2014-13: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

    Note: This is a revision and repost from our 2014 trip.

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..."It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

—Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863 

at Dedication of Soldiers' National Cemetery

Eternal Light Peace Memorial.

    In 1938, 75 years after the Battle of Gettysburg, over 1,800 Union and Confederate Civil War Veterans attended the dedication of the Eternal Peace Light Memorial to “Peace Eternal in a Nation United.”

    It took us 1-1/2 hours to drive from Washington, DC, to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. During the Civil War, it took 1 to 2 days by horseback or wagon, 4 to 6 days for infantry troops on foot. 

    We visited in late spring. White dogwood and pink eastern redbud bordered the roads through the serene valley where the bloodiest battle of the Civil War raged over 150 years ago, July 1-3, 1863.

Peaceful setting & cannons.

    The ranger we met stated there were over 51,000 casualties in the 3-day Battle of Gettysburg: 7,000 killed, 33,000 wounded, 11,000 missing or captured. In total, between 750,000 and 1,000,000 people died in the Civil War, the deadliest war in our nation's history.

Some of the numerous cemeteries are next to farms.

Cannon & memorial next to farmstead.

    Visiting the museum and touring the area was a somber time of trying just to understand.

Confederate & Union cannons.

  

There are over 1,300 monuments, Confederate & Union.

Urgency.

Courage.

Sacrifice.

Looking over the valley to distant monuments.

Father William "Fair Catch" Corby, a Union chaplain, absolved troops during the Battle of Gettysburg. He had been a professor at Notre Dame & later became its president.

2 of the over 1,300 monuments on the battlefield.

Reproduction of post-and-rail fences common on farms in Gettysburg at the time of the battle.

    The post-and-rail fences common on Gettysburg farms could provide temporary cover during the battle. They proved fatal, however, to the Confederate Army during Pickett's Charge, slowing forward progress and leaving troops, who had to break formation to navigate the fences, more open to attack.

Looking toward Devils Den from Little Round Top.

5th New Hampshire Infantry Regiment Monument in Devil's Den, constructed of boulders from the battlefield.

Remnants of the Angle, a stone wall on a farm, originally 2-to-3-feet high.

View from the Angle. Union troops behind the wall attacked from both sides as Confederate troops went over the wall.

Monument marks High Water Mark of the Confederacy, the farthest point reached by Confederates in Pickett's Charge, which marked the end to the Battle of Gettysburg.

We camped at Caledonia State Park in Fayetteville, about 20 miles west of Gettysburg.

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Hooptedoodle
• VW Buses. I own a 1986 VW Westy, my 4th VW bus. In my almost 8,000 miles of travel so far on our trek (in the MRV, not my bus), I have seen fewer than a half dozen VW buses on the road and only two in campgrounds, both in a campground near Gettysburg. Is it a vanishing breed? There are still a few of us who enjoy them, yet with the newest being 24 years old they are getting tired. Companies are now beginning to refurbish them, but they give me a major case of “sticker shock.” Check them out at Go Westy.

VW I saw in Austin.

• One of the VW owners I met was very gracious and gave me a couple CDs of her brother’s music, The Wayne Drury Project: Songs From the Saddlebag. As I enjoyed the CDs, I am honored to recommend them to anyone who enjoys what I will call folk music. I found him on YouTube at this link: Wayne Drury. You can also Google the Wayne Drury Project for lots more information on him. From what I could glean, in the '70s Wayne was a popular singer-songwriter in the Eugene, Oregon area. Unfortunately he was subsequently diagnosed with MS. His bandmates recently came together to put together a couple CDs of his music. His sister said that one of her goals on this trip was to spread his music—so enjoy.