Gettysburg National Military Park

This morning we drove down to Gettysburg National Military Park which is about 30 miles south of Gifford Pinchot State Park.

From Gettysburg National Military Park

Our first stop was at the new Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center that had just opened in April. There are 12 galleries in the museum with displays & artifacts covering the Gettysburg Campaign, the Civil War, and its causes and consequences. We watched the 22-minute film “A New Birth of Freedom” that shows the sights, sounds and emotions of the battle and the battle’s aftermath. We were unable to visit the Cyclorama Gallery where the Cyclorama painting depicting Pickett’s charge on the final day of the battle is displayed. The painting was still in the process of being restored & wouldn’t be on display until September. We purchased the “Gettysburg Field Guide” at the Bookstore. The booklet includes an Auto Tour Map, an illustrated guidebook about the battle & an audio CD.
After our visit to the museum we got in the car & started on our tour of the battlefield. The audio tour is fantastic. At each of the stops on the tour we learned about the events that occurred there & they were enhanced with music & the sounds of battle. The audio tour was well worth the $20 cost – we had our own tour guide & we could stay as long as we wanted at each stop unlike a regular guided tour where you’re on a schedule.
In July 1863 General George G. Meade & the “Army of the Potomac” with 93,000 troops and General Robert E. Lee & the “Army of Northern Virginia” with 75,000 troops fought for 3 days around Gettysburg. The battle started on July 1 & ended on July 3 in which a total of 5500 were killed & 22,000 were wounded from both sides.

From Gettysburg National Military Park

We learned about the battle of Gettysburg in school, but to truly understand & feel the events that happened there you actually have to visit it.