AROUND THE TOWN OF GETTYSBURG

Thursday, August 24 – We started our last day in Gettysburg, PA, by visiting the Gettysburg Diorama.  The Gettysburg Diorama shows  the entire 6,000-acre battlefield at one time. With over 20,000 hand painted soldiers, horses, cannons and buildings, the diorama includes a thirty-minute light and sound show. We received two free tickets to the Diorama by spending two or more days at the Artillery Ridge Campground.

This is a pretty well-done explanation of the Battle of Gettysburg and would be a good introduction to any visitor to the area. Paul thought we should have done this the first day instead of our last day. Marsha says that after doing all the ranger walks and driving the battle field, she clearly understood the Diorama and those that spoke in the Spirits of Gettysburg. It is your choice.

The Diorama is a pretty nice setup with an excellent audio description of the 3-day battle accompanied with spotlights showing the area being described.  Cannons light up when fired, the town lights up at night, and you can see the campfires of the soldiers. We recommend this diorama if you visit the area.

Devil’s Den

The last battle.

We also received a fee tickets to the Spirits of Gettysburg which is located in the basement of the Diorama.  From the website: The Spirit of Gettysburg brings to life the three days that changed the course of the civil war.  An interactive animatronic historic adventure. Not a haunted attraction or ghost tour.​ This is not nearly as well done as the Diorama, and we're glad it was free.  It is made up of a series of approximately ten rooms where the visitors move from room to room to watch what is betrayed as spirits from the Gettysburg battle describing events of the war.  Interesting, but it's pretty difficult to enjoy if you don't believe in ghosts...LOL.

Jenny Wade moments before her death. Only civilian to be killed at Gettysburg

President Lincoln as he relates his worry and concern for the momentous battle taking place in Gettysburg.

Generals Longstreet, Pickett and Armistead discuss what will take place on July  3, 1863.

When this cannon went off, we about jumped out of our shoes.

Look at the soldier holding the rifle. Who does he look like to you? (Answer below)

Yes, that is right….resemblance of President Richard Nixon. Here is the rest of the story….The figures used in the Spirits of Gettysburg were rescued from the now-defunct American Civil War Wax Museum, and other businesses, including the Hall of The Presidents. The figure that looks like President Nixon actually was Richard M. Nixon. He was rescued from the Hall of The Presidents. Nixon's grandfather was killed here at the Battle of Gettysburg. So this soldier represents Grandpa Nixon.

We then spent a couple hours in the historic part of downtown Gettysburg.  It is a cute small town.

This church served as a Civil War hospital.

Another church that served as a hospital.

We searched out a building with a cannon ball still stuck in the brickwork.

We saw the Willis House where Abraham Lincoln stayed the night before giving the Gettysburg Address. 

There is a statue of Abe with a very young Bing Crosby. He is pointing his hat up to the room where he finished the Gettysburg Address.

We stopped in a few shops, one specializing in carved and painted gourds which just might be Marsha's next hobby craft.  Guess Paul will have to throw-out his tools and the generator to be able to haul gourds all over the country...ha ha!

Aren’t these just adorable….Marsha’s words not Paul’s.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

LINCOLN FUNERAL TRAIN

Wednesday, August 23 – To continue our tour of the battlefield in Gettysburg, PA, we drove down to an area called the Peach Orchard and the Wheatfield which is an area of the battlefield where over 4,000 lied dead or wounded.  It is said that by the end of the battle the attacking troops were running across the area atop the soldiers bodies.

Wheatfield.

Looking up at Little Round Top.

New York Infantry Irish Brigade.

New York Second Fire Zouaves.

We made a stop at the Texas (our legal home state) Memorial near this area to pay our respects to the Confederate Texans that fought and died here.  It felt strange to move “behind the lines” over to the Confederate side of the battlefield.  We stopped at many more memorials and troop markers before heading to our final stop for the day.

Texas.

Maryland.

We ended our day at the Lincoln Train Museum.  We had free tickets from the campground to see the train museum which memorializes the route of the Lincoln Train from Washington to his final resting place in Springfield, Illinois.

The train travels through the country to show what it may have looked like in Lincoln's time.

Tons of items from Lincoln’s time.

After we looked at the displays, we rode in a full-size Lincoln Funeral Car, The United States.   The ride tossed us back and forth as if we were really on a real train track. When we looked out the windows, it looked like we were riding through the country side. It is a simulated journey with the spirit of Abraham Lincoln as he shares his love of America with us.

That is the train in back of the display of train whistles.

Spirit of Lincoln.

Funeral Car with Lincoln’s casket in the corner.

On our way back to the campground, we made on more stop at Cemetery Hill to visit the gate house of the Gettysburg cemetery where  Elizabeth Masser Thron single-handedly buried nearly 100 soldiers after the battle.  Her husband was away fighting the war. She reluctantly took over the job as the head of the cemetery.  It became her job to bury the dead even though she was 7-months pregnant!

Just down the hill from the cemetery is the Lydia Leister Farm which served as a Civil War hospital. Meade’s famous council of war on the evening of July 2nd took place in the house’s tiny main room.

We have one more day here in Gettysburg, so join us for some final visits on these sacred battlefields.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day.

ANOTHER FASCINATING DAY IN GETTYSBURG

Wednesday, August 23 – After a pretty good rain last night here in Gettysburg, PA, the humidity finally disappeared making our sightseeing a little more enjoyable!  We started the day near the center of the battlefield visiting General Mead's Headquarters, the Copse of Trees (General Lee's target destination during the battle), many of the thousands of markers spread-out on the battlefield, and the largest battlefield memorial, the Virginia Memorial.

To the Minnesota solders who gave their lives.

Confederate troops led by Brigadier General Lewis Armistead temporarily broke through Union lines and crossed the wall just west of the Copse of Trees in what has come to be regarded as the high point of Confederate military achievement in the war.

Copse of Trees.
 

In the next photo, the Copse of Trees are on the far left. The farms in the background were there during the War.

High Water mark.

The Virginia Memorial is one of the few that visitors can climb.  A circular stair case up 57 steep steps leads to a viewing platform.  It is located at the site where the major Confederate charges took place, and the place where Lee realized the battle was lost after three days of brutal fighting.

Can you see Marsha way up there?

After touring the central battlefield area, we moved to the southern end of the battlefield. Again, we saw some amazing statues.

 A memorial to the soldiers and sailors of the Confederacy.

The famous area in southern end of the battlefield is know as Little Round Top.  This high area was another area of fierce fighting during the battle. 

A view of what a Confederate army saw when they were looking up at the rocky Little Round Top.

We were told by our guide how the Union Army was able to bring the cannons and supplies up to this rocky area. It was fascinating.

At the top of Little Round Top.

Bronze statue of Chief Engineer Gouverneur K. Warren watching for the Union Army.

Approximately 653 cannons were assigned to the two armies (372 to the Union Army and 281 to the Confederate Army) in the Gettysburg Campaign, and today there are approximately 370 cannons that sit on the battlefield. This is a cannon that they had to drag up the back of the hill.

 

From the top looking down on The Valley of Death.

Closer look at Devil’s Den.

We enjoyed another informative Ranger led walking tour of this area.  As mentioned earlier, all these Ranger tours are excellent. We recommend taking in as many as any visitor to the area can manage.

NOTE: In yesterday’s post, we forgot to mention that Marsha visited the Mennonite Information Center. The Center has a one-of-a-kind documentary film called “Who are the Amish?”  and a movie entitled “We Believe.” She said they were excellent! There is a  full-size reproduction of Moses’ Tabernacle. She attended an hour lecture tour that explained the history, construction and spiritual significance of this symbolic dwelling place of God among his people. Marsha loves reading her Bible and really enjoyed the lecture. She highly recommends a stop at the Mennonite Information Center.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day.