GETTYSBURG, PA – Tall brick buildings have red, white and blue bunting hanging from the windows in the historic part of this town, which we drove through on the way to the Visitors’ Center this morning. Most bear a small brass plaque, indicating that structure was there when the battle of Gettysburg took place in 1863. Some of them are even scarred with pock marks, to this day, from shots that were fired in battle.
The large museum complex was built in 2008, and thousands visit every year. We went inside to arrange for a guide and buy tickets for the museum presentations. Lucky for us, at this time of year, there was no lineup! Our guide’s name was Jim, who chauffeured us in our car to the various sites of the battle that took place from July 1 to 3, 1863. It meant we could both concentrate on the statues, monuments and terrain where some 51,000 men were killed, wounded, captured or went missing in a few short days.
Val knew a lot more than I did about what happened, having read several books about Abraham Lincoln and the divisive aftermath of his election as President of the United States. But we both gained an appreciation for the military challenges faced by the Confederate southerners and the Union northerners when we looked at rolling fields, forested areas, boulders and split log fences, not to mention the chaos that resulted when rifles and cannons on both sides spewed great clouds of blinding smoke everywhere. Jim told us about key characters, such as Robert E. Lee and George Meade, and shared details, like the names of their horses or how the cannons worked. He said that the field hospitals housed doctors and patients from both camps, side by side. Even though the war continued for two more years, this battle was the turning point that gave the Union side the upper hand.
We got out of the car to look at the site where Abraham Lincoln gave his famous address to the crowds who had gathered, four months after the battle, to dedicate the Gettysburg burial grounds. Jim showed us a large bush which he believes marks the spot where Lincoln stood (and not where the plaques are on display!), based on sketches by eye witnesses.
After our outdoor tour, we got back to the Visitor Center and warmed ourselves with hot chili and soup in the cafeteria before going in to the theatre for a film. We then took an escalator up to see the Cyclorama, a huge 360-degree painting of the battle with a sound-and-light show to explain what we were looking at. The painting had been commissioned in the years just after the Civil War. It has been more recently restored, but we couldn’t detect a seam anywhere. At the base of the painting, leading up to the circular platform where we stood at the centre, were real cannons, muddy roads, bushes and battlefield debris that blended in to the painted scenes perfectly. Apparently, Cycloramas were very popular in their day. There was even one in Quebec depicting Jerusalem, we learned!
As we browsed through the museum, we could hear rain pattering on the roof, and we were glad it held off while we were outside. We also had a look at the bookstore where there were hundreds of books on every aspect of the battle and the Civil War, from personalities to military strategies, right down to recipe books for peaches such as the ones which grew in an orchard on the battleground.
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