I took half a day off today so that I could finish getting ready for my upcoming trip this weekend. I think I have almost everything packed and ready for the car. I've been undecided as to what to take to wear while I am in Gettysburg. The weather is going to be cooler than I am use to, but I don't want to dress to warm and be uncomfortable the entire time. I finally settled on both jeans and Capri pants, and added both long sleeve, three quarter sleeves and short sleeves along with a sweat shirt and light weight jacket. I know I have to much packed, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
I still have a few little things to gather up but for the most part I am finished. We won't talk about my husband but I will tell you that he doesn't have the first thing packed and has to do his laundry yet. It's ok though he has off tomorrow. I on the other hand am working 11-8, which is one reason why I was off this afternoon. I don't want to be running around here at the last minute trying to finish up.
I have to tell you that I am excited, and if you have ever read this blog more than once you know by now that Gettysburg is probably my favorite place on earth. I love not only the history but the town itself. As I mentioned in my previous post we plan on going to the Apple Harvest Festival on Saturday. Since this also is my birthday we may find a nice out of the way place for dinner. Some time on Sunday I plan on walking the field at Picketts Charge, where the last fight of this battle took place. I tried walking all the way across on my first trip and was over come with emotion and had to turn around. I am determined this time I will make the one mile walk. (My header photo was taken in this field). If all turns out as planned we are going to try and hook up with a blogger friend of mine from Are We There Yet? for a ghost walk on Sunday night. She has a couple of things going on during the day, but if she makes it in town in time we will hook up. If not we hope to still meet the next day. I think it would be fun to put a face with the words so I hope things work out to meet her.
Anyway this is my last post for awhile but don't worry. I will be back late next week full of stories and photo's so be sure and come back by. In the mean time I am leaving you with a bit of Triva on Gettysburg. Enjoy your week everyone.
Facts about Gettysburg Monuments
1.
Which state has the most monuments on the battlefield?
New York, New York has a total of 128 and Pennsylvania is a close second with 123.
2.
How many Equestrian Memorials are there dedicated to generals on the battlefield?
Seven. There are memorials to Generals Sedwick, Hancock, Howard, Slocum, Reynolds, Meade and Longstreet.
3.
True or False, Gettysburg has more mounuments than any other battlefield.
True At last count there were 1,340 monuments. The reason for this is quite simple. In the days following the battle, those immediately touched by the death of fallen loved ones and the nation needed a way to express thier grief. Nothing as devastating had happened to the young nation and monuments were a way of showing honor. Also, the battle took place in the midst of the Victorian Age, a time when death was a morbid fascination.
4.
What was the cost of the Virginia State Monument?
50,000. The Virginia State monument was dedicated on June 8, 1917 and unveiled by Miss Virgina Carter, a niece of General Lee.
5.
In what year was the first Confederate monument placed on the battlefield?
1917. The first Confederate monument was from the state of Virginia. With the completion of the Tennessee State Memorial in 1982 each southern state was at last represented.
6.
Which state has the names of all the soldiers who participated in the battle contained on bronze markers around the base of the monument?
Pennsylvania The height of the Pennsylvania monument is 110 feet. The base of the monument is 80 feet square and has a height of 9 feet. Around the base, and on the inner walls of the arches, are placed bronze tablets on which are recorded the names of 34,530 officers and enlisted men of Pennsylvania who participated in the battle. The monument cost $150,000 and was dedicated September 27, 1910."
7.
Which state monument has the inscription "Your names are inscribed on fame's immortal scroll"?
Alabama Dedicated in 1933, the monument stands near the spot where Law's Alabama Brigade began its attack on Little Round Top on July 2, 1863.
8.
Which state monument was added in 1929 to pay tribute to the 41 units that participated in the great campaign into Pennyslvania?
North Carolina The North Carolina state monument was designed by famous sculptor Gutzon Borglum.
9.
On what anniversary of the battle was the Eternal Light Peace Memorial dedicated?
75th. The Eternal Light Peace Memorial was dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on July 3, 1938. This was the last Joint Reunion of the blue and gray; this memorial was an enduring reminder of "Peace Eternal in a Nation United". A sodum vapor lamp, which replaced the original natural gas flame, burns 24 hours a day as a sign of the commitment by the two sections to coexist as one nation.
10.
The 11th Pennsylvania volunteers monument has a bronze likeness of what?
: A dog The name of the dog was Sallie. On the field during and after the battle of Gettysburg, the dog stayed with the regiment's dead and wounded. After Lee's army retreated from Gettysburg on July 4th, members of the 12th Massachusetts found her still alive. The dog was weak from lack of food and water. Sallie was unfortunately shot and killed during the fighting on Feb. 6, 1865 at Hatcher's Run VA.
11. The Virginia State Monument has a statue of General Robert E. Lee astride his favorite horse Traveller at the top. What did the sculptor use as a model for the horse?
Sculptor Frederick Sievers travelled to Washington and Lee University in Virginia to study the skeleton of Traveller on display there. A live horse, matching the shape and size of Traveller was then used as the actual model
More interesting tidbits about the battle
Several companies of black emergency volunteer militiamen were raised in Pennsylvania during the Confederate invasion. One of these saw action, when it was put into the lines with the 27th Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia at Wrightsville, on 27 June. The company, about 100 men organized at Columbia, suffered one man killed before Union forces were withdrawn across the Susquehanna, whereupon the Columbia bridge was burned.
Russel C. Mitchell, who fought at the Devil's Den and the foot of Little Round Top on 2 July as first sergeant of Company I, 1st Texas Infantry, a part of Robertson's brigade of Hood's division, was the grandfather of Margaret Mitchell, who wrote Gone With the Wind.
The dubious honor of being the first Union soldier to die in the Battle of Gettysburg apparently belongs to Cpl. Cyrus W. James, CompanyG, 9thNewYorkCavalry, while the equally dubious honor of being the first Confederate soldier to fall probably beongs to Pvt. Henry Raison of the 7th Tennessee Infantry.
When his brigade surrendered on 1 July, Brig. Gen. James J. Archer --the first of Lee's generals ever captured-- was brought to see Maj. Gen. Abner Doubleday, who had been Archer's classmate at West Point. The latter greeted him in a friendly manner, saying, "Good morning, Archer. How are you? I'm glad to see you," to which the unchastened Rebel replied, "Well, I am not glad to see you by a damned sight!"
As Confederate Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell stood observing the attack of his II Corps on the afternoon of 1 July, he was struck in the leg by a musket ball and knocked down. His aides rushed to his side, fearing the worst. But the general just picked himself up, saying "I'm not hurt." Then he smiled, adding, "But suppose that ball had struck you? We would have had the trouble of carrying you off the field, sir. You see how much better fixed for a fight I am than you are. It don't hurt a bit to be shot in a wooden leg."
On 3 July Lt. Col. Johnathan Lockwood, commanding the 7th West Virginia captured his own nephew, who had been wounded leading part of the 7th Virginia at the climax of the Confederate assault on Cemetery Ridge.
During the three days of the Battle of Gettysburg an estimated 566 tons of ammunition were expended, amounting to about 24 pounds for each casualty on both sides.
On the 4th of July, as the two armies lay glaring at each other across the bloody fields between Cemetery Ridge and Seminary Ridge, Robert E. Lee's pet hen caused a minor command flap. It seems that the bird, who rode in Lee's headquarters wagon and was wont to lay an egg under his cot every morning, thereby providing his breakfast, managed to get lost. Perhaps fearful that his little pet had ended up in someone's cook pot, Lee ordered a search. After a short time, the bird was found and returned to her proper place and Lee got back to contemplating his next move.
As the Confederate troops were falling back from "Pickett's Charge" at Gettysburg, British observer Lt. Col. James Fremantle said "I wouldn't have missed this for anything," to which Lt. Gen. James Longstreet replied "The devil you wouldn't! I would like to have missed it very much . . . !"
Union cavalryman Elon Farnsworth's promotion to brigadier general came so unexpectedly that he had to borrow a suitable uniform from Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasanton, which he was wearing when killed at Gettysburg four days later on 3 July 1863.
While enduring the Confederate bombardment atop Cemetery Ridge on the third day of Gettysburg, Union Brig. Gen. John Gibbon may perhaps have received some satisfaction from knowing that the enemy was using his The Artillerist's Manual as their basic handbook.
During the Gettysburg Campaign Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, reasoned that a good deal of money could be saved if the army did not supply uniforms to the many miliatiamen and volunteers who turned out to help stem Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania, since the emergency was certain to be over before their own clothing wore out: Lincoln demurred, however, and the men got their uniforms anyway.
As a result of an argument over who's battery had precedence on the line of march, Capt. Pichegru Woolfolk, Jr., of Virginia's Ashlad Battery, was challenged to a duel with rifles at 15 paces by Capt. George W. Moody, of Louisiana's Madison Light Artillery; Alas for honor, the expected encounter never took place, for the Battle of Gettysburg interfered in the arrangements. Although both survived, the battle neither ever met the other again.
When Lee conferred with Ewell and Early on the morning of 2 July, they did so in the Adams County Prison on High Street in Gettysburg, which is now a library.
When Confederate artillery bombarded Wrightsville on 27 June, the only two structures seriously damaged were the offices of the "Sons of Temperance" and those of the "Native American Party" [i.e.,the "Know Nothings"], a matter which some took as a sign from heaven.
Labels: Civil War History, Family Life, Gettysburg
