"The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here." - Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address

For my trip to the Gettysburg National Battlefield Park, please visit The Distracted Wanderer for the original post. Thank you!

A Glimpse of Gettysburg

I had hoped to have my post about the day the girls and I spent touring the Gettysburg National Battlefield ready to go for today but alas, I've still got about 170 more pictures to edit and cull through before I finally can start working on the post itself. Yeah, yeah - I know, I take WAY too many pictures!

In the meantime, while I'm working on that in between work and chores and sleep and all that other fun "real life" stuff, I thought I'd share just a couple pictures from last Monday. This first one is of Amanda and Darci that was taken near the Peace Light -

This second one is Amanda and I on top of the monument for the 12th New York Regiment located on Little Round Top overlooking The Valley of Death.

I wanted to have a picture taken there as my son Michael and I had our picture taken on the same monument when we visited Gettysburg in 1999. Gee, what a difference ten years makes - at least for my hair - but the sky looks rather the same, doesn't it?

I hope I don't have to wait another ten years to have a picture taken there with Jamie one of these days!

Hunting the Ghosts of Gettysburg

Following the completion of Edgar Allan Poe's funeral service (featured in the post below) on Sunday evening, the girls and I headed northwest to Pennsylvania and Gettysburg - one of my very favorite places in the country. I've been to Gettysburg several times in the past (the first time being back in the late 1970's when I was stationed at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey) and each and every time it has fascinated and awed me. There's really no good way to describe the feeling I have at the National Battlefield and the area surrounding it and I wanted to share that with Amanda and Darci in the hopes that perhaps they, too, would come to understand and appreciate some of the struggles our country has gone through to become the Nation that it is. I honestly don't believe that there is a more hallowed ground anywhere despite the fact that Gettysburg - sadly - is not anywhere near the only battlefield in this country.

The last time I was at Gettysburg was with my cousin Amy back in May of 2002 and the time before that she and I had gone down with my son, Michael, shortly after he had graduated from high school. Initially Michael had that typical teenage are-you-kidding-me kind of attitude but that changed after we were there for awhile. Consequently this wasn't my first journey to Gettysburg with teenagers in tow and I was hoping that my previous experience would help out if they got to the are-you-kidding-me stage.

As Poe's funeral ended up running almost 2-1/2 hours, it was pitch black by the time we arrived in Gettysburg after 8:00 so consequently the girls had no idea what the countryside around us looked like. We drove through town and out to our hotel - the Quality Inn that is on the site of General Lee's former headquarters across from the Lutheran Theological Seminary - site of the first of the three days' fighting in Gettysburg.

I'd always wanted to stay there and it was a lovely hotel (probably the best one of our whole trip). After checking out the room and putting our stuff away, we drove to the Pizza Hut just down the road a bit and fortified ourselves with stuffed crust pizza before moving on to the rest of our agenda for the night - a ghost hunt with a blogging buddy of mine from Virginia!

This is Patty and she writes the blog Autumn's Meadow as well as A Haunting We Will Go. I knew from reading her blog that Patty had planned to be in Gettysburg in October with her husband Dean and I was lucky that it turned out to be the same time that the girls and I were going to be there. Patty is an amateur ghost-hunter so I knew I'd finally be able to go on one of the many ghost tours that Gettysburg is famous for. There is no way on God's green earth that my cousin Amy would ever go on one with me when we were there but it was something I had always wanted to do. The girls were pretty excited about it, too, as the walk that we were going on was touted as an actual ghost hunt with actual ghost hunting equipment like night vision sensors, infrared viewers, thermal sensor digital recorders, EVP meters, and that sort of stuff. We weren't just going to walk around and be told scary stories - we were going in search of some ghosts!

After checking in at the Farnsworth House, one of the more famous spots for ghost tours in Gettysburg, we gathered out front with about 15 other people waiting for our guide, Gwen, to finish guzzling half a bottle of Coke before we headed out into the night. Apparently she'd had a long day and was in desperate need of caffeine which then gave her a desperate case of the giggles. The girls liked Gwen but I thought she was kind of a ditz and could have done a better job explaining to us how the equipment worked. Thankfully Patty and Dean had a pretty good idea of the technology involved so after being divided into groups, off we went in search of some of the supernatural.

The area that we were taken to is known as The Grove, one of the most haunted areas on the battlefield which is located on the northernmost territory of Cemetery Ridge. Gwen gave us a brief run-down of what transpired during the fighting in the area on the second day of battle involving the Louisiana Fighting Tigers who had a reputation as being some of the fiercest, hardest-fighting, assault troops in General Lee's army. She pointed out what spots would be best for our hunt then plunked herself down on a rock to smoke cigarettes while we wandered around in the dark being careful not to trip over dark roots or any of the walnuts lying around!

While everyone else in our tour group headed out across the school fields towards a lake behind the trees underneath which bodies supposedly lie; Dean, Patty, Darci, Amanda, and I headed towards the woods at the foot of Cemetery Ridge.

While everyone else tried out the high-tech equipment, I took a camera and just started snapping pictures in the dark to see if I captured any interesting orbs or the like. Generally speaking, you've got no idea what you may or may not have gotten in the picture until you get the chance to upload them to a computer. In the shot above, if you look carefully you can see a small orb in the left corner in a small patch of night sky. It looks solid enough to be an actual orb and not a bit of dust (which produces orbs that are generally translucent). Also, it was close to midnight and as it was pretty cold and damp, I don't think there was a whole lot of dust flying around out there. I could be wrong, of course!

In the pictures above, Amanda and Patty use some of the newer ghost-hunting equipment and Amanda and Darci also took turns using the dowsing rods - not a piece of new-fangled technology but the oldest form of divination known to man - to "talk" to any spirits that happened to be in the area. Darci had a pretty good "conversation" going on for awhile before we moved over to the area behind the bleachers where, during excavation to build them, several bodies were found. Eventually 59 bodies were recovered in the area but there were supposed to be 60 and no one knows what happened to the last one. Gwen had told us to pay particular attention to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th areas of the bleachers ...

We never did get over to the lake where everyone else was still hunting around but in an area just east of the bleachers, Amanda got the following picture of what looks like some sort of mist forming right in front of her as well as an orb at the top.

I should point out that Gwen had told us to take pictures in groups of three and in the other two shots that Amanda took of this same area, there wasn't even a smudge. This one you could see while it was still in the camera, too, so there was no waiting to get back to upload the pictures. I was walking right next to Amanda when she took this and I can vouch for the fact that there was nothing there at the time that I could see with my naked eye - no breath condensation, no one walking in front of her - nothing.

In this picture, Dean and I were walking back across the field towards the rocks where Gwen was sitting and Amanda decided to snap a couple pictures. For some reason she really likes strange angles - well, either that or it was too dark for her to see where she had the camera pointed! I'm not sure whether Dean and I are walking through a field of dust or a group of orbs but either way I thought it was interesting and it looks like there might be one or two "legitimate" orbs floating around. I do remember feeling like "wow, it just got really cold" when we were walking back and a slight sense of unease so maybe this explains why.

Following our "hunt" we all gathered back together and walked back to the Farnsworth House were Gwen offered to come back out and talk to people after she had changed into her street clothes if they were so inclined. Both Amanda and Darci wanted to stay so even though it was way past midnight and getting chilly, we all hung around for a bit to chat.

As the girls sat on the steps, Patty and I sat in a couple of the chairs that were on the porch but as we were sitting there I just kept getting colder and colder and felt like there was a cold breeze blowing even though the night air was totally still. I asked Patty if she felt the same thing and she said she did while no one else who was gathered around Gwen (who was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the sidewalk with her pet ferret) felt all that cold or noticed any wind. Finally Patty and I got up and walked over closer to where everyone else was and I decided to turn around and snap a couple of pictures of the chairs that we were sitting in ...

Patty had been in the white chair while I occupied the brown rocking chair next to her and what should be between the two chairs but a very solid orb? In the second picture, it's obviously not there. Hmmm ...

So, was our ghost-hunting adventure a success or a flop? If a success means that we got some 'strange' things on pictures, felt some 'strange' things, and even caught the occasional whiff of pipe tobacco and the like then I'd say that "yes, it was". Also, considering that both girls had a really good time and had to be dragged back to the hotel at 1:30 in the morning then yes, it was definitely a success!

I wish we'd had more time to spend with Patty and Dean but Monday was going to be a whirlwind tour of the battlefield for the girls and I before heading to Lancaster that evening to put Darci on a train to Philadelphia and Patty and Dean had plans of their own. However, I've told Patty that we definitely need to meet again and do some more exploring of the area - next time without an overly-caffeinated, bubblehead of a tour guide who spent more time giggling than anything else. The National Battlefield doesn't close until 10:00 at night so perhaps we can head out to the Valley of Death and a haunting we will go!

"To Ponder and Dream ..."

"In great deeds, something abides. On great fields something stays. Forms change and pass; bodies disappear, but spirits linger, to consecrate the 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."
- Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, 1886

Greetings from Gettysburg!

Just time for a quick post before heading out the door to explore as much of Gettysburg as we can before heading over to Lancaster later tonight to put Darci on a train to Philadelphia.

So far the trip has been great and Poe's funeral yesterday was well worth the drive back down to Baltimore. I've got lots of pictures of the speakers - both living and dead - who were at the service that I need to sort through as well as lots of other pictures but for now I'll leave you with this one of the procession to Westminster Hall -

It's kind of cloudy and chilly out today but I'm thankful it isn't raining as that would be a huge disappointment to me in showing Amanda some of one of the places I love best in this country. I hope she likes it half as much as I do.

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt - Shadows

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For this week, TNChick, gave us the Photo Hunter theme of "Shadows". Even though I used this picture recently in one of my slideshows for my post on The Battle of Gettysburg, I thought it might be nice to use it again.

This pictures shows shadows across the fields where Pickett's Charge took place on July 3rd, 1863 - land that stretched three-quarters of a mile from Seminary Ridge near Spangler's Woods where the Confederates were staged to Cemetery Ridge where the Army of the Potomac waited.

Commander of the Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee ordered a full frontal attack on the Union troops and 12,000 to 15,000 Southerners led by Major General George E. Pickett charged across this very field towards the Union center . The plan proved disastrous, however as only 5,000 Southerners survived the charge and shortly afterwards Lee retreated to Virginia ending the Battle of Gettysburg, the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.

As one of the darkest days in the history of our country, shadows across this field seem only fitting.

"We are met on a great battlefield of that war." ~ President Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address

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July 1st, 1863 saw the beginning of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War in a small town in southern Pennsylvania known as Gettysburg. What began as a skirmish turned into three days of fierce fighting between 160,000 Americans that in the end claimed 28,000 Confederate causalities in dead, wounded and missing as well as Union casualties totaling another 23,000.

For me to try to explain in entirety the three days of fighting that occurred in this small Pennsylvania town in the blistering heat of early July would require a virtual novel that would probably take me hours to write and you to read. It was a battle that never should have happened where it happened or when it happened but it did and it is cited as the turning point in the War Between the States.

Shortly after his success over the Army of the Potomac at Chancellorsville, Virginia General Robert E. Lee led his Army of Northern Virginia into Northern territory in the hopes of finding supplies for his troops. He also hoped to pressure Northern politicians to give up on the war in support of the growing peace movement in the North while he threatened Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia with his 73,000 troops.

Meanwhile, President Abraham Lincoln had replaced yet another of his incompetent commanders, Major General Joseph Hooker who resigned shortly after his defeat at Chancellorsville, with Major General George Meade who took over command of the Army of the Potomac on June 28th, 1863. Meade was ordered by Lincoln to pursue Lee and run him back out of Pennsylvania.

The battle began almost by accident as the result of a chance meeting engagement between Confederate infantry under the command of Major General Henry Heth and Union cavalry led by General John Buford just south of Gettysburg. Buford knew the importance of maintaining the high ground in battle and fought valiantly to defend the land around the Lutheran Theological Seminary. It was during the fighting on the first day that popular Union commander Major General John Reynolds died while directing troop and artillery placement when he was struck by a single bullet behind his right ear.

Though the Union was fighting a losing battle at this point, General Lee had no idea how many troops might be in reserve as his Calvary Commander, Major General J.E.B. Stuart was not to be found. Even though he did not have the "eyes" of his calvary, Lee knew that if the Union Army held the high ground they would have an advantage over the Confederate Army so he sent orders to Lt. General Richard S. Ewell, his Second Corps Commander, to take Cemetery Hill "if practicable". Not knowing what lie on the other side of the ridge, Ewell chose not to attempt the assault, a decision that resulted in a missed great opportunity for the Confederacy as had he pursued they would have not only won the day but the battle as well.

With the arrival of the remainder of the Army of the Potomac throughout the night and the early morning of July 2nd, the second day of battle saw fierce fighting between two armies at their maximum strength at Little Round Top, Cemetery Hill, and Culp's Hill. The Union lines formed what is known as a "fishhook" formation while Confederate lines stretched for nearly five miles in length.

As fighting raged in The Wheatfield and Devil's Den, the 20th Maine, under the command of Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain, held their precarious hold of Little Round Top, an important hill at the extreme left of the Union line, with a bayonet charge that became one of the most fabled stories of the Civil War. For his gallantry, Colonel Chamberlain, a college professor from Maine who became one of the Union's most respected and well-liked officers, was awarded the Medal of Honor and given the honor of commanding the Union troops at the surrender ceremony ending the war at Appomattox Court House on April 9th, 1865.

The third day of battle saw seven hours of fierce fighting by Lee's forces in attempt to take Culp's Hill from the Union troops which ended in defeat at approximately 11:00 a.m. At that point Lee was forced to change plans and decided to launch an attack on the Federal II Corps position at the right center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. At approximately 3:00 p.m., 12,500 Southern soldiers in nine infantry brigades stepped from the ridgeline and advanced three-quarters of a mile across the open Pennsylvania fields towards a copse of trees that marked the Union line in an attack that became known as "Pickett's Charge". Although some Confederates were able to breach the stone wall that shielded many of the Union defenders, they could not maintain their hold and were repulsed with over 50% casualties.

Lt. General James Longstreet argued with General Lee against the attack predicting its futility, a move that made him very unpopular with the South after the war ended, but Lee insisted that it was the right move. It wasn't. "Pickett's Charge" was a bloodbath with horrendous command losses as Pickett's three brigade commanders and all thirteen of his regimental commanders were casualties of the attack; in all his division suffered 2,655 casualties . The results were an avoidable mistake from which the Southern war effort never fully recovered.

On July 4th, as weary troops faced each other across the bloody fields, Major General George Meade decided not to pursue another attack. This was an action for which he was later severely criticized and the opportunity to end the war passed as the bulk of Lee's Northern Virginia Army left Gettysburg in a driving rain on July 5th. Meade's army followed but the effort was half-hearted and Lee's troops managed to escape over the Potomac River and back into Southern territory before the Union Army was able to catch up and subdue them.

The defeat of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia electrified the North and any hopes of peace were dashed for both sides as the war continued on for almost another two years of bloody fighting with enormous losses on both sides.

Today the U.S. National Park Service maintains both Gettysburg National Cemetery, dedicated by President Abraham Lincoln's famous Gettysburg Address on November 19th, 1863, and Gettysburg National Military Park as two of the nation's most revered historical landmarks visited by thousands upon thousands each year.

There is no way to describe what it feels like to visit this hallowed ground. I have been to Gettysburg four times - the first two when I was stationed at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey in the late 70's; another time in July of 1999 with my cousin Amy and son Michael; and a fourth time with Amy in May of 2001 as the final leg of our "Battlefield Vacation". I hope to go again several times over.

I have taken the 19.5 mile auto tour route with a pre-recorded tape for a guide; I have taken the two-hour Battle of Gettysburg tour on an open air Double-Decker bus; and I have toured the battlefield on horseback which allowed me the opportunity to see the view across Seminary Ridge towards Cemetery Hill just as Lee, Longstreet, and Pickett might have seen it on the morning of July 3rd - minus, of course, the incoming artillery fire. Each and every time I have been blown away by the magnitude of what happened on those fields and in those woods and I leave with a greater sense of respect and awe for those men who died fighting to keep our country as one Nation under God.

By the same token, I also understand how desperately the Confederacy believed in what they were fighting for and just how noble their cause was, too. It boggles my mind to know that brother fought brother - neighbor fought neighbor - and each believed firmly that God was on their side. Go to Gettysburg - walk amongst the thousands of monuments left to those men who died on the fields there - close your eyes and picture the ground running red with their blood - and then come back and tell me you felt nothing. I will be happy to call you a liar.

In conclusion, I would like to leave you with the words of President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address to reflect upon as we approach our Fourth of July holiday:

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."