While we were out yesterday visiting a diorama of the battle of Gettysburg, we heard that the electricity was off in certain sections of town and, judging by the description of where this was, it was where our campground was. Sure enough, when we walked out to check the road where an accident had happened, we saw this. It must have been a hard hit.
We knew that the Civil War divided families but there were some examples in the museum.
Here’s a woman, Flora Cooke whose father was a Union General and whose husband, Jeb Stuart, was a Confederate General.
Here are two brothers who actually were in the same battle - on the opposite sides. Commodore Drayton of South Carolina on the left remained in the US Navy when the war began but his brother went with South Carolina and defended a fort against his brother’s attacks.
OF course, the best example is Mary Todd Lincoln, whose family was from Kentucky and her brothers fought in the Confederacy while her husband was President Lincoln. She was not liked and was distrusted in Washington because of her family.
We visited a home of David Wills, the lawyer in Gettysburg who was instrumental in establishing the National Cemetery in Gettysburg. When Lincoln was invited to speak at the dedication of the National Cemetery, he asked Lincoln to stay in his home. Here is the room and the bed in which he stayed.
Everywhere you look in Gettysburg you can see evidence of the battle. Homes along the main street, which the Union retreated down became targets when sharpshooters took residence in their attics to pick off Union soldiers up on Cemetery Ridge. Obviously, these homes sustained damage as the battle raged for 3 days on the street. Here’s a home that is now a restaurant which has 150 bullet holes and chips in its exterior. Note the tiny window in the top, that’s where Confederate sharpshooters were. Here’s my picture showing the damage and then, in a picture from a poster outside the home, you can see the home during the parade to the National Cemetery for the dedication in November, 4 months later.
The 4 white spots are where a bullet pierced the brick. Some deeper holes have been covered with black metal.
We loved walking in the old town with all its brick homes.
We went to a diorama which had the entire battle field layed out with men in uniform, geographic features and artillery. There was a narrated 10 minute show where different sections of the battle field were lit up to show where the action was and how the battle unfolded on the 3 days it was fought. Well done and it helped us understand the actual battle field. Here are the Union troops waiting on the top of Cemetery Hill for the Confederate charge across the field.
Here’s Pickett’s charge and you can see the massed Confederates charging up the hill where the Union was ready for them.
Here’s part of the diorama. It’s impossible to get it all in. This is not part of the National Battlefield Park but it is instructive to understanding the battle.
This picture is from Sharpsburg where Antietam took place but I wanted to show you the down spouts that puzzled both Gary and me. The street was lined with them. Interesting. I guess they didn’t want the water to pour down on people walking on the sidewalks during a rainstorm.
Here’s the haversack of a Confederate Soldier named Berhard Haake from the 73rd Pennsylvania Volunteers. He’s listed the battles that he fought in: Manassas, Gettysburg, Chatanooga, Nashville, etc.
‘I want it said of me by those who knew me best, that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.’
Abraham Lincoln
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