Since Sarah and I were heading out to Messiah College to see Philip Yancey anyway (Read about how I met Philip Yancey), we decided to go a little further west to take some pictures at Gettysburg. Gettysburg is the site of the historic Civil War battle that took place July 1-3, 1863. Until this game-changing battle, the South was taking more and more ground. But at Gettysburg, the Union was able to hold off the Confederate Army, thought thousands lost their lives on those bloody summer days.
This is the Valley of Blood (or Death, I forget which). Picture taken from Little Round Top.
Right now, Gettysburg is in full spring mode with lush green grass, beautiful flowers, and frisky birds and squirrels getting to, uh, know one another. No one would think of the horrific battle fought here so many years ago.
It is famously known as Pickett’s Charge, but other Confederate soldiers were also ordered across the open fields of Gettysburg.
Instead of stopping at the Visitor Center, like smart tourists, I told Sarah that we didn’t need a map because I knew how to get around the battlefields. Well, I did, several years ago. The past few years have overloaded my brain on so much information, that I was unable to remember anything. I silently cursed myself for not getting a map as we stumbled from landmark to landmark. I remembered Seminary Ridge, Culp’s Hill, Little Round Top (Who could forget Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain’s heroics?), the Devil’s Den (which we somehow missed on our strange tour), and the site of Pickett’s Charge. Somehow we stumbled upon General Longstreet’s statue/position and discovered that the fake cannons are present not only for fun photo ops, but to show visitors which way the troops would be facing at the time of the battle. Yeah, I caught on quickly.
This is where Pickett’s Charge took place.
We really didn’t have time for much else or much interest in taking notes of the actual sites I was photographing. But, hey, here’s a photo essay on Gettysburg all the same. Enjoy!
Note:: Next time we go to Gettysburg, we’re going to watch the movie first.
I love this statue of General Longstreet. It’s so intense. I named my hamster “Longstreet” after him when I was in middle school.
A view of Devil’s Den through a monument on Little Round Top.
This is a statue of some valiant commander on Little Round Top. It’s not Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, but it should be, even though he was on the other side of the Union’s fish hook formation.
What would a photo essay of Gettysburg be without a cannon put in a sepia tone?
So, have you guys ever been to Gettysburg? Another Civil War battlefield? What did you think?
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