by Mary Jo
In the way of such things, the Gettysburg battlefield isn't much more than an hour north of me and President Lincoln's train passed a mile or so from my house on his trip to speak at the dedication of the Gettysburg Soldiers National Cemetery in November 1863, yet I'd never made a real in-depth visit to the site.
However, the Mayhem Consultant has, and to celebrate the delivery of my Book That Would Not End, he took me to Gettysburg for an overnight getaway and a proper visit.
The Battle of Gettysburg has been widely studied and written about so I won't go into much detail. The brilliant Confederate General Robert E. Lee wanted to take the war to the north, into Pennsylvania, in hopes of persuading the North ti end the fighting. The town of Gettysburg had ten roads entering it so it was a good place to assemble.
The Union Army of the Potomac was led by General George Meade, who had been in charge for a mere three days when he had to face the Southern invasion. The three day battle was fought all around the town, and was the bloodiest of the Civil War with over 50,000 casualties. The South's brave and futile attack called Pickett's Charge was called "the High Water Mark of the Confederacy" and a spot on the battlefield is designated at such.
After three days of fierce fighting, the Union emerged victorious and Lee's army retreated. Though the war continued for another two years, this battle is considered the turning point.
There is much for modern visitors to see, including an excellent film explaining the origins of the war, the forces that led to the battle, and the battle itself. (Narrated by Morgan Freeman, which gives you an idea of the quality of the production!)
There is also a well restored cyclorama. Cycloramas were a popular phenomenon of the 19th century and consisted of a huge, drum shaped painting designed to put viewers into the center of the action.
Here is Wikipedia's description of the one we saw in the visitors center after viewing the movie:
The painting is the work of French artist Paul Dominique Philippoteaux. It depicts Pickett's Charge, the failed infantry assault that was the climax of the Battle of Gettysburg. The painting is a cyclorama, a type of 360° cylindrical painting. The intended effect is to immerse the viewer in the scene being depicted, often with the addition of foreground models and life-sized replicas to enhance the illusion. Among the sites documented in the painting are Cemetery Ridge, the Angle, and the "High-water mark of the Confederacy"….The version that hangs in Gettysburg, a recent (2005) restoration of the version created for Boston, is 42 feet (13 m) high and 377 feet (115 m) in circumference.
And I will say that it is dramatic, powerful, and sobering. It brings the battle alive as no school lesson could.
The battle also inspired one of the most powerful and honored speeches of American history, Lincoln's Gettysburg address. It is a myth that he jotted it on an envelope on his way to opening of the cemetery. Instead, he'd been asked to say a few words, and he carefully crafted the speech. He followed a well received two hour speech by the primary speaker--and in ten sentences and a little over two minutes, he conjured the heart and soul of America:
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 battle-field 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.
That sense of solemnity pervades the vast battlefield. There is a driving tour which can be done on one's own, plus one can buy excellent narration to explain what happened while you drive through the haunted hills and hollows of the battle. There are many monuments to the regiments that fought here.
But there was only one monument I really wanted to see: That of the New York 94th regiment, with which my great-grandfather Zimri Putney served. A twenty year old farmer from Western New York, he enlisted twice, first in the 105th New York Volunteers, then a reenlistment in the 94th. I never knew him and I don't know why he enlisted twice. Because he believed slavery should be abolished? Because of the lure of adventure, or proving himself in the company of men?
I'll probably never know, but I honor his service and am glad he returned home safely to marry and have a family. I have a photocopied picture of him, copied so often that details are unclear. He's a uniformed young man with a beard and a gun and an American flag in the background, and he held himself proudly. He died at the age of 76, much loved by friends and family.
His regiment's monument is one of the simpler ones, but it spoke to me. I'm always loved history, but this particular battle is more personal than most. Have you been to Gettysburg or any of the great, tragic battlefields of America and the world? Do you know of personal connections to them? Do they speak to you?
If so, I'd like to hear what they say….
Mary Jo