Monday 2nd February 2015
After packing up and having a cup of coffee, we left with Judy to tend to Ming’s cat and then to have breakfast at i-Hop. We had a good breakfast, returned to Judy’s picked up the car, said our goodbyes and thank you’s and set off. Our target was to get to Gettysburg. This was about 160 miles away and we arrived there just after 2 pm.
The battlefield at Gettysburg is huge. There is a large Visitors Center. We bought tickets and briefly visited the museum which is well laid out and very interesting. Sadly, we did not have time to spend at this location and it needs to have time devoted to it. After the museum we attended the 3 pm movie show. The movie is excellent, it is not too long but sets the scene for the Civil War and what led up to the battle which took place on the site. It also explains clearly the ebb and flow of the battle. We also viewed the incredible cyclorama painting made by the French painter Paul Philippoteaux which was completed in 1884 and depicts the Pickett’s Charge in a huge 377 foot circular painting on canvas with a base which has terrain and items from the country side. The display is enhanced by a sound and light show which almost seems to put you in the center of the battle. It is very eerie.
After leaving the visitors center, we drove around the battlefield site and saw the massive expanse of ground which the battle covered. At every turn there are monuments to units and individuals who took part. The various key spots in the battle such as the Wheatfield, Big Round Top, Little Round Top, Seminary Ridge and Cemetery Ridge, etc are all marked. The day we were there, it was bitterly cold and there was a strong wind which did not improve matters. We saw the Eternal Light Peace Memorial which was unveiled in 1938 at the 75th anniversary reunion of soldiers from both sides. We ended up at the Soldiers National Cemetery which is the site on which the famous Gettysburg Address was made by President Lincoln. This address of 272 words and lasting about two minutes is, without doubt, one of the greatest speeches in the English language. In view of the fact that it followed a 2 hour oration from Edward Everett it is the case study for brevity and germane content. In the cemetery 3,500 Union soldiers were buried. The Confederate soldiers buried there were later moved to cemeteries in the South. Since the Civil War, 6,000 further soldiers who died in other conflicts have been buried there.
It is salutary to realize that this battle, the only one to be fought in Union territory, so very nearly went in favor of the Confederacy. It was only due to a catastrophic strategic decision by Gen. Lee and the awful Pickett’s Charge on the third day of the battle, which was almost as much of a carnage as the Charge of the Light Brigade. The 12,000 Confederate troops just marched in parade-ground formation into the guns of the Union troops. Lee had thought that he could deliver a final blow to the Union as he had managed some superiority in various skirmishes up until then. The numbers of casualties was as much as 5,000 in one hour. The total losses in the battle were 51,000 dead, wounded or missing. There is an aura which surrounds the whole place which is very sobering. It would be worth returning to see this site at more leisure and in more detail. The significance of this battle which really turned the tide in favor of the Union cannot be overstated. What America would look like if the battle had gone to the Confederacy, it is difficult to imagine.
The town of Gettysburg took generations to recover from the battle. After the troops withdrew, every house and building was turned into a hospital and every citizen pressed into service to tend to burying the dead and helping the wounded.
We left the battle site and drove towards Lancaster PA. On the road, we booked a room at a hotel called the Cork Factory Hotel which is in the center of the town. This is, as its name suggests, is an old cork factory with exposed brick and beams. It was great to get out of the cold and into the warm. Our room is comfortable and we had a very nice dinner in the hotel restaurant.
Then it was to bed.
After packing up and having a cup of coffee, we left with Judy to tend to Ming’s cat and then to have breakfast at i-Hop. We had a good breakfast, returned to Judy’s picked up the car, said our goodbyes and thank you’s and set off. Our target was to get to Gettysburg. This was about 160 miles away and we arrived there just after 2 pm.
The battlefield at Gettysburg is huge. There is a large Visitors Center. We bought tickets and briefly visited the museum which is well laid out and very interesting. Sadly, we did not have time to spend at this location and it needs to have time devoted to it. After the museum we attended the 3 pm movie show. The movie is excellent, it is not too long but sets the scene for the Civil War and what led up to the battle which took place on the site. It also explains clearly the ebb and flow of the battle. We also viewed the incredible cyclorama painting made by the French painter Paul Philippoteaux which was completed in 1884 and depicts the Pickett’s Charge in a huge 377 foot circular painting on canvas with a base which has terrain and items from the country side. The display is enhanced by a sound and light show which almost seems to put you in the center of the battle. It is very eerie.
After leaving the visitors center, we drove around the battlefield site and saw the massive expanse of ground which the battle covered. At every turn there are monuments to units and individuals who took part. The various key spots in the battle such as the Wheatfield, Big Round Top, Little Round Top, Seminary Ridge and Cemetery Ridge, etc are all marked. The day we were there, it was bitterly cold and there was a strong wind which did not improve matters. We saw the Eternal Light Peace Memorial which was unveiled in 1938 at the 75th anniversary reunion of soldiers from both sides. We ended up at the Soldiers National Cemetery which is the site on which the famous Gettysburg Address was made by President Lincoln. This address of 272 words and lasting about two minutes is, without doubt, one of the greatest speeches in the English language. In view of the fact that it followed a 2 hour oration from Edward Everett it is the case study for brevity and germane content. In the cemetery 3,500 Union soldiers were buried. The Confederate soldiers buried there were later moved to cemeteries in the South. Since the Civil War, 6,000 further soldiers who died in other conflicts have been buried there.
It is salutary to realize that this battle, the only one to be fought in Union territory, so very nearly went in favor of the Confederacy. It was only due to a catastrophic strategic decision by Gen. Lee and the awful Pickett’s Charge on the third day of the battle, which was almost as much of a carnage as the Charge of the Light Brigade. The 12,000 Confederate troops just marched in parade-ground formation into the guns of the Union troops. Lee had thought that he could deliver a final blow to the Union as he had managed some superiority in various skirmishes up until then. The numbers of casualties was as much as 5,000 in one hour. The total losses in the battle were 51,000 dead, wounded or missing. There is an aura which surrounds the whole place which is very sobering. It would be worth returning to see this site at more leisure and in more detail. The significance of this battle which really turned the tide in favor of the Union cannot be overstated. What America would look like if the battle had gone to the Confederacy, it is difficult to imagine.
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| A statue of Abraham Lincoln outside the Visitors' Center |
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| As above |
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| The text of the Gettysburg Address |
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| Some of the many, many monuments on the battlefield. |
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| One of the many distinctive fences which divide up the area |
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| The monument to the New York Cavalry |
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| This view gives an idea of the filed over which the battle was fought and the fact that it was cold and snowy when we were there made it even more desolate. |
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| One of the many cannons on the field |
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| General Meade |
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| The Pennsylvania Monument |
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| A marker which indicates where the Gettysburg Address was delivered. It was so cold that we decided not to go the 300 yards to the spot. |
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| Some of the graves of soldiers who died in more recent conflicts. |
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| The graves of the soldiers, mostly Union, who died in the 1863 battle. |
The town of Gettysburg took generations to recover from the battle. After the troops withdrew, every house and building was turned into a hospital and every citizen pressed into service to tend to burying the dead and helping the wounded.
We left the battle site and drove towards Lancaster PA. On the road, we booked a room at a hotel called the Cork Factory Hotel which is in the center of the town. This is, as its name suggests, is an old cork factory with exposed brick and beams. It was great to get out of the cold and into the warm. Our room is comfortable and we had a very nice dinner in the hotel restaurant.
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| The Cork Factory Hotel, Lancaster PA |
Then it was to bed.
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