Gettysburg National Military Park, Pennsylvania

It was a chilly 35 degrees in Gettysburg this morning, and unfortunately our main propane tank ran dry in the middle of the night. Luckily our trusty little electric heater chugged away against the chill, keeping it just above 60 in the trailer. We have a backup propane tank, but no automatic cutover valve, so as soon as it got light I went outside and switched to the backup tank. There was even a little frost on the grass in the campground!

We had an outstanding educational tour of the Gettysburg National Battlefield yesterday. A friend, John Olsen, who works at Johns Hopkins University, has been coming to Gettysburg since he was a young boy. He treated us to a three hour tour of the historic Civil War battlefield. It seems ironic that neither side intended to engage in a fight at Gettysburg, but when Union troops ran into Confederate soldiers on McPherson’s Ridge west of town, the battle was on. For three days the fighting raged until the south finally retreated, marking a critical turning point in the war. Peaceful rolling hills around Gettysburg became legendary battlefields – Little Round Top, The Wheatfield, The Peach Orchard, The Devil’s Den, Culp’s Hill, Cemetery Ridge and Seminary Ridge. Monumental acts of bravery and valor were displayed on both sides – Pickett’s charge across an open field into cannon fire, Chamberlain’s famous wheeling of the left wing of his 20th Maine soldiers, and untold countless acts of heroism by individual soldiers. In the end, over 51,000 men were killed, wounded or captured (roughly a third of the total that participated), making Gettysburg one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War.

The new visitor center is truly amazing, featuring two cinemas and the famous diarama "The Battle of Gettysburg", painted by Paul Philippoteaux. It includes a new museum with over 10 rooms of civil war relics and history, as well as one of the best bookstores we have seen at any of the national park sites. We lost Teressa for 15 minutes in the museum -- she must have thought John was going to give her a test, because she was reading every word on every exhibit! The new visitor center just opened this spring, and the diarama has only been open for four weeks, so we felt very forutnate to take it all in.

One can’t view the battlefield and hear the incredible stories without stirring deep emotions. How could these men march into battle across open fields directly into enemy fire knowing that most would not survive? What compelled them to fight – keeping the Union together, ending slavery, state’s rights, personal honor, loved ones? Why did so many men have to die? Why…? Unfortunately, as in most wars, there are no easy answers, just more difficult questions. It was fun having John’s perspective, as his home state of Maryland was more aligned with the Southern cause. As in most things in life, there are two sides to every coin. A special "thank you" to John for spending the day with us and sharing his stories.