Gettysburg National Military Park is the very best of the Civil War sites run by the National Park Service. The newish visitors' center is a major improvement over the old one. We started with the introductory film, saw the Cyclorama (a painting of Pickett's Charge, 27 feet high and 359 feet in circumference), and then took a ranger tour of the peach orchard and wheat field. There we heard the story of the disobedient General Sickles acting against General Meade's orders.
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A section of the Cyclorama
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| General Lee's bed and field desk |
Thursday night the boys made a campfire. It brought back wonderful memories of family camping in the past.
Friday we returned to Gettysburg, roughly an hour's drive from Little Bennett Regional Campground, and went to another ranger talk. This one included a stop at Meade's headquarters in a little white house. This ranger was a stitch, always quick with a clever observation. To quote him, "On Seminary Ridge you get religion. On Cemetery Ridge you find out if it's true."
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| Headquarters of General Meade |
Later we split up for more ranger talks, with the guys going to Devil's Den and Little Round Top, while I chose two talks, one about Civil War soldiers and the other about medicine during the Civil War. That one included grisly but interesting details about amputation.
That evening we ate at the Dobbin House Tavern, which was a sudden walk back into the Revolutionary Period. It was extremely crowded and I thought it was too expensive for the light fare.
Earlier in the day in the visitor center computers I had been able to find several Civil War soldiers with our uncommon last name. One died in a Confederate prison camp and another was killed in one of the Civil War battles. It was getting dark after supper, but we made a last dash to the Pennsylvania Monument and were able to find some of these names, who are quite likely our relatives, on bronze plaques. It was so late that we had to use a cell phone for light.
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| Pennsylvania Monument |
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