Trip to Gettysburg National Military Park

[1958 F.W.D.]

"Medium" (aka Shane) is very much into the history of the Civil War, WWII and the Vietnam War. He spends hours on youtube watching re-enactments of various civil war battles, and also specials and shows about WWII and 'Nam as well. He reads many books on the subjects as well. Prior to his 10th bday this past February, I asked him what he wanted for his bday. He is a very good kid, does not ask for a lot and gets awesome grades in School. So when prompted for gift ideas, he asked about going to Gettysburg for the July 1-2-3 Re-Enactments that they hold every year. So I looked into it. After having a seizure at the price of the tickets, I said "WTF, he's a good kid....." and got off my wallet. Then I had another seizure when I saw the price of hotel rooms for 3-5 nights. So I dusted off all my camping gear (has not seen the light of day in 15-20 years and got a campsite at Artillery Ridge Campground on Taneytown Road in Gettysburg. We were about 1 mile from Little Round Top and the 20th Maine's position.

As many of you may know, Adams County Pa had a tremendous amount of rain the previous 2 weeks prior to the beginning of July...11 inches was recorded over a 36 hour period at one point. The lands around the park were absolutely drenched. As a result, they postponed the Re-Enactments to August, however we would not be able to have made that due to being on our Family Vacation down in NC & SC. So Shane and I decided to still go, but obviously without the re-enactments. I took a personal day on Thursday and we left out of Bethlehem around 1:00pm. Took 78 west out to 81/83 south to 15 to Gettysburg. Made good time and set up camp. After we set up camp, we headed into town, and stocked up on beer I mean provisions. We got back to camp, made dinner and sat around the campfire and played "Go Fish." I got bored with that and after a while I can neither confirm or deny having taught Junior how to play Blackjack.




So because we weren't seeing the re-enactments, I had to come up with plan "B." It wasn't hard after I did some searching on the interwebz. I found a driving tour map of the battlefield on the NPS website. I also found a book about 3 weeks ago at Barnes and Noble called "The Maps of Gettysburg" which has every hour of every single skirmish of every battle painfully detailed. So armed with the driving tour map and the book, we took off Friday Morning (after a hearty camp breakfast of course) and began our driving tour.


Shane calls this "The Campfire Sammich" it's scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese, bacon and pork roll. I called it a future heart attack.

Our first stops were Little Round Top and Devil's Den.



Shane standing on Devil's Den with Little Round Top behind and over him, and The Slaughter Pen behind and below him.


"The Slaughter Pen"

Up on Little Round Top, the monument to the 20th Maine Infantry, the general area where they were positioned (yes that part of the movie was filmed here) You can see the LEFT FLANK marker in the lft of the picture and the monument to the right. The last pic is the stone marking the point of the LEFT FLANK of the 20th Maine. THIS IS THE END OF THE LINE OF THE END OF THE UNIT OF THE END OF THE UNION LINE. THE BUCK STOPS HERE.

[1958 F.W.D.]

Will post more later.

[JumperAndSon]

Randy, that is really awesome that you can take your son to such a historic place and rough it. It'll be something that both of you can remember forever. Tim

[j hancock]

Well Done! Family time, vacation time with a great historical experience.

[GreenGiant2]

jumper and son, where have you been, your back.

[Loadstar]

The courage and bravery of the men on both sides is something that has always left me in awe.....true American heros!!!

[1958 F.W.D.]

Monument to the 91st Pennsylvania Infantry on the top of Little Round Top (LRT) NOTE: All of these monuments are placed in the positions which the units actually occupied during the battles.

A rock carving done by an unknown soldier that reads "Lt. C.E. Hazlett fell here, July 2, 1863."

Standing at the top of LRT, looking northeast towards Seminary Ridge where the Confederate Line was established.

Looking south, in the distance is where Longstreet's Divisions established their lines. You can also see Devil's Den in the center left. "The Slaughter Pen/Valley of Death" is directly in front of the parked cars at Devils Den.

All over the park, at various monuments, families and descendants often leave flowers or other momentos, July 1-2-3 every year is no exception. Here a gentleman left something for his 5th Great-Grandfather who fought with the New York Infantry. This was left on the NY State Monument at the top of LRT.

Another rock carving done by a Soldier that reads "Col. Strong Vincent was mortally wounded in this spot, July 2, 1863." He died in a field hospital a few days later.

[General Ike]

I went to Gettysburg College and as posted previously I was a member of GFD and now own their 1957 B85F 1242 "The General Ike". Frankly, you were better off to do the trip the way you did and not during reenactment week.... It's just a zoo. Better to see a smaller reenactment somewhere else or one in Gettysburg that takes place not during the first week of July.

Fantastic way to spend time with your son. My oldest (about to turn 8) has the same fascination with the Revolution as Medium has with the Civil War. Took him to Boston (Lexington & Concord) three years ago and to DC (Mount Vernon) two years ago and he l loved it.

[1958 F.W.D.]

General Ike I suspect you may be correct, we made the mistake of venturing into town at one point while heading up to the Lutheran Seminary......It took well over 45 minutes to go 1/2 a mile, it SUCKED.

[1958 F.W.D.]

Will post more pictures and descriptions throughout the week.

[Gmerrill0516]

What a great time you two must have had. You're a great Dad. I love all that stuff myself. We used to have a Rev. Estes in our town from the Protestant Church who was a major civil war buff and he could tell a story with exceptional skill. I loved to hear him talk about the battles when they invited him into the school to teach. Those were very trying times and I'm quite sure that unless you experience something of that magnitude first hand, you can only begin to fathom the bravery and carnage that took place. At any rate I appreciate the pictures and the story. It's great that you overcame the obstacles and made it all work out. He will never forget that trip!

Thanks again

Greg

[1958 F.W.D.]

The rest of Friday we visited other areas of the park where various skirmishes occurred, such as Culp's Hill, Cemetery Hill and Spangler's Spring. Many photos were taken, too numerous to post here. Friday night we drove down to Frederick, Maryland where we had dinner at the home of my first Captain when I was hired at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard Fire Department and assigned to Ladder Co. 1. We got back to the campground around 8 or 9pm, and lit up another campfire and played some more rounds of Go Fish and Blackjack on top of a trash can turned upside down.

Saturday morning around 1 or 2 am it started raining it's ass off. Earlier I had mentioned that this was the first time in 15-20 years that my camping gear had seen the light of day. It's a good thing that I got the tent out a few weeks ago to air it out. While I had it out I also sprayed it down liberally with tent rain repellent. We stayed high and dry with the exception of some water that came up through the floor- probably because dumbass me forgot to fold in the flaps of the ground tarp that were sticking out and puddling rainwater flowed under the tent. Other then that we were good to go. But it rained it's ass off throughout most of the morning. I'm glad I invested in a 10x10 screened tent for our field kitchen- we had the picnic table and my 4x2 table as the cooking counter inside the 10x10. We made breakfast and then hid out inside the tent for another coupl'a hours until the rain finally stopped around 10 or 11am Saturday morning.

Here's what Medium did most of the morning. I was reading.

So finally we emerged from the tent and got showers (I could smell his armpits from 6 feet away....) and we headed over to the Visitors Center and Museum. It cost 20.00 for both of us to get in which included a 1/2 hour movie done by The History Channel (which was excellent.) It also included admission to the museum, and admission to the Diorama, which if you are unfamiliar: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Cyclorama

Here are some pictures of the Cyclorama and the Museum:

[1958 F.W.D.]

Throughout the summer, the NPS sponsors various "Battle Walks." These are hiking tours of the Battlefields where you hike with a Park Ranger who is very versed on the history and happenings of the particular battle that he/she is guiding you on. We did not do this one, but here is an example on youtube:

The one that we did on Saturday afternoon was titled "July 4th and thereafter: The Recovery." This was a 3-mile hike/guided tour of several family homes that were smack in the middle of the Battlefield. Here are some pictures, and if I was able to find referenced online, some stories of the family homes we visited.

The group all met at the Mississippi Memorial on S Confederate Avenue, along Seminary Ridge which was the Confederate Line. It was an example of one of the most dramatic monuments at Gettysburg. Violent but beautiful at the same time.

Here's what you wear when your old man forgets to pack a poncho.....

The first stop was the home of James Warfield, a prominent African-American Blacksmith. He had quite a business as he was one of only two Blacksmiths in the area and was known for the quality of his work and reasonable prices. His home later became Longstreet's Headquarters. I don't know why I didn't take any pictures.

The next stop was the farm and home of Henry Wentz, which is now just a foundation. The story is fascinating, read it here:

http://gettysburg.stonesentinels.com/battlefield-farms/wentz-farm/

The group sitting on what is left of the foundation of the Wentz Home.

Third stop, and again I didn't take pictures was the Klingel Farm. Another fascinating, but very sad story:
http://gettysburg.stonesentinels.com/battlefield-farms/klingle-farm/

Next stop was the site of the Rogers Home. No pictures again for some reason. I think I must have forgotten was fascinated with the stories. Read the story of Josephine Miller, the Rogers's Granddaughter and see a picture here.
http://gettysburg.stonesentinels.com/battlefield-farms/rogers-house/

Here's another article on Josephine Miller:
http://civilwarwomenblog.com/josephine-miller-slyder/

And lastly we stopped at the farmhome of Reverend Sherfy and his family. Not only was he a prominent Preacher, he was also a successful farmer. He owned the infamous "Peach Orchard." Here are some pictures I did remember to take and the story of the Sherfy Family.

Folklore has it that the Yanks had a sniper in this window. Must have been true.

http://gettysburg.stonesentinels.com/battlefield-farms/sherfy-farm/

[fxfymn]

We live adjacent to the Chancellor battlefield in an area that was heavily occupied by both sides at one time or another. We have found a few relics on the property including a lead dice that was probably made out of a bullet. I'm sure was used in the same way that dice are still used today.

There is a lot of things that make you stand in awe of what happened during the Civil War, but the one that always stands out the most to me was that over 60 pounds of ordinance was used for every casualty that occurred. Think about how many casualties happened and that a man and/or a mule had to move all of that munitions. Quite an accomplishment.

The total death count is really unknown, but most historians place it between 650,000 to 750,000.

[Vladislav]

Well done, Randy!

That's cool the kid has interests in history and such the event you provided with him was the best of what you could do.

Thanks for the report about your activities, interesting to learn those facts.

[Green Dash]

It's awesome that you were able to have some quality 1-on-1 time with one of your kids when you have 3 more at home. We only have 2 and when they were small a situation like that would have to be handled "delicately". Then again, we were dealing with females.

Kudos to Shane for having such a keen interest in history.

[1958 F.W.D.]

I offered to "Large" to come along but when he found out that there may or may not be Wi-Fi at the campground, he politely turned it down. He and I will do something together, I always try to make time for each kid (even if it's something as simple for just going out for pizza) as well as them all as a group.

[Timothy Maikshilo]

Thanks for sharing your adventure and I have learned more!

[other dog]

When you go to the Carolinas on your family vacation you should cut the trip short and take the crew to the Keystone Tractor Museum, then take rt. 460 west to Appomattox, so medium can take in the surrender grounds and Museum there. Then drop by over here and i'll make you some barbecue!

[1958 F.W.D.]

When you go to the Carolinas on your family vacation you should cut the trip short and take the crew to the Keystone Tractor Museum, then take rt. 460 west to Appomattox, so medium can take in the surrender grounds and Museum there. Then drop by over here and i'll make you some barbecue!

I proposed the idea of the Keystone Tractor Museum to SWMBO and she laughed hysterically. I don't know if that's good or bad?

[other dog]

I proposed the idea of the Keystone Tractor Museum to SWMBO and she laughed hysterically. I don't know if that's good or bad?

She would like it too, they have something for everybody. They not only have tractors, but cars, trucks, and tons of antiques and displays around the perimeter of the building. And a gift shop too, with lots of diecast models, books, T shirts, etc.

If she goes and passes a lie detector test saying she didn't enjoy it, i'll give her her money back myself.

Or, she could always go to the pet store across the street and talk to the cockatoos.

[1958 F.W.D.]

She would like it too, they have something for everybody. They not only have tractors, but cars, trucks, and tons of antiques and displays around the perimeter of the building. And a gift shop too, with lots of diecast models, books, T shirts, etc.

If she goes and passes a lie detector test saying she didn't enjoy it, i'll give her her money back myself.

She and I have an agreement- I don't make her go to truck shows, firetruck shows, etc.....and she doesn't make me go shopping or other girly shit with her......It's an agreement that works out quite well. I would prefer not to test it's success thus far or else I might find myself in a mall a week later losing 6 hours of my life as she looks at clothing.

**EDIT: She does like to go to the Family Picnic at Macungie for the music and family atmosphere, and will make an *occasional* appearance at the show itself if her work schedule allows and she is in the area (she's a visiting nurse and does do visits out that way) but thats usually just to stop by and say Hi and have lunch. She does not walk around the show...

[other dog]

She and I have an agreement- I don't make her go to truck shows, firetruck shows, etc.....and she doesn't make me go shopping or other girly shit with her......It's an agreement that works out quite well. I would prefer not to test it's success thus far or else I might find myself in a mall a week later losing 6 hours of my life as she looks at clothing.

they sell clothes at the gift shop too...lots of clothes...and shoes, they're loaded with shoes.

[1958 F.W.D.]

Final trip report:

When last we parted ways on this thread I was speaking of our adventures on a moist Saturday. By 2 or 3pm the rain had subsided, however it was still quite overcast and just "ugly." The humidity was quite high but it wasn't very hot out so it wasn't all that bad. We ended the Ranger Battlefield Hike around 6pm, and headed back to camp. We jumped in the pool to cool down, and then went back to our site and made dinner- bacon cheese burgers and corn roasted over the camp fire. I wrapped the corn (husks and all) with tinfoil 3 or 4 wraps (yes Hatcity, enough for a new hat for you) and placed them on a fine seasoned pine plank old skids that I got from buddy and cut up for firewood because I'm too cheap to go buy sawn firewood I built up other fine pine planks around the wrapped husks of corn and rotated them every few minutes. It worked beautifully- the finished product only required a slight dusting of salt and pepper. No butter required!! I got a couple of fresh 80/20 ground beef burgers from the Giant (no frozen patties for us...) and we had some bacon leftover from breakfast, and fresh kaiser rolls. MMMMM good eatin!

Sunday Morning the weather was quite lovely. We woke up early, struck camp, packed up and jumped in the shower. We checked out of the campground and headed back over to the battlefield to finish up our driving tour. We visited the three other important locations (The Peach Orchard, The "Angle" and The Lutheran Seminary) we wanted to check out, plus smaller "not as important" places. We drove around and visited these locations until about 1:00pm and then hammered down for Home.

The "Copse of Trees" as seen from behind the Union Line. When Pickett's Divisions received their orders to advance on the Union center, they were told to head for this thicket of trees which could be seen from the Confederate Lines on Seminary Ridge.

The fields/location generally known as "The Angle." These are the fields and location across which Pickett's Divisions advanced to their destiny- which we all know became the bloodiest skirmish of the bloodiest battle on North American Soil. This photo taken from the area that later became known as "The High Water Mark" as Pickett's Charge was thought to be the beginning of the end of the Confederacy.

This monument for the 72nd Pennsylvania Infantry is located just to the right of the Copse of Trees. The Philadelphia Fire Zouaves (members of the Philadelphia Fire Department) were part of the 72nd Pa. Infantry. At first I had thought "wow the Philly Guys had a good piece of Pickett's boys....... But was later corrected in that the 72nd Pa. was behind the lines in reserve. This monument was supposed to be placed at their reserve location, but groups of 72nd Veterans sued for some reason and it was placed on the lines. Nevertheless, several groups of Pa. Infantry Regiments were indeed involved in the repel of Pickett's Charge.

This is the Pennsylvania Monument. It's huge. There is a set of spiral stairs inside so that you can climb up to the observation deck. The bronze panels around the base have the names of each and every member of every Pa. Unit (infantry/Artillery/Cavalry....Etc...)

The view from the observation deck looking south down the Union Line towards the Round Tops.

Important landmarks

Union re-enactors performing some demonstrations

Our next stop was the Peach Orchard. Didn't take many pictures. In the area however, we did find the monument of the Second Fire Zoauves of the VFDNY (Volunteer Fire Dept of the City of New York.) They were part of the 4th Regiment of Dan Sickle's Excelsior Brigade (2nd Division/3rd Corps.) For those of you unfamiliar with Dan Sickles, he was a politician with family wealth, that bought his way up the ranks into his position with his wealth and political influence. He never had any formal military training nor ever attended any military schools. His original position was towards the southern end of the union lines in the area of the Round Tops, but he decided he didn't like it. So without permission and without advance notice, and certainly against orders, he advanced his brigade 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile forward to the area of the Peach Orchard- not only leaving a huge gap in the Union line which Longstreet tried to exploit, but they were also handed their asses at the Peach Orchard. Sickles was an arrogant bastard- he was the first person known to have used the Insanity Defense when he murdered the lover of his wife (the son of Francis Scott Key.) He lost his leg at Gettysburg, which ended his Military career (many union officers were thankful for this) but he managed to smoke screen everyone and somehow got a Medal of Honor for his actions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Sickles

Anyways, enough about Sickles. Here are some pics of the Second Fire Zoauves monument.

And here's a pic of a hydrant at the Sherfy House, the Fire Zoauves are in the background.

[1958 F.W.D.]

And our last stop was McPherson's Ridge and the area surrounding the Lutheran Seminary. There were many many people out since it was a gorgeous Sunday morning, with a lot of traffic, plus we were yammering to get home. As many of you know, this is the area where the Rebs came into town via the Chambersburg Pike (modern day US 30) on the morning of July 1 and ran into what they assumed were local Militiamen, instead they wound up tangling with elements of Buford's Cavalry and later in the day Reynold's 1st and 11th Corps.

It should be noted that dumbass me forgot to pack the camera- so each and every one of these were taken with my cell phone, hence one of the other reasons I didn't take very many pictures.

For you out-of-towners, the battle at Gettysburg on July 1-2-3 of 1863 was the boodiest battle ever fought on North American soil. There were over 50,000 casualties between fatally woundeds, mortally woundeds, woundeds, or MIA's. It was a humbling experience to visit these hallowed grounds. If anyone ever wishes to visit Gettysburg, I cannot recommend the book "The Maps of Gettysburg" (by Gilbert Gottfried) enough. Buy it, read it and then carry it with you on the battlefield as you do the NPS's self-guided driving tour- here's a link

http://www.nps.gov/gett/planyourvisit/upload/GETT%20brochure.pdf

I would allow at least three full days to do Gettysburg, between the driving tour of the battlefields and the various museums in town.

That's all I got. Thank's for playing along, and have a pleasant day!