Gettysburg National Military Park

Gettysburg is a revered name in the United States as it represents a tipping point where the Confederate States of America came within 100 yards of winning the Civil War. The Rebels missed an opportunity to deal a severe blow to the North on their home turf, and the Yankees made several huge errors in judgement, but as history reveals, the Union prevailed that day, beginning the reunification of the country.

Our day began at the Visitor Center.

Where we purchased tickets to see a film narrated by Morgan Freeman and produced by the History Channel that gave us an overview of the state of the country at the time of the Civil War as well as after. The ticket also permitted us to view the Cyclorama. Now, we were a bit suspicious of the presentation based on the name, but the exhibit was spectacular. The Cyclorama is a painting done in 1884 by a French artist named Philippoteaux. The unique aspect of this painting is that it is completely circular as well as being concave. In other words, the viewer stands in the center of a 360 degree painting that verticality resembles the exterior surface of a glazed donut. That gives a perfect sense of depth and perspective. The painting places the viewer in the center of the final day of battle.

The Battle of Gettysburg actually took place over 3 days in July, 1863: the First, Second, and Third. The South missed an opportunity to win the battle on the first day, when they had overwhelming forces opposing the 2,500 Union troops stationed there. They had another opportunity to win the Battle on the third day when Pickett's Charge actually breached the Union defenses. Unfortunately, they out-ran their support and found themselves surrounded just 100 yards from a defensible position.

Armed with a fresh understanding of the Battle, we boarded a tour bus for the second part of the ticket package. Our tour guide was a wealth of information, providing so much detail that we felt we were part of the Battle. The tour bus took us around the battleground over some two and a half hours, stopping at several places for pictures. The tour guide kept up a constant commentary about the various landmarks we were seeing. One of the most memorable points of interest was a small mountain called Little Round Top, that sits adjacent to Big Round Top. Little Round Top is the more defensible area in that it is less forested than Big Round Top and still provides a good view of the battlefield. Union General Warren is credited with maintaining control of Little Round Top during a Confederate attack.

The Union victory at Gettysburg was a result of a simple military fact: Hold the High Ground.

General Lee had hidden his advance into Pennsylvania by marching through the Blue Ridge Mountains seen in the distance. His army controlled the open ground seen in the near distance and that is where General Lee launched his final attack on July 3, 1863. His army broke from the trees in a line a mile wide, and marched in parade order toward the Union defenses in the military style of the day. Union General Meade had anticipated an attack on the center of his line, and positioned his forces in such a way that they could close the ends of the line, forcing the Confederate forces into a narrow column where they could be destroyed from three sides. It was a monumental blunder on Lee's part, and an astute move by General Meade.

At Little Round Top, our tour guide pointed out troop movements and described the landmarks we were viewing.

Our time was growing short, and Sasha was back at the motorhome, 40 miles away in Harrisburg, so we elected to have a late lunch or early dinner (linner?) at the Springhouse Tavern in the historic district of Gettysburg. Dating from 1776, the Tavern has had several personalities over the years, but has been restored to it's original state and converted into two separate restaurants. The Springhouse Tavern is in the basement, reached by a narrow, low-ceiling set of stairs.

Minimally lit with candles at the tables and a few lights at the hostess podium, it has a perfect ambience that reflects its origins. The servers are dressed in period costumes, and the menu items are spelled in the olde english manner. Very cool!

After a hearty repast, the server was kind enough to take a photo of the four of us: Ed and Rosemary, Donna and Grumpy (who appears to leaning a bit to leeward!)

We enjoyed our half-day in Gettysburg so much that we are considering changing our travel plans to allow us to spend a bit longer there. We'll see. We are booked into Harrisburg until next week, with a number of things to do, so we'll see…..