Gettysburg Battlefield

Just as we have done for a couple of battlefields before, we began with a trip to the visitor center to purchase an audio tour. Loading the CD into the player and shifting the truck in gear, we listen as the narrator guides us through the countryside and describes the battle unfolding outside the window glass of the truck.

Along the roadways and peppered across the fields are monuments and markers identifying the place where lines were formed and firefights occurred or where leaders fell.

Gazing out on the peaceful beauty, it stands in stark contrast to the ugly fury of the battle described by the narrator. The three days of battle between two large and desperate armies raged within view of this small city with thousands of soldiers killed on both sides and surprisingly, resulted in only one civilian casualty by a stray bullet that killed a woman as she was baking bread in her sister's kitchen.

One of a very few eternal flame memorials, the Eternal Light Peace Memorial burns a flame of remembrance that we should never forget the terrible brother versus brother warfare that occurred here.

The battle began in the rolling hills north of town as advance forces from both sides ran into each other on Wednesday, July 1, 1863. For a more detailed analysis of the battle, you may want to check out Cory's blog at http://coragontheclown.blogspot.com/ . He really does a great job of describing battles!

As we drove around, there were many fetchers, like this low rock wall that were either preserved or restored to the way they were at the time of the battle.

Linda was more interested in the flowering trees and other signs of spring that were evident around town than in the historic details of the battlefield.

This is not a reenactor, but as we viewed this lone horse, we had some perspective to imagine the hundreds of Calvary, artillery and supply horses at work in this tremendous battle.

Driving along the audio tour, we encountered several tour buses full of people taking in the sights and story of the battle. We were glad to be able to tour in more of an 'off' season!

There were hundreds of antique cannon set up in locations where they were actually deployed in the battle.

The more modern guns were generally on the Union side.

Cory was good about describing the type and size of the artillery as we came upon them.

This very interesting artwork is the North Carolina Memorial. Dedicated in 1929, it is one of the earliest southern state memorials.

This memorial was crafted by Gutzon Borglum, the artist who created the massive monument at Mount Rushmore. It so happens that Linda is currently reading a book about the building of Mount Rushmore and it details the artist work on this very memorial as well. The artist was working in San Antonio at the time he created this memorial.

Here is Virginia's monuments that depicts Robert E. Lee upon "Traveler" as he surveys the battle.

This was around the center area of the battle where the tragic "Pickett's Charge" occurred.

This monument, "The Soldiers and Sailors of the Confederacy", was dedicated in 1965 to honor all the men who fought in the Confederate armies and navies.

This a view to the north from "Little Round Top" that was one of most critical areas of the battle.

The Clark boys are taking in the great amounts of information from the story boards that give details of the battle in this area. The monuments extend as far as the eye can see in the valley behind them.

This impressive monument was dedicated to the union defenders of "little round top" that held this position on the end of the fish hook line. The experts who study this battle believe that if the confederate attacks on this hilltop would have been successful, the South would have likely won the whole battle.

Looking down the gradual slope on one side, you can visualize the battle weary southern forces trudging uphill into union rifle fire raining down from above.

This view overlooks a rock formation called "Devil's Den" where the fighting was steady for two days as both sides exchanged the position several times and the whole area was covered by snipers from each side.

Cory caught a picture of Will on the monument on Llittle Round Top".

Even with the historic monuments and markers surrounding us, boys just can't pass a big pile of rocks without climbing...

....or a hole in the rocks without exploring.

As we ended our tour of the battlefield, Linda wanted to capture another glimpse of spring budding out on the trees. Perhaps as a symbol of life going on, by God's grace, long after the last cannon fires.