Friday, September 20, 2024
This is the second blog post about our amazing, action packed day that started with a visit to the Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland.
We were now headed to arguably the most famous site and battle of the Civil War.
While all of us were excited to see this ever so interesting site. Jacob was over the moon!
After a 90 minute drive, we arrived
Our first stop was to this impressive
Visitors Center to get our bearings
Quite the arms display
Both Jacob and Michael were now dressed from the waist up in their Civil War reenactment clothes.
Several of our fellow visitors took photos of them.
These two had lots to discuss
at this display case
The Gray and the Blue
Absolutely!
A pistol with a rifle stock?
None of us could figure out for sure what the need for this style of weapon might be.
Rehydrating the troops before heading
out to see the battlefield's sights
Our first stop at the base of
Little Round Top
This was a stronghold where Rebel sharpshooters picked off Union soldiers.
The Rebels in the Devil's Den
were taking aim at Union troops
positioned along the ridge top of
Little Round Top in the distance
Slaughter just about sums it up
Eventually, the Confederate forces
would leave the Devil's Den to charge
up Little Round Top
My troops peeking up the ridge
from the Devil's Den
The need to cover this open ground
would be deadly for many
Jacob informing me on the
plan of attack but first . . .
. . . he needed to record the
troop movements that he had seen
The plan was simple in design and use of our personnel.
Jacob and Michael would re-create the charge up the hill to Little Round Top while I drove our car in a flanking maneuver to the ridge.
I liked this plan.
A lot.
Cannons and Monuments were
all over the ridge to no one's surprise
The casualties here were substantial
The Union had 2,996 soldiers deployed for this battle. Of that number 565 men were killed, wounded or reported missing while defending the higher ground.
As for the 4,864 Rebels based in the Devil's Den who had to eventually charge up the open field, 1,185 were killed, wounded or reported missing.
So much bloodshed over 200 or so yards of Pennsylvania real estate.
A rather large monument
on Little Round Top
I entered
The names of two Hospital Stewards
who died in this battle
That is the rank that Jacob aspires to earn soon in his Civil War reenactment group back in California.
Death and carnage were everywhere
161 years ago on this slope
Of course we rubbed his nose
So serene on this warm Friday
Pondering the whole scene
Me getting artsy
Jacob again scouting out
the situation
"THEY'RE COMING!"
Jacob at the spot where a key Union
officer was killed
That officer was
General Strong Vincent
83rd Pennsylvania Infantry
General Vincent was the man who
inspired his men to hold Little Round Top
Our Artillery Unit in action
General Gouverneur K. Warren
gazing over the battlefield
He took a bullet in the throat while helping to defend Little Round Top. He would die about a month after this battle.
Michael examining this protected
marker to another fallen officer
It commemorates First Lieutenant Charles E. Hazlett who was killed on this spot while commanding Battery D of the U.S. Army on July 2, 1863.
Saluting another warrior of the
83rd Pennsylvania Infantry
This was a monument to . . .
. . . this infantry brigade
The cap that Jacob wears is particular to the 83rd Pennsylvania Infantry.
A cannon like this one must have
done unheard of damage firing from
Little Round Top's ridge
There was more than one cannon
present on that fateful day
After spending well over an hour perusing the Devil's Den and Little Round Top battle sites, it was time to move on to see Gettysburg's other famed battle area, the scene of Pickett's Charge.
Before we arrived at the field where
Pickett's men were sacrificed, we came
across a memorial, imagine that
Jacob and Michael walking up the hill
that Pickett's men tried to traverse to get
to the Union held ridge in the distance
Just as had happened at Little Round Top, again the Confederates tried to cross open ground to attack the enemy's superior, elevated position.
Madness.
"Come on boys, let's get them Yanks!"
The Virginia Memorial
with General Robert E. Lee
mounted on his horse Traveller
The group seen here represent
various Virginians who left civilian
jobs to join the Confederate Army
Great details
A determined young Rebel
For Pickett and his men, this was
a hopeless charge from the get go
On July 3. 1863, the final day of the three day Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee issued a desperate, last ditch order to Major General George Pickett.
Pickett was to take his men on a mad cap final charge up towards Cemetery Ridge where Union Major General George Meade's forces were entrenched in a highly advantageous position.
The result of this plan was about 1,500 Union casualties and 4,200 Confederate soldiers killed, wounded or captured. The Rebels suffered an over 50% casualty rate on this day.
This is deemed by most historians to be the decisive battle of the Civil War with the Union forces winning. The Southern troops would never again get this far north, it was their high water mark of the war.
During the three days of the Battle of Gettysburg, there were approximately 23,000 Union casualties as opposed to 28,000 Confederate casualties.
This quote from Robert E. Lee after
the fighting at Gettysburg says much
The boys about half way up to
Cemetery Ridge
Again, I drove the car on yet another lightning quick turn of Meade's left flank and waited for them on Cemetery Ridge.
Native Americans atop a New York
Infantry monument
Beats me.
A tribute to the Union Artillery
Barrages from Cemetery Ridge
that helped win the day
Pickett's men charged up this
vast open space facing certain death
Monument to a Union sharpshooter
A Union officer surveying
the battlefield
Jacob by a marker dedicated to
the 72nd Pennsylvania Infantry
What an amazing day at both Antietam and Gettysburg!
We all learned many new things about the Civil War, myself easily more than the two experts that I was with all day.
It was time to eat. That is my area of expertise.
A late lunch at the historic
Dobbins House Tavern
This tavern opened in 1776.
In the middle 1800s the Dobbins House was used as a "Way Station" for hiding runaway slaves as part of the famed Underground Railroad.
We dined by candlelight . . .
. . . in the basement the Dobbins House's
Springhouse Tavern
My crab cake sandwich was top notch!
After leaving our historic dining spot, we reconnoitered downtown Gettysburg with an eye on supporting the local economy.
Some miniature soldiers seemed
like a great idea to Jacob
I completely agreed.
We were told by the man in the
miniature soldiers shop that
this diorama would help us get
a better idea of the immense battle
Getting us in the mood for
the diorama
Jacob was all for it!
Gettysburg truly was the scene
of a gigantic battle
Jacob wanted to take all of
these miniatures home with him
Beautiful old building with . . .
. . . some Battle of Gettysburg history
A sutler is someone who followed an army
and sold provisions to the soldiers
My two "soldiers" entered
The Maryland Sutler with gusto!
They purchased several items to help their Civil War reenactments become even more authentic.
Soldiers need ice cream too, correct?
Axle Grease ice cream?
I opted for their delicious Almond Joy flavor instead.
Our original idea was to leave Gettysburg in time to see a high school football game near our next hotel in Bowie, Maryland.
We checked our Waze app and found that the normally 80 minute drive to Bowie would tonight take about two hours.
We improvised.
We decided to stay in Gettysburg a bit longer and then attend the Gettysburg H.S. football game at 7:00 p.m. while letting the traffic around Washington, D.C. thin out.
Gettysburg's United Lutheran Seminary
There was fighting here as well those fateful three days.
What a nice campus!
The college had stately old buildings . . .
. . . as well as some newer ones
trying to look older
It was Athletic Hall of Fame Weekend at the college.
At Saturday's football game, the home team Gettysburg College Bullets (1-2) lost to the Christoper Newport University Captains (2-1), 54-37.
We were now headed to the campus of Gettysburg Middle School and the nice stadium there where our Friday Night Lights Game-of-the-Week was being contested.
The Gettysburg H.S. Warriors
By Ventura County standards, these
ticket prices were quite reasonable
Gettysburg's championship wrestling
program was trying to drum up
interest for the upcoming 2025 season
Nice high school stadium on a
perfect night for a game
The refs were primed and ready
 |
| So were we |
The Gettysburg H.S. Warriors
end zone statue
Yes, that is a man in Civil War Union soldier clothing in the distance.
Now, as to our game's dynamics . . .
Mechanicsburg H.S. Wildcats (4-0)
at
Gettysburg H.S. Warriors (2-2)
Gettysburg kicked off to start the
game and the Wildcats returned
it for a TD
The Warrior's first play was a
swing pass that was intercepted
by a Wildcat DE
Mechanicsburg struck pay dirt again quickly.
Only 29 second in to the game and
Mechanicsburg led 14-0
It couldn't get any worse could it?
Actually it did.
The next Gettysburg drive ended with a blocked punt and another quick Wildcats TD, 21-0.
The subsequent Warriors Offensive effort ended with the long snap sailing over the Punter's outstretched arms. The Wildcats scored in one play, 28-0.
The next time the Wildcats got the ball, they ran the ball right up the middle for a 74 yard TD.
Mechanicsburg led 35-0 at the
end of the First Quarter
Given the circumstances, we decided to start our trek to Bowie, Maryland at the end of what at last looked like a promising Gettysburg drive.
The Warriors scored a TD to cut the deficit to 35-7.
Before embarking on our drive we all agreed that one last visit to the near empty restroom would be a good idea.
By the time we came out of that restroom, the Wildcats had scored again to lead 41-7.
Final Score
Mechanicsburg (5-0) - 48
Gettysburg (2-3) - 20
Apparently, between the Warriors spirit, the Wildcats losing focus and the Mercy Rule, the game ended a tad closer than it really was when we left.
Truly, Gettysburg did not look physically awful compared to Mechanicsburg, it was more a case of everything that could go wrong going extremely wrong.
We made it to our hotel in
Bowie, Maryland at a decent hour
Up next would be our Saturday visit to the United States Naval Academy's Yard (campus) in Annapolis, Maryland, about 20 minutes away, and then what would hopefully be a much better game than the one we saw tonight as the Memphis Tigers (3-0) came to town to play the Navy Midshipmen (2-0).
Stay tuned for news of some scintillating college football action . . .
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