Gettysburg

One of the main reasons we chose to come to PA this year was our desire to visit Gettysburg.

 

We started our tour at the Visitors Center for their movie and incredible 360⁰ cyclorama that depicts the 3 day battle that occurred around Gettysburg. These two photos below capture that the casualties were so high because of the battle tactics used in that period.  The geographic scope of the entire valley and battlefields where the fighting raged is displayed in this amazing artwork.

We attended several of the ranger talks and found them to be extremely informative. Each ranger talk focused on an aspect of the battle, bringing in the philosophy of both confederate and union armies, the equipment and tactics used, and the life of the common soldier.  We also learned that Abraham Lincoln was not trying to abolish slavery in the south but to contain it from spreading north or west.

Although Gettysburg took place in the middle of the Civil War, it became the turning point for a couple of reasons. Up until the Battle at Gettysburg, General Lee had seen amazing success and had begun to believe he was invincible. His loss at Gettysburg caused him to doubt his abilities. The northern armies were largely city-folk and did not have the hunting, shooting and woodsman ship that the south had. By the middle of the war, the union soldiers were becoming better skilled and equipped.

Many of the sculptures had a secondary symbol on them This one will show the rifleman but in the rocks at the front is a lions head in one of the boulders conveying the message of courage. Can you find the lion in the right picture?

There are well over 1,000 statues honoring the heroic efforts of both the Union and Confederate armies at this battle. Both sides believed in what they were fighting for and both sides died heroically. These statues are beautiful and a remembrance of this period of our history that needs to be preserved.  If you haven’t had an opportunity to visit Gettysburg, we encourage you to see and absorb this significant time in history for yourself. Following are some of the statues we enjoyed. We have selected some from both the Union and Confederate side.

The Gettysburg experience has made us much more aware of this period of history that shaped the country as we know it today.