With our tummies filled with chocolate, we continued our drive down to Gettysburg, parking the Busse Bus at the Gettysburg Battlefield Resort. We stayed there for free as we used some of our free days that we earned by attending the Travel Resorts of America pitch a few weeks back.
After getting set up, we drove into town to look around. Not remembering too much of my US History education I wanted to understand why Gettysburg is considered the turning point of the Civil War. The Diorama was opened and since Kat and I were the only people interested in going in they let us take Bear with us. A diorama is basically a model of the battlefield that has a narration and light show to display the historical events. Here is what I learned: a) the battle of Gettysburg occurred because the Confederate Army had a lot of success in previous battles in the south and had moved forward into the north, into Pennsylvania, to buy/gather/steal food and supplies, b) it occurred over three days – July 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of 1863, c) the Confederate Army was located on the north and west sides of Gettysburg while the Union Army was situated on the east and south sides, d) more Americans were casualties in this battle than any other battle in US history – Union – 23,049 (3,155 dead, 14,529 wounded, 5,365 missing) – Confederate – 28,063 (3,903 dead, 18,735 wounded, 5,425 missing), e) General Lee commanded the Confederate Army and General Meade commanded the Union Army, f) the conflict was due to the US expansion to the west and whether the new states would be free states or slave states, and g) US President Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address here on November 19th, 1863 – only four and a half months after the battle and years before the Civil War would end.
Here is a picture of the diorama:
Another thing that we learned was that Northerners called July 4th, 1863 – Glorious Fourth as both Meade and Grant won major battles in 1863. I never heard of that before. Grant won down in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Civil War is also called – North vs. South – Slavery vs. Free Men.
The following day we headed to the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum to learn more about this battle by watching a narrative movie and then seeing the Cyclorama – a 360 degree painting of the battle field during the days of July 1-3rd, 1863. Here’s some pictures of the Cyclorama:
And this one with a self-image in it of the painter standing propped up on the tree:
The Cyclorama was really cool! Now that we had a good understanding of the battle of Gettysburg it was time to see it for real.
We decided to take a Segway tour and it was unbelievable! Great way to get around all the acreage and see it for ourselves. But first,
We had to learn to ride the segways safely. I didn’t even hit one cone! Next our little group got on the road with our guide:
Got some cute pictures of us:
Our tour took us up through the Confederate side and then around to Little Round Top and down the Union side:
We got to see memorials from both sides throughout the tour and learn about the attacks and counter-attacks:
Each side divided their troops by the region or state where the members hailed from and each monument is dedicated to one of those troops. Too many to go into detail, you really have to see it to understand it.
Highly, highly recommend the Segway tour – what a great, fun way to see history!
For dinner we headed to the Dobbin House Tavern, which stood at the time of the Gettysburg battle and also housed runaway slaves as part of the Underground Railroad.
Had a very nice dinner!
To finish this blog, I thought that it would be appropriate to leave you with the beginning of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address in November, 1863 – six months before he was assassinated.
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
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