Monday, August 21 – We were at the Gettysburg Battlefield Museum this morning by 8:45 to see the movie as an introduction to the historical Battle of Gettysburg. The movie was excellent.
After the movie, we then moved to the Cyclorama. (The following is taken from the Internet.) Cycloramas were a very popular form of entertainment in the late 1800's, both in America and Europe. During the 1800's, most were lost or destroyed as their popularity died out with the introduction of a more entertaining art form, motion pictures. The "Battle of Gettysburg" Cyclorama at Gettysburg National Military Park is one that has survived. The culmination of the battle was captured on canvas by the French artist Paul Philippoteaux. The "Cyclorama of the Battle of Gettysburg" opened to the public in Chicago in 1883, complete with a three-dimensional earthen foreground littered with the relics of battle, stone walls, shattered trees and broken fences. Purchased by the National Park Service in the late 1940's, the painting was moved to the newly constructed park visitor center in 1962. The artistic work underwent a massive restoration project that required hours of hand labor to repair water damaged portions of the painting and two large sections faded by years of direct sunlight. The Gettysburg Cyclorama is 377 feet long, 42 feet high and weighs 12.5 tons.
There is no way to tell in the photo below where the foreground sand ends and the the painting begins. If you look at the three poles around the well, the front pole is real and leaning against the wall of the painting. We didn’t even know that the pole in the front was real until our guide pointed it out. The foreground fence is also real and blends right into the painting flawlessly. It is just amazing.
The movie and the Cyclorama both come highly recommended, and we certainly agree with that assessment. We absolutely loved them both, but the Cyclorama is AWESOME! What a magnificent way to familiarize ourselves about the three-day Battle of Gettysburg.
We then moved to the museum where we spent the rest of the morning. The museum is fabulous and Paul, a non-museum kind-of-guy, actually spent the entire morning with Marsha and truly enjoyed the museum. There are thousands of displays and dozens of videos to help us understand the enormous significance of the Battle of Gettysburg. This is one of the best museums we have visited! We will show some highlights in photos we took. We won’t show you the entire 175 pictures the Marsha took….hehe.
Ignore the feet in the next photo…lol
We learned so many fascinating facts like the next two.
There was an excellent display showing each state that fought in the Civil War and an estimate of how many soldiers came from each state. Just a few facts.
Ohio…313,180 Union Enlistments
Texas…2,012 Union Enlistments; 86,702 Confederate Enlistments
New York had the most of all states….338,850 Union Enlistments
If you don’t know what an Army is, here is a good explanation.
We will never be able to keep up posting each day. This was just what we did in the morning of day one. There is so much to see and do here. We are just going to enjoy our time and post as we can.
Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day.
So glad to hear Paul also enjoyed the VC/museum. I think all the videos help those of us who are museum challenged:) I didn't realize that the cyclorama painting was at the VC. The VC use to be a small building over near the cemetery. When the park started trying to restore things to their original state at the time of the war, the Visitors Center didn't fit and it was way too small, so it was torn down. So it was decided to build a new VC outside the actual battlefield area. The cyclorama was in its own building and was nothing but the painting in a circular building that was also removed. The painting had been in storage for awhile. I read that they were bring it back out, but I didn't realize it was at the newer VC. We visited back when the new center had just opened and was still free:) You certainly had a busy morning:)
ReplyDeleteWow that sounds like an amazing historical site to see, thanks for taking us along and all the details Post when you can, don't let blogging get in the way of you life.
ReplyDeleteWe agree. . .Cyclorama and Museum were both great. So much better for Paul, and for me, when they are interactive. . .LOL!
ReplyDeleteAs you know, we've toured the battlefield twice. It is a glorious place which always makes me so sad.
Enjoy your time taking it all in. . .it's a bit overwhelming, I think. Wish every American could go.
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DeleteI found the Battlefield at Vicksburg MS to be equally humbling, and amazing. . .Shiloh TN just totally overwhelmed me. . .what a sad, horrible war. . .
DeleteWe visited that museum when Lora was in grade school. At the time, she was into horses in a big way. When she went around the corner and saw the big stuffed horse, it totally freaked her out. We laugh about it now. We can't remember whose horse it was.
ReplyDeleteVisiting that museum with Lora just about did Paul in. She read EVERYTHING. It took us forever to go through it that day. Just goes to show what a great museum it is to keep the interest of a young child.
So glad to hear that it wasn't a sit-around-and-wait-for-Marsha kind of day for your Paul.
We visited the brand new (at the time) Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor's Center back in 2008 and it was fantastic. We actually just happened to arrive on the day of it's official opening. We were totally amazed by it and spent a good part of the day there and out walking on the battlefields. We even saw the Cyclorama but at the time I think they were only just starting on the big renovation project so we were not allowed to see in there. It sounds like they did a fantastic job on it. I think that maybe we will have to stop in there again some day.
ReplyDeleteIt is really hard to wrap your head around the numbers of people that were involved in the battle over that short time period and the amount of death that it created. I can't for the life of me, imagine how it must have felt out there way back then. :-(
What a wonderful experience you are having...that battlefield is awesome. When you go to the different battle areas, it humbles and saddens you with the number of casualties. It is also sad that in many battles, family members fought against each other. It is a great exposure to go and tour the different battlefields and to think of yourself there back then.
ReplyDeleteThat battle was truly a defining moment in our history. Reading this I am ready to go back soon.
ReplyDeleteOkay. I really want to go now. All that's left is the planning.
ReplyDeleteI think we have all been there. We may return. Doug loved it there.
ReplyDeleteAnd I say agin...We have to get back there with time to spend.
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