Gettysburg.

 

I managed to squeeze in a visit to the Gettysburg Battlefield Park after my Conference in the USA, and here are some pictures taken there.  It was pretty cold there but the sun put in an appearance which helped and it stayed light until 6ish.

 

I stayed at the Brickhouse B&B in the town which was excellent.  The part on the left of the picture was there during the battle, the nearer part was built in the 1890s.

 

It is located in the southern part of town, right on the line of the skirmish lines on the evening of Day 1 of the battle.  The red brick house seen on the left is I believe where Union General Schimmelfennig hid for most of the battle. 

 

I decided to invest in the services of a battlefield guide who also drove my car so I could take the pictures !

 

This a view of Seminary Ridge.  The tower with cupola atop was used for observation first by the Federals and then by Lee's men during the battle.

 

A typical town building of the period.

 

The beauty of having my guide was that he pointed out small details like the shell still buried in the wall of this house !

 

Initially, the Union cavalry tried to delay the advance of the Confederate forces.  This lovely monument remembers the early skirmishes out to the north and west of the town.

 

This house had its library of books looted by the Rebel troops, with one exception - its Bible wherein a Confederate soldier had scribbled "put this back where it belongs" !

 

Here's a view of the Lutheran Seminary from the other side showing what a good viewing platform that tower must have been.

 

I love the way cannon have been left outside people's driveways !

 

Here we start to see the Confederate batteries lined up facing across to Cemetary Ridge.

 

There are over 400 of them positioned around the battlefield park.

 

This is where Pickett's charge started - such a lot of ground to cover before they could even get to grips with the Federal troops.

 

Another fine monument at the start line.

 

Here's General Lee astride Traveller watching the attack from a distance.

 

I particularly liked this statue of General Longstreet amongst the trees.

 

This is the view over the other side from Little Round top where the Union troops could see the Rebels coming.

 

There was some grim fighting up here as these plates evidence.

 

Up on Cemetary Ridge, this is the furthest point reached by the Confederates.

 

The Union infantry were lined up behind these walls

 

This is where Confederate General Armistead fell by Cushing's battery, the furthest forward reached by a Rebel commander.

 

Another descriptive plate on the receiving end of Pickett's charge.

 

I've got another 200 pics to sort through so I'll call a halt today and put up some more on the blog tomorrow, including better ones of Little Round Top, Devil's Den and Culp's Hill.