Cody and I visited the Gettysburg Battlefield National Park to spend a few days exploring this amazing battlefield. Perhaps the pivotal battle during the Civil War, it involved 95,000 Union troops and 85,000 Confederate soldiers. It was also the bloodiest battle on US soil with some 51,000 casualties. We started at the new Visitor's Center which has a wealth of information available, including an excellent CDROM Tour that we decided to invest in.
Here, Rick sits for a bit with President Lincoln. Of course, this is where he delivered the famous Gettysburg Address at the dedication ceremony of the new Federal Cemetery. Interestingly, he was a secondary speaker -- an earlier speaker went on for over 2 hours and is not recalled by history. Lincoln's address was about 2 minutes long and is immortal. 
Gettysburg is know for the many, many (almost 500) monuments erected to state units and individuals. Each one is unique and was often sponsored by the surviving forces.
This monument is by one of the New York calvary regiments and is located close to the spot that the group was stationed during the battle. 
Cody is looking at one of the unit markers for the Union forces. These are square in format while the Confederate marker is rounded. It is possible to see where each unit was stationed during the battle which is very interesting from a strategic point of view.
Cannon played a large role in the battle on both sides. Muzzle loaders, these cannons needed a crew to load, clean and aim the weapon. Additionally, several horses were needed to transport the cannon. Imagine moving these through the woods and then move them around to fire them. 
1 comment:
Thanks for the primer. We have not been there in many years, but plan on spending a few days there next week.
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