July 2007
We had long wanted to visit some of the Civil War sites and with Ed and Tina we were not far from Gettysberg. The whole of the area of this historic battle is now a National Park.
It was a hot day for our visit but not unbearable. We started at the museum and watched an animated map of the battle in an amphitheatre. This helped make sense of the battlefield later as we took a self-guided tour with a booklet and a cd-rom.
This battle took place in July 1863 and was probably the turning point in the Civil War. The battle was fought almost entirely with infantry and artillery and lasted just three days.
General Robert E Lee had been bringing his Confederate army north into Union territory and very close to Washington itself - a real threat.

One of the many artillery pieces preserved in the National Park
Some of the hundreds of unknown soldiers graves in the cemetery at Gettysberg - soldiers of subsequent wars have also been buried here
The crux of the Lincoln address at Gettysberg - its brevity outraged people at the time

General Lee had approached the area from the West side of the Blue Ridge Mountains and used his cavalry as scouts. Unfortunately the cavalry commander went off to find a battle of his own and brought back no intelligence.
When the confederates approached Gettysberg they found substantial union forces who held relatively high ground south of the town itself. One of the keys to the battle was the J-shaped formation taken up by the union forces which allowed them to move reserves easily from position to position within the J. The confederates had to work around the outside of the J which placed them at a considerable logistical disadvantage.
As with many battles there were elements of chance at play as well as elements of skill and not all commanders obeyed their orders. Walking round some of the key areas was quite moving.

One of the hundreds of memorials small and large
The importance of Little Round Top is easy to see

Artillery of this period included canon and more sophisticated pieces with rifled barrels. There were both muskets and rifles with origins in many European countries as well as the US.
The artillery fired grape shot, canisters full of lead balls, shells with explosive charges - sometimes packed with lead shot too, and of course the good old cannon ball. The target of all this was the good old foot soldier. Fire was so intensive that the museum has examples of bullets imbedded in each other.
One area of battle, the Wheatfield, changed hands several times and 4,500 men died in these exchanges. In all 46-51,000 are thought to have died in the three days of Gettysberg. All this in a civil war in quite recent times. It is difficult to imagine the horror which pitched brothers in the same family against each other as the new United States was forming.

Warren realised on day two that Little Round Top was stategically vital but undefended - he ensured that this was put right
Part of the National Memorial in the cemetry with the last part of the Lincoln address

Memorials and statuary are everywhere throughout the battlefield. Each participant state has a very grand memorial and there has been clear rivalry in this. Every part of the armed forces who took part has been honoured in some way. One of the most striking statues is the one seen above at Little Round Top. It could well be said that Major General Warren saved the day for the Union forces by ensuring defence of this hill on the second day of battle.

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