Rob suggested that I gather some info about Gettysburg...maybe he will LINK this thread to the main thread about the G-burg gathering

Later, I am suggesting that this might be the site for posting 'other dining options' for Friday night, Sunday stayovers; local tourist sites of interest; etc. This could keep the main thread clear of ancillary clutter....

Here is brief info about the National Park and some history. You can click on 'in depth' for more background on the Battle of Gettysburg and the park. Click on 'Plan Your Visit' and then 'Maps' for some nice graphics showing the 3-day battle and the current driving tour (which will follow our 'Scenic Tour' on 10/ 7/06).

http://www.nps.gov/applications/parks/gett/

Click here for a story on the Battle of Gettysburg:

http://www.nps.gov/gett/getttour/main-ms.htm

 

Jerry,

This is an excellent thread and I hope you keep contributing to it.

Its a bit early as the meet is still a few months away. Lets bump this back to the top right after the NorEaster.

 

I was only suggesting that you add a LINK somewhere in your initial Gettysburg post.....probably not ever necessary to 'pin it' to the top

I don't envision it ever getting a lot of posting action....other than perhaps me, Ken/ Maury, Paul Taylor. It's more informational than conversational....

 

Seems like it's not very far from Gettysburg up to Harrisburg, so, for people really interested in Civil War stuff, don't forget to note that museum. Apart from their Appalling Omission*, it was a good experience and worth the fee.

*We went there, on an H-burg family visit, shortly after I'd read a book about the "Gettysburg of the West" (or whatever they call it), the battle at Glorieta Pass, in which a Union force from Colorado stopped the advance toward the Colorado gold fields of a force of Confederate soldiers who came up the Rio Grande from Texas. It's a huge deal out in New Mexico, but there's nary a word about in the H-burg museum, or wasn't when we were there. HPH

 

Thanks to Rob for suggesting it and Jerry for following up on this suggestion.

Although, I do not consider myself a "Civil War" buff, I at least have a rudimentry education about American History. I am amazed to learn time after time how many people do not have any knowledge of either the American Revolution or the Civil War. I guess that because I grew up in New York, I learned about the Civil War (the north won). I suppose that if I had grown up in the south, I may not have learned about it? (comments anyone?) I will use as the example what todays students (high school or college history classes) learn about the Viet Nam Conflict? Hmmm? What do you think that they learn?

Either way: This is very interesting thread and I thank you for doing it. I learned a few things that I did not know about the Battle of Gettysburg.

P.S. I still have to comment that I think that the Gettysburg Address is one of the most direct and most powerful pieces of oratory ever delievered.

 

I don't know Matt, I think you'd have learned about the Civil War even if you lived in the south. I don't think the south has ever hidden from it. Years ago, when I had to travel through the south, to visit customers and my subcontractors, one of the things that I was quite taken with was that every small town has a statue of a Civil War soldier (always facing south) in it's town center/square. I've also heard that to this day the south has a great deal of respect for and remembers its sons who fought and died for the Confederacy.

 

I enjoyed history in school. Did pretty well too, if I may so so myself. I think we covered the Civil War pretty extensively, though don't quiz me on it today.

I'm counting on Jerry for the refresher course in the fall.

What was that TV mini series about the Civil War? North and South, Blue and Gray? I'm not sure, but it was pretty informative if I remember correctly.

 

I stand corrected: I perhaps would have learned about it from a different perspective.

As you pointed out: Statues facing to the south is a telling sign.

 

Wish we were going on this trip with you..Sharon and I just got back from a 6 day stay in Gettysburg. We spend time there every year, during their "Heritage Days" Have been going there for the past 8 years. We have been studying the battle of Gettysburg, for more than 10 years. The Civil War....besides the "S" is our passion..!!! No matter how much you think you know, there is no end to what you can learn....Gettysburg is the most awesome place in the Northern Hemisphere, as far as the Civil War goes.....If you take time to walk the fields, that you forefather's did...late in the evening...close your eyes..and just imagine what these people did to their own brothers, for the beleif of their rights, whatsoever they may have been, it just makes you want to cry.
May I suggest, for those staying over...Have dinner at the Dobbin House, or the Cashtown Inn. Hope all have a wonderful time.

 

There is a convention used for many of the statues commemorating the Gettysburg battle participants. If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person was not wounded in battle.