I live about 35 minutes from G’burg, as we call it. As expected, I probably have been there as a visitor to the battlefield maybe 50-60 times. Each time we get company, they ask us to take them to G’burg and Hershey. I could probably give a fairly good tour of the battlefield.
Did you follow the self-guided auto tour? What was your favorite area? The last I heard was that Devil’s Den and Little Round Top were being closed for reconstruction. These two areas are a loss for tourists, but they were eroding over the years and were becoming a safety issue for the tourists.
BTW, I like spending time at Spangler’s Spring, which is located just below Culp’sHill (controlled by the North all 3 days). There are two different stories about this area. One is that both sides controlled the area. On the night of July 2, 1863, a truce was called so that both sides could fill their canteens and water barrels. The other story is that there was fighting around the Spring at that time. Most historians believe that there was a truce on July 3rd. I like to just sit there and think about the soldiers from the North and South that came together there to fill there canteens. It has also been said that the two army’s soldiers took time to converse with one another. To me, it is a very serene and reverent place. My other favorite place is the National Cemetery, where Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address.
Here is a very good website to read about the war, but if you have about 15 minutes to kill and want to update your History of the Battle of Gettysburg, watch the video. Parts of it may bring a tear to you eyes.
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/gettysburg
Just think, if Meade had pursued Lee into Virginia, he would have thoroughly defeated Lee and ended the Civil War 23 months earlier. I could write a book about the Civil War because there is so much more to it than just Gettysburg, but it gets the fame because of the countless loss of life. During the summer and early fall months, park rangers give lectures at various sites. Each July 1-3, there is a somewhat recreation of parts of the war held on the battlefield.
Sorry for the length of this post. I could have went on and on.
