Gettysburg - the battlefield

This is the attraction of Gettysburg - the battlefield.  Five thousand acres where the biggest, bloodiest battle of American history took place over 3 days in July, 1863.  You can drive through these fields, walk around, bike, or just be here in this place where so much killing, dying, bravery, and terror  happened 150 years ago.  Over 51,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing.

“In great deeds something abides.  On great fields something stays.  Forms change and pass; bodies disappear; but spirits linger, to consecrate ground for the vision-place of souls.  And reverent men and women from afar, and generations that know us not and that we know not of, heart-drawn to see where and by whom great things were suffered and done for them, shall come to this deathless field, to ponder and dream, and lo! the shadow of a mighty presence shall wrap them in its bosom, and the power of the vision pass into their souls.” - Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Gettysburg, October 3, 1889

I’m still pondering over the experience of this battlefield.  Sacred ground?  Yes.  I’m have a hard time getting my mind around the magnitude and significance of what happened here.   There is much discussion and description of the tactics of warfare: what weapons were used, the attacks and why they were or were not successful.  John says it’s like a chess game.  There were no bombs or drones or aircraft during this war, just horses, guns and cannons, swords.  The men who were fighting and killing saw each other, stumbled over and around dead bodies.

What does it mean?  Why does this kind of warfare happen among humankind?  Are we better off because of it? (Most of the literature says that we are).

The land, itself, is lovely.  Rolling hills, trees budding with the color of spring, rocks, a gentle and quiet breeze.  It is dotted with monuments to the soldiers and generals who fought here, and markers describing the positions and actions of the different brigades during battle.

The self-guided auto tour started us at the place of the first battle on July 1st, and ended with the last one on July 3rd.  I don't pretend to have grasped but a small fraction of the details.  Here are some photos that I took as we made our way around the battlefield.

In 1913, 50 years after the battle at Gettysburg, there was a reunion for the veterans who had survived that battle.  The men who had been 17, 18, 25 years old in 1863 were old men now.  Doubtless, they never forgot the terror of the Gettysburg battle and told the story again and again to their children and grandchildren.  My guess is that it was the defining point of their lives.

 

To be continued.  Next: the National Cemetery at Gettysburg