Gettysburg

As promised, Lee and I visited Gettysburg today. We started off with the new visitor center, which is ever so much larger than the old one, and beautifully done. For those who have not visited Gettysburg since its opening in 2008, come visit. The exhibits are very well done, and I learned quite a bit more this time about the Gettysburg battle and its significance in the Civil War as a whole.

What has always struck me most about Gettysburg is the overwhelming sense of hallowed ground. The battle grounds are part of the National Park Service, and the NPS has tried to keep the lands as they were when the battles were fought. This means they are largely agricultural, although some of the battles were fought in the town itself.  Much of the artillery has been restored and left in place, as in the photo below.

Roads crisscross the battle fields, with signs where the most significant battles were fought.  Many visitors buy or rent audio self-guided tours, as we did today.   What struck me the most when I first came to Gettysburg, and which still has a significant impact on me, are the 1300 monuments that are scattered around the park.  Those monuments honor primarily the regiments that fought so hard, marking the spots where they fought.   Through the following photographs I attempt to show the extent of these monuments, in fields, on hillsides, and sometimes next to farm houses:

Most of these monuments were funded by either the states from which the regiments came, or by the regiments themselves.  Many were installed not long after the end of the war. The Pennsylvania monument is the largest, because 1/3 of the soldiers on the Union side were from that state, since they were defending their homeland.

The monument to the army of Virginia is impressive also, with a statue of Robert E. Lee on his beloved horse, Traveller, at the top:

Nearby is President Eisenhower's home.  He was interested in military tactics, and studied the War of Gettysburg carefully.  Some of the war was fought on his land:

One of the memorials is an everlasting flame:

As we drove today, the sky became darker and strong thunderstorms eventually swept through.  The thunderheads were beautiful when they were first forming:

If you ever have the opportunity, you should visit Gettysburg.  Of the battlefields I have visited, it has had the strongest impact on me, possibly because it was so deadly, but also because it has been so eloquently memorialized.