Wednesday May 11 (Gettysburg)

Three Days in July
Warning, this is a long blog today!
I was up fairly early to get some breakfast before we left for Gettysburg, we were on the road not too long after 8 am. It was very misty today but visibility was not too bad.



We travelled along a route that took us through the Catoctin Mountain Park, camp David is in this area although well tucked away from any roads, lol!! 

We had a good run apart from traveling through an area where they are carrying out a major repair of the surface of the road. 

We waited for some time and then seemed to travel a long way until we came across the cars waiting for their turn to use the road. There were a large number of trucks parked along the road.

We drove straight to the Gettysburg visitor Center and it was fairly busy with many school trips as well! Cheryl purchased the CDs which would talk us through the Auto Tour commentary of the battlefield. It was so much better than going on one of the tours provided as we were able to stop wherever we wanted to.


Although the battle of Gettysburg did not bring the war to an end, it was a very significant battle and was the closest the Confederate Army came to defeating the Federal (Union) Army and marching on Washington to take power. Some of the seemingly minor decisions taken here were pivotal in the final outcome.

We drove straight to the Gettysburg visitor Center and it was fairly busy with many school trips as well! Cheryl purchased the CDs which would talk us through the Auto Tour of the battlefield. 


It was so much better than going on one of the tours provided as we were able to stop wherever we wanted to.

Although the battle of Gettysburg did not bring the war to an end, it was a very significant battle and was the closest the Confederate Army came to defeating the Federal (Union) Army and marching on Washington to take power. Some of the seemingly minor decisions taken here were pivotal in the final outcome.

So many of the men who fought in the armies were good friends but with differing beliefs so ended up on opposing sides. Even families ended up this way!

One of the saddest stories was of two German brothers who came to the USA but went to different areas. Both signed up to fight but on opposing sides. 

They had not seen each other for many years but when one was captured, they finally met up. The other was killed in the fighting the next day!

I did not realise that General Lee was offered the command of the Federal Army by Lincoln but he declined.due to his beliefs. His family estate was taken over by the Federal Army during the war and is now the Arlington National Cemetery, I believe that the family home still stands.

It was such an interesting drive, listening to the CDs, which are very well done with many sound effects of evens that transpired at each stop. It was also very sobering to think of the 51,000 soldiers who were dead, wounded or missing.

I was amazed at the number and variety of monuments, both large and small, to the soldiers who fought there, as well as the number of canons that are around the area. 

It seems that every brigade and regiment had erected one in the area where they fought and, of course, many of the generals had statues erected in their memory. 


 Some other things of interest to me were the fences which could be moved around as well as the Bed and Breakfast and Hotel on the Battlefield! 

There is also one of a dog who followed her unit everywhere and would bark when action took place. She lived through Gettysburg, although could not be found at first and was found guarding the dead in her unit. Unfortunately, she was killed towards the end of the war.

We had to drive towards Gettysburg town to reach the first stop on the tour, McPherson Ridge, where the battle begin about 8 am on July 1, 1863. 

We travelled on to Oak Ridge passing the Eternal Light Memorial where, seventy five years later, Civil War veterans helped to dedicate it to "Peace Eternal in a Nation United"


The Union soldiers were stubborn but could not hold off the Confederate forces and had to fall back quite a long a to Cemetery Hill, at the end of day 1 the Confederate forces were well in charge.

The next part of the tour took us along what was the confederate lines on July 2, 1863. This ended at Warfield Ridge from where in the late afternoon, many assaults by the Confederates against the Union positions took place.
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We were about half way round the tour we were taking so we decided to break for lunch as the place we were going to opened at 11.30 and we wanted to be early. We drove back into Gettysburg town and arrived at the Dobbin House Tavern Gettysburg's oldest and most historic house built in 1776. 



We went downstairs to the Springhouse Tavern for our lunch. It really i like taking a step back in time and the servers are decked out in suitable clothing.



We had a lovely lunch form a varied and not too expensive menu. I did not have the wonderful french onion soup, a meal in itself as I wanted to save room for dessert, cherry cheesecake, it was scrumptious. 

A big bonus from me for the Tavern, they served Perrier water, not too many establishments do that!!

After our wonderful lunch, we went up by a different set of stairs and saw the spring that the house was built around. 


We also saw the crawl space where runaway slaves would hide on their way to freedom via the "Underground Railroad".

The house was built by the Rev Alexander Dobbin, an early frontier pioneer from Ireland, who had purchased 300 acres for a farm and their home. Their home was also used as a Classical School and had an excellent reputation.

Then it was back to resume our drive on the Auto tour.

The fighting on the afternoon and evening of July 2 had been tough and, for example, control of the Wheatfield, where the wheat was waiting to be cut, changed hands five times in three hours. 

4,000 dead and wounded were left on the ground and this field became a No Mans Land! 

As we followed the tour round the back of Little and Big Round Top the need to take the high ground was self evident, there was little cover for those attacking from below. 



The Confederates threw everything at the Union but by the end of July 2, having had been attacked and beaten back on both sides their line, the Union line held at East Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill a good distance from Warfield Ridge.



Various phrases have been used in the area from Little Round Top, these reflect the carnage that occurred. Such phrases as - Valley of Death, Bloody Creek, Slaughterhouse and Devil's Den, the latter appears on the map.


On July 3 1863, the fighting started early with an assault by the Confederates on Culp's Hill, this was followed by an artillery bombardment. At the same time as the latter, over to the east, a cavalry engagement took place and this stopped reinforcements for the Confederates in their tracks.

The final, and climactic act, of the afternoon took place. Pickett carried out Lee's order to charge across the mile of open ground at the Union forces on Cemetery Hill. There were 7,000 Union men in defence but the high ground proved too much for the 12,000 Confederate men, many of whom were left dead or wounded on the field.

The place where the attack foundered is called High Water Mark as it was just like a tide that reaches its high point and then falls back again. There is a large bronze book on the site in honour of the Confederate men who gave their lives. The next day, July 4, Lee retreated from Gettysburg blaming himself for what had occurred. 

As well as the 51,000 men who were left dead, wounded or missing, a huge number of horses died at Gettysburg.

In November, 1863, the Soldier's National Cemetery was dedicated and this is where President Lincoln delivered his, now famous, Gettysburg Address. Lincoln had followed the battle in the War Room in Washington waiting for telegraph messages to inform him of the state of the battle.

For those who are interested and, like me, do not know the details about this battle, this is a link with commentary that might be of interest.  Animated tour of Gettysburg Battle Field

We then started the drive back home and there was much for me to contemplate on after the day.