Our first full day in Baltimore was spent traveling to Gettysburg. We decided to take the scenic route and were rewarded with miles of winding roads through beautiful countryside and picturesque small towns. As we entered Pennsylvania we took the first picture of our trip.
About this time we also encountered this sign ... a very important location during the Civil War.
30 minutes later we entered historic Gettysburg. The streets were lined with buildings that had been around since the civil war.
We found this train depot to be both interesting and also representitive of what Gettysburg had to offer.
The streets tend to be narrow as were the buildings themselves. This walkway between two buildings is just wide enough to walk through without turning sideways.
There is so much to see here. If you are a serious shopper, plan to spend a full day going through the various shops. We located the visitors center and obtained a free walking tour map of the downtown area. The visitors center was filled with free information and friendly people who offered good advice.
Bryan Jr. (BJ) in the denim jacket, Joseph (Our gracious host on this trip. You rock Joey!!), and Bryan Sr. (BS) in the orange shirt.
Allyson, and Caleb join the group.
And another of Caleb looking very much like his Uncle David.
This is a very special part of Gettysburg for me. There will be many memorable sights here but to stand where the Gettysburg address was delivered will standout.
Now our driving tour of the battle field begins. It takes us about an hour to finally decide that we have found the starting point. We are driving through an area that was covered by fields.
And Joey, our host, being, well ... Joey!
We stopped to climb this tower to get a better view of the surrounding countryside. It was a long climb but worth the effort.
We stop to catch our breath ... for the second time.
Finally we reach the top. Joey decided to stay on the ground.
On the battlefield at Gettysburg from July 1st till July 3rd, 7,863 men were killed, 27,224 were wounded, and 11,199 were captured or reported missing. To put this in contrast to something we can grasp today, I found the following report on the CNN website:
There have been 3,095 coalition deaths, 2,851 Americans, two Australians, 125 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, six Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 32 Italians, one Kazakh, one Latvian, 17 Poles, two Romanians, five Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians in the war in Iraq as of November 14, 2006, according to a CNN count.
This is not to reduce in any way the sacrifices that are going on in Iraq as I write, but is meant to put a single battle of the Civil war in perspective. A war where brother fought brother, neighbor fought neighbor, father fought son. Each fighting for their ideals, each fighting for freedom, each fighting for a cause that they felt was greater than themselves. Each side called upon the same God for protection, and wisdom in fighting the battle.
Not being from the east coast I was somewhat suprised to find that folks still bicker over the civil war. I always thought the war was about the right to keep slaves but it is obvious from speaking to different individuals that the war was fought for many reasons. Regardless of why they were here, their memories live on as you visit this historic site.
Here are the words of Abraham Lincoln:
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.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg November 19th, 1863
The following pictures are from our drive around the battle field. We spent 2.5 hours driving to the different locations and did not even come close to seeing all there was to see. These are the"hallowed fields of Gettysburg".
The pictures that follow were taken at "Little Round Top". This is the place at Gettysburg that impressed me the most. The bolders that we are standing on were used to hide behind as the cannonballs and riffle shots flew by.
It occurred to me that the fields below were probably planted at the time as the battle took place prior to harvest. The farmer who owned these fields probably took his lunch here where he could get a sweeping view of his fields.
Dear Mrs. O' Rorke,
Today my son Joel sat next to the memorial dedicated to the memory of your son Patrick. As we sat here taking pictures it occurred to me that your son gave everything he had to give, that I might be able to stand here today with my son. Patrick's sacrifice has not been in vain nor forgotten.
Sincerely yours,
Bryan Varney
The hole in the side of this barn is evidence of the battle that was fought here. Why the hole was never patched was not explained but I for one am glad that they left this little piece of history in tact.
Thus ends our first day of sight seeing in the DC area.
