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.

HARRISBURG, THE CAPITAL OF PA

Tuesday, August 22 – We continued our tour of Gettysburg, PA, today but started our day in York, PA.  York is the home of the Harley-Davidson Motor Cycle Company. 

We arrived for the early tour but were disappointed to find out the plant was retooling for the new 2018 motorcycles and were only offering a modified tour.  Dang!  The only manufacturing we saw was the stamping of a front fender....LOL   We did have a tour but instead of seeing actual production, there were video displays at stops along the factory floor showing what we would have seen during normal production.  Disappointed but what can you do?  Definitely call ahead on these factory tours to assure that production is taking place.

After our stop at the Harley plant, we headed down the road to Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania.  The capital city was quiet. Guess the state government is on summer recess.  The capitol building was open, so we took advantage of a “self-guided” tour.  This building is very ornate.  One of the prettiest capitol buildings we've seen. 

The main dome area is the most beautiful area in the Capitol.  Soaring over 6 stories from the ground floor, it is very ornate and beautifully done. 

Looking up at the dome.

A close-up look of the top.

There is gold everywhere.

We visited the House of Representatives and the Senate Chamber.  Of course, Marsha had to get a few photos of the ceilings. She just loves them.

House of Representatives.
 

The Senate Chamber.

After our visit to Harrisburg, we then returned to Gettysburg and our campground to cool off.  The temperatures have topped 90 degrees the last couple days, and the humidity is also very high.  We took a break until we had to leave for a ranger guided tour starting at 5 PM.  Temperatures were still about 90 degrees. The tour was a 90-minute hike throughout the battlefield.  It was intended to give the visitors an overview of the entire 3-day battle. Now this was a hike…up and down all those battle hills.

The ranger did a wonderful job explaining the battles that occurred over the three days of July, 1863.  Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War with nearly 50,000 killed, wounded, or missing in action.  The volunteer rangers do an amazing job helping the nearly 1.2 million annual visitors understand the significance of this battle in American history.  Just a few photos of some of the battlefield.

We learned what all the symbols mean on the statues.
 

General Reynolds killed the first day of battle.

East Cemetery Hill

We had a memorable two days visit, so far, and look forward to the rest of the week here in Gettysburg.  Stop back and enjoy a little history with us.

UPDATE ON OUR DAUGHTER IN HOUSTON:  Carrie is doing great. She is back at work. Her apartment building has electric and water. She and her friends volunteered with thousands of others this weekend. Stay Houston Strong! Stay Texas Strong!

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