Gettysburg Pennsylvania

[Marti Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Marti]

American Civil War Museum
(Formerly National Civil War Wax Museum)

There are only a few timeshares
within a short drive from Gettysburg

[Bill4728 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Bill4728]

One of the coolest ways to see Gettysbury is to hire a guide. The national parks service has guides for hire. They use your car to take you on a 1-2 hour tour of Gettysburg. It may cost you more than the bus tour, but with 4 people it works out about the same, and you'll get your own private guide for 2 hours.

A great way to see the hugh Gettysburg battlefields.

[4ARedOctober Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close 4ARedOctober]

Agreed......I was there about 6 years ago and we hired a guide....it was fantastic and he was so knowledgable and I had a million questions....we spoke so extensively it seemed like the battlefield came alive....highly recommended.

One of the coolest ways to see Gettysbury is to hire a guide. The national parks service has guides for hire. They use your car to take you on a 1-2 hour tour of Gettysburg. It may cost you more than the bus tour, but with 4 people it works out about the same, and you'll get your own private guide for 2 hours.

A great way to see the hugh Gettysburg battlefields.

[Hoc Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Hoc]

There are only a few timeshares within a short drive from Gettysburg

When I went there in 1988, I stayed at the Bechtel Mansion Bed & Breakast. It was comfortable, convenient to the battlefield and other tourist attractions, reasonably priced and the breakfast was great.

[Pstreet1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pstreet1]

We've in Gettysburg now. We got to the battlefield yesterday at 8:30 and left at 5:30, with a brief time out for lunch, but since we continued to discuss the battle, it wasn't all that much of a time out. . We had a great experience, despite the fact that it rained from time to time. Today, it's absolutely beautiful outside.

We ate at McClelland's Tavern (used a Restaurant.com - Deals on neighborhood restaurants. $25 Restaurant Certificates for only $10! certificate) and had a lovely dinner for a much reduced bill.

We considered getting a guide, but I wanted more information, so we bought the expanded car tour (3 hours) and went to three one hour ranger talks in addition (the groups for the ranger talks were only 6-8 in number, so there was lots of time for questions). I came away feeling like I had a pretty good grasp of the battle and many of the small details. We also went to the new movie at Gateway Gettysburg (intersection of route 30 and 15) on Picket's Charge the day before we went to the battlefield. We happened to be there at the same time as a group of CEO's who were doing a leadership training workshop on the battlefield, and we were invited to stay and hear their speaker on the battle. I don't remember his name, but he is well known in the area--perhaps an author. Anyway, it turned out to be a very fine experience. We learned lots from him that we would not have known otherwise.

I also recommend that anyone considering a trip to Gettysburg read Pulitizer prize winning Killer Angels; you'll definitely understand the men, the battle, and the times in a way you won't without it.

All in all, a very moving experience here at Gettysburg. I'd recommend it to anyone.

[Marti Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Marti]

Gettysburg


Cyclorama building in Gettysburg
Pennsylvania will be demolished!

A 14-year battle over the fate of a modern structure at the heart of Gettysburg National Military Park is over.

The National Park Service said Thursday that it would begin demolishing the Cyclorama building as soon as February, clearing the site ahead of the 150th anniversary commemoration of the battle.

The site will be restored to its 1863 appearance, complete with a period apple orchard and replicas of the wood fences that once crisscrossed the fields, park spokeswoman Katie Lawhon said. The massive painting that the building once housed has been separately preserved.

The building, designed by the famed architect Richard Neutra, was built in 1962, ahead of the battle's centennial anniversary, to house the 360-degree Cyclorama painting depicting Pickett's Charge.

The building sits on Cemetery Ridge, where Union troops repelled Confederate forces led by Gen. George Pickett on the battle's final day, July 3, 1863.

The private Gettysburg Foundation will cover the $3.8 million demolition cost.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

There is an interesting Alternative History novel, co-authored by Newt Gingrich, called ''Gettysburg'' that follows the original battle through the first day, but has Lee shift strategy that evening with a very different result. It is an interesting ''what if'' read. There is also an intriguing alternative history essay written in the 1920s by Sir Winston Churchill entitled ''If the South had not won at Gettysburg'' which portrays how the world would have been a very different place in the 1920's if the South had won the battle. Churchill's key to a Confederate victory in the essay was JEB Stuart's cavalry hitting the Union rear simultaneously as Pickett's charge hit their center. One interesting thing that Churchill suggests is a continental European common market in 1920's, organized by an elderly Kaiser Wilhelm II, and this was written decades before the actual European Common Market came into existence.

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

There is an interesting Alternative History novel, co-authored by Newt Gingrich, called ''Gettysburg'' that follows the original battle through the first day, but has Lee shift strategy that evening with a very different result. It is an interesting ''what if'' read.

Every time I hear about that novel, I think, "Oh, yeah -- I wanted to read that!" Then I go looking into it and remember it's the first book in a trilogy. Apparently, I'm never in the mood for tackling that project when I'm reminded of it...

Shaara's The Killer Angels implies that some of the Confederates weren't enthused about the idea of invading enemy territory -- they believed they should be fighting a defensive war -- which I thought was interesting. I'm not convinced that the Confederates could have blocked the Union Army from their supplies long enough to matter; the Confederate supply line was spread pretty thin. But the Newt Gingrich novel apparently touches on the Generals in charge of the Union supply lines, which is something I enjoy but harder to find. If "the Army marches on its stomach," you'd think the supply guys would get more attention!

Churchill's key to a Confederate victory in the essay was JEB Stuart's cavalry hitting the Union rear simultaneously as Pickett's charge hit their center.

Stuart actually was sent around to harass the Union rear; he was blocked by General Gregg and General Custer (yeah, that General Custer). So I've never been very motivated to track Churchill's article down. Didn't know that he suggested a European Common Market, though!

Thanks for the info.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

Stuart is actually blamed by some for Lee's loss. Apparently he rode far afield and was out of touch with Army command most of the time the battle was going on.

What amazed me, standing on the battlefield at Waterloo, was that Pickett's charge is almost an exact rerun of the charge of the Imperial Guard at Waterloo, and with the same result. Since the Napoleanic Wars were heavily taught at West Point, it is strange that Lee chose something that he had to have known failed for Napolean.

Another long series of Alternative History sequels is Harry Turtledove's books that begin with ''How Few Remain - a novel of the second War Between the States'' when the north and south fight again in the 1880's. It explains the end of the first War Between the States, with a Confederate soldier finding and returning the lost General Order from Lee that was actually found by a Union soldier and allowed McClellan to know exactly what Lee intended at Sharpsburg (Antietam), and Lee consequently winning that battle without the order going astray. The Turtledove books go all the way through World War II, with the North allied with Germany and the South with England and France during both world wars.

Every time I hear about that novel, I think, "Oh, yeah -- I wanted to read that!" Then I go looking into it and remember it's the first book in a trilogy. Apparently, I'm never in the mood for tackling that project when I'm reminded of it...

Shaara's The Killer Angels implies that some of the Confederates weren't enthused about the idea of invading enemy territory -- they believed they should be fighting a defensive war -- which I thought was interesting. I'm not convinced that the Confederates could have blocked the Union Army from their supplies long enough to matter; the Confederate supply line was spread pretty thin. But the Newt Gingrich novel apparently touches on the Generals in charge of the Union supply lines, which is something I enjoy but harder to find. If "the Army marches on its stomach," you'd think the supply guys would get more attention!



Stuart actually was sent around to harass the Union rear; he was blocked by General Gregg and General Custer (yeah, that General Custer). So I've never been very motivated to track Churchill's article down. Didn't know that he suggested a European Common Market, though!

Thanks for the info.

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

Stuart is actually blamed by some for Lee's loss. Apparently he rode far afield and was out of touch with Army command most of the time the battle was going on.

Yeah, he showed up the second day I think. Supposedly Longstreet wanted him courtmarshalled, because they engaged without knowing how much of the Union Army they were facing or who might be around the Union Generals could call forward.

What amazed me, standing on the battlefield at Waterloo, was that Pickett's charge is almost an exact rerun of the charge of the Imperial Guard at Waterloo, and with the same result. Since the Napoleanic Wars were heavily taught at West Point, it is strange that Lee chose something that he had to have known failed for Napolean.

One thing that gave Lee false confidence is that one of the Union guys (Colonel? General? I forget) didn't like where they'd positioned him, and so moved forward. His men were waaaaay out in front of the real Union line. So they were in some of the earliest fighting and held that ground as if they meant it, but the Union command never meant for them to be there and, although they weren't left out to get slaughtered, the goal of higher command was to have them fall back to where they were supposed to be, which they eventually did. But from the Confederate side, it looked like they'd taken a lot of territory from the Union; what Lee didn't realize is that the Union General never wanted the territory in the first place! So Lee finished the full day of hard fighting thinking he'd made a lot more progress than he'd actually accomplished.

Although supposedly Lee had been in other battles where the Union Army held the best ground, and when he just kept coming, the Union Army would back off, in one case where the odds against success seemed equally bad. I know next to nothing about any of the Civil War battles except Gettysburg, but I do know Lincoln tore his hair out over some of the Union Generals, so maybe Lee really had won with tactics equally risky. I look at that slope and imagine cannons on both sides and I just can't imagine how it would ever work unless the attacking army was so huge the Powers That Be just decided to let their men be massacred until the defending army ran out of shot. Which was definitely not Lee's plan.

Another long series of Alternative History sequels is Harry Turtledove's books that begin with ''How Few Remain - a novel of the second War Between the States'' .

I think my hubby liked a Turtledove series, although I'm not sure it was that one. For some reason I've never really gotten into alternative history novels. I've read a couple, but I guess none of them were good enough to send me looking for more, because Turtledove is supposed to be one of the best and would be on my list if I were inspired. Right now, Shaara's Killer Angels has me on a bit of a novelized history binge; just picked up Shelby Foote's Shiloh. Only been planning to read some Foote for 23 years, now.