Gettysburg

18 May 10 – 24 May 10

Spent the week in Gettysburg, PA – what a place with all the history that is there. We stayed outside of town almost in the National Park so didn't have a lot of driving to do. We saw the Cyclorama of the Gettysburg battle field painted by a French artist in the late 1800s shortly after the war. To see pictures of how it had been let deteriorate and then see it today – how magnificent. He painted it in 30 days and it was 40 feet tall and 377 around. You literally stand inside the picture. About 10 feet of the sky had been cut off and it was folded so it was 4-5 years in restoration including all the paint that was missing.

Anyone going to Gettysburg needs to spend the money to see it and the museum. It is in a National Park, but privately funded by a foundation that says they will donate it to the Park Service when it is paid off, anybody remember when the PA and OH turnpikes were supposed to be free? That was also the premise used for the funding of both turnpikes in the 1950s yet the 30 years has come and gone and there is still a toll. I will say the last PA toll booth going west is in the Pittsburgh area and not one at the state line any more. The Cyclorama and Museum cost $9 each for old folks. The Cyclorama is about 45 minutes with the movie and the picture and you can use the Museum all day. I didn't count the different guns, hand and rifle, they had, but it was in three cases.

One more of Ray's confounded questions – everyone knows how many were involved in the three day battle at Gettysburg and how many lost their lives. How many civilians were killed in the battle? Now remember this was a small town and most of the battle was fought in and around the farming community around the town. You will see some of that in the pictures. All of the monuments you see were erected by either the State they were from or by monies raised by the Regiments survivors. Most of the monuments are artillery batteries or infantry/cavalry regiment and are located in the approximate place they were on the battlefield. The cannons are the locations of the artillery batteries. So impressive to see all the history up close and yet know men fought and died for the liberty we have today. As the first President we had from the South after the Civil War said, “ I am glad the North won.” I do not remember who it was, and without internet I cannot look it up, but the quote stuck.

This will get posted late as the internet is so slow here I will not be able to post pictures from here.

More on Gettysburg next week as we see the rest of the battlefields and do some more sightseeing. We also have not gone thru the cemetery where all the Union soldiers are buried.

The monument in the pictures is the PA monument to commemorate the battle. I climbed the spiral staircase to the top for the view. It was a climb but well worth the effort. You can walk all the way around right under the base of the dome. This gives you a view of 80 – 90 percent of the battlefield.

Pictures:
PA monument to the battle
PA monument info on the battle
Taken from the top of the PA monument looking out over the battlefield
Taken from the top of the PA monument looking out over the battlefield
Taken from the top of the PA monument looking out over what was the 'high water mark of the Confederacy'