Our Day at Gettysburg

Noah had been asking for quite some time if we could go to Gettysburg so we made that Day 2 of our Pennsylvania adventure. We started at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center, getting there just a few minutes after opening because I had heard it gets crazy busy in the summer. What a great museum! I was overwhelmed with the amount of artifacts they have!

Hangin' with our favorite!

The cyclorama they have on display here is amazing! It was painted by the French artist Paul Philippoteaux who came to the United States in 1879 and was hired to paint this monumental work for a special display in Chicago. After all this time it has still survived. He spent several weeks on the battlefield in 1882, observing details and making sketches, and then had several panoramic photographs made to help him recall the landscape with accuracy. He also interviewed a number of veterans of the battle who helped with suggestions on how to depict the chaos of battle.

We spent a couple hours in the museum, looking at all the exhibits and displays and reading about the men and women who were directly involved and impacted by this terrible battle.

While we were in the museum, I heard over the loudspeaker that Abraham Lincoln needed fresh recruits. Those interested could sign up at the information desk so of course Noah and I headed over to make sure Noah enlisted. When President Lincoln calls, one must respond!

After showing that he was qualified to serve, including the existence of at least two fingers on each hand, he was sworn in...

received his gun...

and was off to drill practice.

And then there was a battle!

Thankfully he survived! It was a highlight of our day and we both learned a lot.

Since we were so close, we walked to Meade's headquarters but just ended up taking pictures since the building was closed.

After a quick stop for lunch, we purchased a battlefield auto tour CD at the gift shop and we were on our way to explore the battlefield. We have visited Gettysburg a few times since we've lived here but I have never done as comprehensive a visit as Noah and I did. We hit every area, got out of the car and looked at memorials and monuments, climbed on rocks, hiked up towers, everything! We went from about 1:00 and ended our day a little after 7:00 - a truly long, LONG afternoon but it was absolutely amazing and I'm so glad we did it! The following are just a few of the many, many pictures I took throughout our drive.
McPherson Ridge.

McPherson barn.

The monument where General John Reynolds (Union) fell. He arrived on the battlefield around 10 a.m. and within minutes was felled by a Confederate bullet.

The Eternal Light Peace Memorial commemorating the 1913 Gettysburg reunion for the 50th anniversary of the battle.

We climbed an observation tower to get a birds eye view of Oak Ridge. It was such a beautiful clear day that we could see all the way to the city of Gettysburg.

A memorial to Sallie, the beloved mascot of the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteers. She was guarding the dead and wounded of her regiment at Oak Ridge, where she was found, tired and hungry, after the battle.

The North Carolina Memorial. North Carolina provided 14,147 men to the Army of Northern Virginia at Gettysburg, the second largest state contingent after Virginia. It lost over 6,000 casualties, the largest number of casualties at Gettysburg from any Confederate state.

The Virginia Memorial. General Robert E. Lee is mounted upon his horse Traveller, with seven Confederate soldiers beneath him. Their eyes survey the field before them, the site of the famous infantry assault of Pickett's charge.

Whenever we visit Gettysburg, the kids love to reenact Pickett's charge so Noah stuck to the tradition.

We couldn't have asked for a better day to be walking around this battlefield - beautiful skies and no humidity!

Monument to Lieutenant General James Longstreet (Confederate).

Time for a little break! We grabbed a picture of the monument to Major General William Wells (Union)...

and then Noah did a little exploring in the woods.

Little Round Top.

The General Warren statue. He was the Chief Engineer of the Army of the Potomac. He definitely has an amazing view!

Noah atop the 44th New York "castle".

Climbing rocks at Devil's Den.

In an iconic Civil War photograph, a dead Confederate soldier lies behind a rock barricade at Devil's Den. It was revealed later that the photographers had dragged his body more than 40 yards to create a more poignant image.

Noah in that exact spot in the photo.

Different memorials as we drove by the Wheatfield and the Peach Orchard.

The Trostle Barn where you can still see the cannonball hole.

The 1st Minnesota Monument.

The beautiful Pennsylvania Memorial.

Spanglers Spring was a tranquil little spot.

"Maryland's Tribute to her Loyal Sons".

Another observation tower to climb at Culps Hill.

The monument to Brigadier General George Greene (Union).

And we found a memorial to Ohio soldiers.

The monument to Major General Henry Slocum (Union). It is situated at one of the prettiest spots on the battlefield, East Cemetery Hill.

I grabbed a few "picturesque" shots.

The High Water Mark, one of the most famous spots of the battlefield.

The copse of trees.

The Union's view of Pickett's charge.

The famous General Meade statue in the background. General Meade is seated on his horse, Old Baldy. He is looking out over the field where Pickett's charge was turned back. It is a mile across the field where the statue of Robert E. Lee looks back at him.

The monument to the 42nd New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, the "Tammany Regiment". This is a bronze statue of the Delaware Indian Chief Tammany standing in front of a teepee. Tammany was a friend to colonists in the early days of America and became the symbol for the powerful New York City political hall that raised the regiment.

Our final stop of the day - the National Cemetery, the final resting place for more than 3,500 Union soldiers killed in the Battle of Gettysburg. It was here, at the cemetery's dedication on November 19, 1863, that President Lincoln rose to deliver "a few appropriate remarks", now known as the Gettysburg Address.

The Lincoln Speech Memorial is unique - it commemorates the speech Lincoln gave here and not the man himself. The flag in the pictures is courtesy of three Utah guys who were taking pictures at the same time. I thought it made the picture extra special.

The cemetery's sections are divided by state; smaller states closest to the monument and larger states along the outer portions.

The Soldiers' National Monument which honors the fallen soldiers.

The marker where Jennie Wade is buried, "the only civilian killed in the battle of Gettysburg".

Placed all along the walkway are metal plaques that contain excerpts from Theodore O'Hara's 1847 poem 'The Bivouac of the Dead', originally written to honor Kentuckians who fell at the battle of Buena Vista in the Mexican War. However, his words truly fit all the American soldiers at rest in this cemetery.

Noah's drawing to commemorate our day!