds.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A 180-degree panoramic view from Little Round Top. Click on this image to see a larger version.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Getting to Gettysburg is straightforward.\u00a0 From the south take Interstate 83 north and State Route 116 east.\u00a0 From the east or west you can ride Interstate 76 and then pick up any of the numbered state routes heading south.\u00a0 If you are coming from points southwest, Maryland is not too far away and the riding through Catoctin Mountain Park on Maryland’s State Route 77 is some of the best you’ll ever find.<\/p>\n

The best kept secrets at Gettysburg?\u00a0 On the battlefield, it’s Neill Avenue, also known as the Lost Avenue.\u00a0 It’s the least visited area of Gettysburg National Military Park, and probably the most original with regard to how the battlefield looked on those three fateful days in July 1863.\u00a0 As for good places to eat, my vote is for The Blue and Gray Bar and Grill in downtown Gettysburg (just off the square in the center of town; try their chili) and Mr. G’s Ice Cream just a block away.\u00a0 \u00a0Both are excellent.<\/p>\n

\n

Never miss an ExNotes blog; sign up here for free:<\/p>\n