Visit the Gettysburg National Military Park

The Gettysburg National Military Park is one of the most historic places in the U.S., and one of the saddest as well. After spending a few hours in the town of Gettysburg on Easter, we headed for the battlefield.

Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center and Museum (1195 Baltimore Pike). The Visitor Center is the perfect place to begin your tour of the Battlefield. You can get a free auto tour brochure here, which details battle locales and monuments.

The Gettysburg Museum of the Civil War located here features relics of the Battle and data on notable Civil War personages. The film, "A New Birth of Freedom," narrated by Morgan Freeman, is shown before you are taken in to see the restored 1884 Gettysburg Cyclorama, depicting "Pickett's Charge," the deciding battle of Gettysburg.

The Cyclorama is a 360-degree painting-in-the-round, measuring 377 feet by 42 feet. A three-dimensional diorama carries the painted scene into the foreground, giving the illusion of being surrounded by the intensity of battle.

The Resource Room offers computers for further research, and the spacious Museum Bookstore offers historical literature and souvenirs. Finally, the Refreshment Saloon, a large cafeteria modeled after actual saloons that existed during the Civil War, offers beverages and sandwiches. Visitor Center Website

Tour Options: If you'd like to sit back and enjoy a guided tour of the battlefield, take a guided bus tour that disembarks at key spots. Visit the Gettysburg Foundation's page here for bus tour details, or the Gettysburg Battle Tours site here. You can also drive your own vehicle with an auto-tour tape available at the Center Bookstore, hire a Licensed Battlefield Guide to ride in your vehicle, or take a self-guided walking or bike tour.

Park Ranger-guided walking tours also meet at several designated areas. Finally, when we got lost leaving the auto-tour route searching for Little Round Top, we pulled into The National Riding Stables at Artillery Ridge, 610 Taneytown Road, which offers horseback tours of the battlefield. Without reservations on a holiday weekend, however, we were out of luck.

Monuments: There are far too many monuments at Gettysburg to recount them all, but noteworthy is The Pennsylvania Monument on Hancock and Pleasonton Avenues. The largest monument on the battlefield, it is topped by a statue of Winged Victory by sculptor Samuel Murray.

The monument is decorated with stone carvings of the battle, bronze statues and likenesses of the generals, and bronze plaques listing the names of every Pennsylvania soldier who fought at Gettysburg. Dedicated in 1910, it is the only state monument to record the names of all of that state's participants. Since I had ancestors who fought in the Civil War, I spent a good bit of time searching for names, but since it was a difficult German name, and the records from those days didn't always reflect the correct spelling, I had little luck. For the hardy, steps lead up to a viewing area near the top of the monument.

See my slideshow here of the Gettysburg Monuments for photos of monuments dedicatted to the 95th Pennsylvania Regiment, the 42nd New York Infantry and the Sixth Ohio Cavalry.

Devil's Den (Sickles Avenue): I was in awe of this massive boulder field, that was called Devil's Den long before the Battle. The huge granite formations, six to 15 feet high, and steep cliffs render a visitor speechless, as you try to visualize a battery of Union soldiers entrenched and hidden here. Confederates struck the Den from three directions at once, driving the Union soldiers out to Little Round Top. Pastures around the base of the Den are still littered with piles of rocks. Soldiers lost their way in this stone garden, scrambling behind boulders for protection. The Union forces were forced to retreat. See slideshow here.

Sachs Covered Bridge: A little off the beaten path on Waterworks Road is the Sachs Covered Bridge. Built in 1854 as Sauh's Bridge, it was repaired in 1997 after heavy rains washed it downstream and 75% of the original materials were retrieved. Used by the Union and Rebel soldiers during the Battle, on July 3rd and 4th, 1863, a portion of the Confederate army retreated over this bridge. The bridge is, of course, reputed to be haunted. Directions to Bridge (go to middle of page).

Totally worn out by 5:00, we grabbed a bite to eat and headed for the Turnpike, grateful that the Union survived, and sad that this terrible war took so many fine men, on both sides. Perhaps we should ponder more on this in these acrimonious days.
SLIDESHOW (Miscellaneous Photos)
Sources: Visitor Center and Museum - Plan Your Visit; Cyclorama; Pennsylvania Monument; Story of the Battle at Devil's Den; Sachs Covered Bridge; Sites for More Information on Monuments: History of 95^th Pennsylvania Regiment; 42^nd New York Infantry; Sixth Ohio Cavalry; Confederate Monuments