Gettysburg - Part II

We then started on a driving route around the park. Mike had with him a book that he had bought at the gift shop when he was thirteen. The route is different now. Then – a big circle around the main sites. Now – the route goes in chronological order, taking you first to sites of the first day’s battle, then along the second day’s battle, and then the third.


On the first day there was comparatively little fighting, as the main corps of both armies were still on their way. The route takes you to the Eternal Light memorial that FDR dedicated in 1933, along with many veterans from both sides – that was the last big gathering of them. We went by a Union line and then along Confederate Avenue, where the Rebs were lined up before marching into the fray. The Virginia Memorial, a statue of Lee on his horse, Traveller, is one of the biggest in the park – it marks the location from which Lee watched the battle – and to see it the next day from the Copse of Trees up on Cemetery Ridge was chilling. I do think there are spirits there – none of us slept well.


Little Round Top was the next big stop – so much happened on this small hill, it is crowded with memorials and markers. On the way up there, we met a person dressed in Civil War garb. He was portraying Grant’s aide-de-camp – Grant wasn’t at Gettysburg, mind you. I asked how he chose that role and he said he retired to Gettysburg and one day ran into Grant in town. It turned out they had lived near one another in Anaheim, though they didn’t know each other then, and when Grant said he needed an aide-de-camp, he agreed. He was careful to note that he is living history, not a re-enactor, implying that re-enactors are a bit off (and that living history isn’t?). He also said the heavy blue fabric was quite breathable.

At this climactic point of the day (and the battle!), we broke for lunch. The kids were fading, but rallied to go to the museum – again, nice job of putting the battle into perspective – and the war into a greater perspective – with some before, during and after exhibits. It’s a lot to absorb, but not overwhelming (unless you try to get into the real details of which divisions and regiments and brigades were where when and with whom – at least to me – but that was in the book, not the museum).


Tobi then took the kids to the hotel pool (we had to stay in a hotel with a pool – it also had a TV, so we could watch the Phillies in the playoffs) and Mike and I picked up where we left off, at the Devil’s Den – this rocky area across from Little Round Top is not on the driving route – why? There were a lot of cars there anyway; it’s important to the narrative (and a great name). We swung through the Wheatfield and the Peach Orchard (more great names) and, as the sun sank into the west, more or less ended our day where the second day ended.