Gettysburg

(By Chris)

So Saturday we decided to go to Gettysburg. It wasn't freezing cold, so we just went. (did the whole day for about 20 bucks, hahahah) We listened to an audiobook about the battle the whole way, and instead of starting at the visitors's center, we started on the southern end, where Gen. Longstreet brought up his division of 15,000 infantry around the second day to (almost) take little round-top. We had a picnic right where a southern artillery battery had fought, and read each marker, slowly piecing together what happened on the way.Having to deduce what happened really made me use my imagination... I was stunned that Lee had not simply retired from the field. My first thought upon seeing the terrain advantage Meade had was "he must have been nuts!". My audiobook explained that Lee had no "eyes", Gen Stuart's cavalry brigade was out raiding (due to his huge ego), and Lee was probably overconfident after his big win at Chancelorville.

Anyway, on both sides it was apparent that big egos and vast incompetence of Generals led to a lot of needless deaths. Hmmm, never seen that today.... ;) Still, as we surveyed the battlefield and read about what these men did, I was overwhelmed at the courage and sacrifice of these soldiers on both sides of the battlefield. Maybe Lincoln was right when he said that the "brave men, living and dead, have already consecrated... (this land) far above our poor power to add or detract." (Yes, I memorized that for McFarland's class in high school) Anyway, I really felt that... the battlefield really moved me, and was almost a spiritual experience.

P.S. from Laura:

When I was a kid my parents took us to Gettysburg. We had an in-car guide who took us around the battlefield. My favorite part was when he got us out of the car to "reenact" loading and firing a cannon. The above picture of the cannon was taken in roughly the same spot as the one we took of us "loading" the cannon so many years ago. I seem to remember more trees though, so maybe these weren't actually the same cannons, but I couldn't find any others that reminded me so much of that day so many years ago.