Trip to Gettysburg, Pa

Hello all! I hope everyone had a good weekend. I finally got around to downloading some of my pictures from my trip to Gettysburg last month. This was my third trip to that fantastic little town but I think it's a site I will never get tired of visiting. There is always a new place to visit and something new to discover. I may have mentioned before but I do a lot of volunteer work at my local historical society. I'm also one of the intern coordinators for our student intern program. The interns help with research, cataloging, and when funds allow, we go on field trips to other museums and historic sites. Three of our seven student interns will be graduating from high school this spring so we wanted to our last big trip to be something special. Washington D.C. was just a bit too far and too expensive so we chose Gettysburg instead! Only four students were able to make the trip but we had a great time. 

This is the monument near the railroad cut (just to the right in the picture) where fighting on the first day of battle took place. I forget now which regiment that monument is dedicated to.

The interns and myself sitting inside the stump of one of the witness trees near Reynold's Woods where John Reynolds was killed on July 1, 1863. This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Monument to the Vermont Sharpshooters.

Below is one of my favorite monuments, and not just because its for Vermont. It depicts Brig. Gen. William Wells and marks the area of the South Cavalry Field where the 1st Vermont attacked the Confederate right on July 3, 1863.













The bronze relief on the 1st Vt. Cav. monument has been stolen couple times. There is so much detail and movement in this relief.

It was so cold and windy on Little Round Top that we only stayed a short time. I didn't take many pictures there. We didn't make it to Devil's Den either but that's ok as I've been there before.

This next picture may not seem very exciting but it's a location that has special meaning to me. This is the area where the 16th Vermont engaged Perry's Brigade during Pickett's Charge on July 3, 1863. My great, great, great uncle fought with Co. H. of the 16th Vermont. He was one of the lucky. He survived the war and returned home. We have pictures of him later in life taking part in soldier's reunions and memorial day services in our home town. He was an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) the veterans organization for Union veterans. We also have his GAR cane. He received an honorable discharge and to my knowledge was never wounded in battle.

Do any of you believe in ghosts? Ok, most likely those orbs are from the sun but hey, you never know. :)

Day two of our trip was to Antietam Battlefield. It should have only been a 45 minute drive from Gettysburg but after we missed our exit it turned out to be closer to an hour and 45 minutes! Ooops! We ended up traveling a winding, and very scenic, back road. Turns out this was the route the Confederates took on their forced march from Harpers Ferry to Sharpsburg. Along the way we saw the remains of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Antietam iron furnace.

We needed to get out and stretch our legs so we walked the loop around the cornfield were some of the bloodiest fighting of the Civil War took place. The area to the left in the picture is part of the East Woods. All those little white things you see are new trees protected by plastic tubes. I was very impressed at by the amount of work and dedication being done at both Gettysburg and Antietam to restore the battlefields to what they wold have looked like in the 1860s.

Even on a bright sunny spring day the Sunken Road, or Bloody Lane, was a bit eery.

Does this photo look familiar? It looks peaceful now but this is what it looked like shortly after the battle.

We ended our tour of Antietam with a visit to Burnside's Bridge.

 

I made a side trip to the Needle and Thread while I was in Gettysburg. I splurged purchased one of their crinoline cage kits. I've wanted one for a while now and have heard nothing but good things about them. I also couldn't resist leaving the store without some mustard yellow wool for a new 18th century gown. :)