The second day of our vacation we spent in Gettysburg, PA. This was the focus of our trip as this is the location that Traci really wanted to see. We stayed at the Farnsworth Inn. It was a old inn located at the edge of the hill where they had the battle known as Pickett's Charge, one of the bloodiest of the siege. The hotel was used as a field hospital so it saw it's share of the action. There is still over 100 musket ball holes in the facade of the building from shoots fired. The Inn is suppose to be haunted, so that's why we chose it. We DESPERATELY tried to come up with something ghostly, but to no avail. It was very cool and we enjoyed our stay.
One of the hundreds of statues and markers that fan out over the battlefields. These battlefields go on for miles in every direction. There is a driving tour that takes you around the battlefield locations with markers and monuments that tell which divisions for which army fought there. At first, it gets sort of monotonous, then after awhile the gravity and sheer numbers start to sink in and then you progress to amazement, then finally to reverence at the sacrifice of these people. The battles where fought on July 1-2-3 of 1863. If you are familiar with this area at all you know how hot and humid it was. These men had on long sleeve wool uniforms and carried packs and rifles that weighed over 40 lbs. I tried to lift one of their field packs and couldn't even get it off the floor. Imagine marching from as far North as Maine and as far South as Florida with all that on just to arrive on the battlefront and fight for three days in the heat, with the noise of cannons and screams, and shooting, and yelling. It is humbling beyond imagination to stand there and see it all laid out in front of you. I kept trying to imagine the dedication of these men to their beliefs that they were willing to day after day after day suffer like they did, yet remain loyal to whatever it was they believed. You can really feel the heaviness of the war there; it really still lingers.
This statue was my favorite and was donated by the state of Louisiana. This angel hovering over a slain soldier is so beautiful. It was so heartbreaking because you can barely see it ,but the solder's toes are sticking out the front of his worn out boots. All those miles of marching in worn out boots, feet throbbing, itching from the heat and bugs, hungry, thirsty, lonely. Heartbreaking
Now to lighten up the mood, this is my favorite picture of Old Abe Lincoln Cole. He is so serious!!!!!
This is our room in Gettysburg. It was a theme room that centered around General Custer. I didn't even know Custer was in the civil war, I just thought he fought the Indians and got his ass kicked. But, he did fight at Gettysburg, and in fact was the soldier that preserved the while flag that Lee used to surrender at the end of the war.
Traci on our first day in Gettysburg. This sign is located on Cemetery Hill across from the Pickett's Charge Hill
Another marker with an incredibly handsome man and his lovely daughter
Of course, I had to have a photo in front of the Alabama state marker. I am Rebel to the core. Not that I don't think the North was right, I do and they were/are. But, I still am southern to the core. When Cliff and I first got together, I told him he may have been born in Colorado, but he was a southern rebel in his soul. Over and over, I kept telling him that. We finally traced a bit of his genealogy and sure enough, his family came from Kentucky to Arkansas, to Texas, then to Oklahoma, and finally to Colorado. That's my hot Dixie Chicken!!
Clifford riding into battle. As you can see the officer he has hitched a ride with is none to pleased with his attempt at hitchhiking and is turning around to tell him to get his butt off his horse. There is another picture of Clifford retaliating by hitting the officer in the $%^@&*( but I won't post that!!!!HA
This was taken outside the Willis House where Lincoln spent the night before he gave the Gettysburg address. I didn't know that he gave the Gettysburg address at the dedication of the National Cemetery. I guess after the battle of Gettysburg they buried the dead in hastily made graves that weren't very deep. As soon as it rained the first time it flooded and uncovered many of the dead soldiers. It was such a mess that the Sec of War said something had to be done so they expanded a cemetery that existed at the top of the hill and reburied the soldiers there. It is a beautiful setting. Most of the graves re marked UNKNOWN as we had no dog tags or identifying markers for the slain men then. Unless they had a letter on them or someone knew them, they were just unknown. SO sad. There was over 52,000. casualties at Gettysburg and 650,000 for the whole war. That was over 10% of the nations population at the time. They say it wiped out and entire generation of men.
The second day of our vacation we spent in Gettysburg, PA. This was the focus of our trip as this is the location that Traci really wanted to see. We stayed at the Farnsworth Inn. It was a old inn located at the edge of the hill where they had the battle known as Pickett's Charge, one of the bloodiest of the siege. The hotel was used as a field hospital so it saw it's share of the action. There is still over 100 musket ball holes in the facade of the building from shoots fired. The Inn is suppose to be haunted, so that's why we chose it. We DESPERATELY tried to come up with something ghostly, but to no avail. It was very cool and we enjoyed our stay.
One of the hundreds of statues and markers that fan out over the battlefields. These battlefields go on for miles in every direction. There is a driving tour that takes you around the battlefield locations with markers and monuments that tell which divisions for which army fought there. At first, it gets sort of monotonous, then after awhile the gravity and sheer numbers start to sink in and then you progress to amazement, then finally to reverence at the sacrifice of these people. The battles where fought on July 1-2-3 of 1863. If you are familiar with this area at all you know how hot and humid it was. These men had on long sleeve wool uniforms and carried packs and rifles that weighed over 40 lbs. I tried to lift one of their field packs and couldn't even get it off the floor. Imagine marching from as far North as Maine and as far South as Florida with all that on just to arrive on the battlefront and fight for three days in the heat, with the noise of cannons and screams, and shooting, and yelling. It is humbling beyond imagination to stand there and see it all laid out in front of you. I kept trying to imagine the dedication of these men to their beliefs that they were willing to day after day after day suffer like they did, yet remain loyal to whatever it was they believed. You can really feel the heaviness of the war there; it really still lingers.
This statue was my favorite and was donated by the state of Louisiana. This angel hovering over a slain soldier is so beautiful. It was so heartbreaking because you can barely see it ,but the solder's toes are sticking out the front of his worn out boots. All those miles of marching in worn out boots, feet throbbing, itching from the heat and bugs, hungry, thirsty, lonely. Heartbreaking
Now to lighten up the mood, this is my favorite picture of Old Abe Lincoln Cole. He is so serious!!!!!
This is our room in Gettysburg. It was a theme room that centered around General Custer. I didn't even know Custer was in the civil war, I just thought he fought the Indians and got his ass kicked. But, he did fight at Gettysburg, and in fact was the soldier that preserved the while flag that Lee used to surrender at the end of the war.
Traci on our first day in Gettysburg. This sign is located on Cemetery Hill across from the Pickett's Charge Hill
Another marker with an incredibly handsome man and his lovely daughter
Of course, I had to have a photo in front of the Alabama state marker. I am Rebel to the core. Not that I don't think the North was right, I do and they were/are. But, I still am southern to the core. When Cliff and I first got together, I told him he may have been born in Colorado, but he was a southern rebel in his soul. Over and over, I kept telling him that. We finally traced a bit of his genealogy and sure enough, his family came from Kentucky to Arkansas, to Texas, then to Oklahoma, and finally to Colorado. That's my hot Dixie Chicken!!
Clifford riding into battle. As you can see the officer he has hitched a ride with is none to pleased with his attempt at hitchhiking and is turning around to tell him to get his butt off his horse. There is another picture of Clifford retaliating by hitting the officer in the $%^@&*( but I won't post that!!!!HA
This was taken outside the Willis House where Lincoln spent the night before he gave the Gettysburg address. I didn't know that he gave the Gettysburg address at the dedication of the National Cemetery. I guess after the battle of Gettysburg they buried the dead in hastily made graves that weren't very deep. As soon as it rained the first time it flooded and uncovered many of the dead soldiers. It was such a mess that the Sec of War said something had to be done so they expanded a cemetery that existed at the top of the hill and reburied the soldiers there. It is a beautiful setting. Most of the graves re marked UNKNOWN as we had no dog tags or identifying markers for the slain men then. Unless they had a letter on them or someone knew them, they were just unknown. SO sad. There was over 52,000. casualties at Gettysburg and 650,000 for the whole war. That was over 10% of the nations population at the time. They say it wiped out and entire generation of men. 
1 comment:
that is such a wonderful post. I've been to that area but never got to tour. I wish I had. The story you tell is sad but also makes me proud too. I love the photo's you are sharing. Tatiana is better today but I'm still tired!!
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