Gettysburg!

Saturday, we toured Gettysburg, the site of one of the most memorable battles of the United States' Civil War in July, 1863. After Gettysburg, Robert E. Lee would never threaten the north again.

My spouse and I stopped first at the National Park Service's museum. The current one wasn't very interesting, focusing mostly on military weapons such as rifles and cannons, but they are building a replacement which is slated to open next year.

We walked across to the National Cemetery, where Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address.

Afterwards, we started on the "two-hour" car tour of the battlefield, with a National Park Service tape as the guide. It took us considerably longer than two-hours, as we would stop to read each of the many monuments along the roadway. (Interestingly, the monuments for the Confederate soldiers tended to be big, elaborate, state-wide pieces, while the monuments for the union soldiers tended to be smaller, but more numerous, with one for each unit that fought. Only Pennsylvania had a statewide memorial, which is the picture above.)

It was interesting to see several famous Gettysburg sites, including the ones for:

• Cemetery Ridge, site of Pickett's Charge (famous for the slaughter of Confederates charging a union position)
• the wheat field (famous for the slaughter of Union troops charging a confederate position)
• Little Round Top (famous for Joshua Chamberlain's defense of the Union line)

Despite the chilly temperatures and the brisk wind, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip.