Civil War Battlefields - Gettysburg

My second stop on my tour of Civil War battlefields was the infamous Gettysburg. The visitor's center is very well done. It includes a short film, cyclorama (ca. 1894), and museum with many artifacts from the battlefield. The special display had a sample of Lincoln's papers. His handwriting is amazing!

Once again, the best overview of the battle that I have seen is at the CivilWar.org website. Check it out!

Once again, I  hopped into my base level khaki rental and started following the tour route. Gettysburg was a three day event, so there was more to cover than at Antietam. The battle started northwest of the town, with Buford's cavalry engaging Heth's infantry before collapsing back towards the town. By the next day, the Army of the Potomic had re-formed. Meade arranged his forces along a series of ridges to the south east of Gettysburg, forming a "fish hook" to avoid being outflanked.

The most fierce fighting  on  the second day happened at Little Round Top. General Longstreet sent troops from Alabama and Texas to capture the high ground. The far left flank of the union line was held by Chamberlain's 20th Maine, whose story is one of the main themes in Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. I just finished it. It's worth the read!

Warren, who saw the Confederate move to flank and organized the defense of Little Round Top

Guns on Little Round Top

The shadows were growing long over the battlefield as I drove along the ridge where Pickett made his charge on the third day of fighting.  Why Lee thought that a charge uphill, in the clear view of a nearly mile-long front of Federal artillery, is beyond me. He was otherwise an amazing general who had won battles against far greater odds. The Confederacy had holes in its leadership, but Meade was new to command and hesitant. The battle could have gone either way, but at the end of the day the Confederacy was broken and once again retreated southwards.

Panorama  from the observation tower. Little and Big Round Tops on the right, Gettysburg on the left.