Gettysburg National Military Park
July 2002
As a memorial, dedicated to the armies who fought in the three day battle, legislation was signed to establish Gettysburg National Military Park in Feb, 1895. There are over 1400 monuments, markers and memorials. Some of those monuments are larger than a 3-story house.
I'm not going to try to tell about the battle, there are plenty of sites and books where you read about that. I'll just let you in on some of the things I observed and felt different times I was there. The very first time I remember visiting Gettysburg, was when my kids were just young and it was just a good place to take them for an outing. They ran here and there and if I remember correctly, they went up one of the towers. It wasn't as commercialized then, about 30 years ago, as it is now either. I wasn't as "into" the civil war then either.
Then I met my brother of the heart, Tom Gladwell. At the time, he was a Park Ranger and Guide at Gettysburg. He gave us the most incredible two day tour of the battlefield and cemetery. We spent 6-1/2 hours each day out there on the battlefield. I was overwhelmed!!! There was just so much to try to absorb. A couple of the stories I remember the most were about two of the monument
on Oak Ridge. Now I will admit here, I went back to Tom and had him
"refresh"; my memory on the stories because I wanted to get them right.
Anyway... first there is the story about the Oak tree. It is the monument of the 90th PA. It's in the shape of an oak tree shattered by artillery fire. The
story goes, that during the fight there, the tree was hit by artillery fire and
the limbs fell among the men. On the ground was a robin's nest, filed with,
shaken, but unharmed babies. A soldier, witnessing the scene, picked up the nest,
and under heavy fire and great risk to his own life, the soldier climbed up the
shattered stump and replaced the nest. Today, Bronze accoutrements, a knapsack,
a rifled musket, and a canteen are slung over one of the shattered branches.
Ivy, also sculpted in bronze, has begun to grow up the shattered trunk. At the
top of the tree is a bronze nest with baby birds resting inside. Perched on the
nest, the mother bird watches over her brood. The intention was to symbolize are
generation of life amidst the debris of battle and the start of a new era of
peace and goodwill.
Second, there is the monument for the 11th PA, dedicated to the "heroic dead of
the regiment. The monument of the 11th Pa stands silently atop Oak Ridge at the
stop they defended that afternoon of July 1st. Driving along the row of
monuments honoring the men of John Robison's division, you will immediately see
a fine bronze statue of a skirmisher preparing to fire sitting atop the 11th PA
monument. Few bother to get out and walk to the front where another bronze
statue can be found, the statue of a small dog curled up as if sleeping. The dog
Sallie was the mascot of the 11th and, she too, was numbered among the heroic
dead to whom the monument was dedicated."
Sallie had been given to the regiment as a puppy during the early days of the
war. Growing up with the men of the regiment, she became a comrade in
arms, sharing the marches, the hardships, the extremes of the climate, and the
dangers of battle. During battles, Sallie was known to take her position at the end
of the line of battle, barking as loud as she could at the enemy. Of a friendly nature, Sallie was said to hate only three things:
"Rebels, Democrats, and Women."
At Gettysburg, the little dog was with the men of the 11th PA throughout the
battle of July 1st. During the course of the retreat through the town, she
became separated from the unit. Not knowing where they had gone, she remembered
where they had been and worked her way back across the field to this ridge and
her fallen comrades. There, amidst the wounded, the dying, and the dead, Sallie laid down and maintained a silent vigil over her friends for
the remainder of the battle. After the Confederate retreat, a member of the 12th
Massachusetts found her still lying among the dead, weak from lack of food,
but alive. She was returned to her unit. Recovering quickly, Sallie resumed her place in the regiment serving faithfully through the balance of the war.
On February 6, 1865, within two months of the war's end, she was going into
battle with her regiment at Hatcher's Run, Virginia. During the course of the
fight, she was shot through the head and killed. Such was the feeling of the
men of the regiment towards their mascot, that they buried her on the field
despite the heavy enemy fire. Years later, when designs for the regimental monument
at Gettysburg were discussed, it was felt only appropriate that their little
pet, their friend, and their comrade be memorialized with the regiment.
Another monument, Doc's Rock, is dedicated to the surgeons of
the 32nd MA, who set up field hospital in the area. Located just across the
road from the Irish Brigade monument, it has a bronze plaque attached to the rock
to show the location of the aid station. During the fighting, the area
changed hand four different times, finally becoming no man's land.
Tom tells a story that goes with this monument and what
happened to the wounded men left there between the lines. It goes like this:
"During the fighting on July 2, the
fencing around the Trostle Farm was destroyed. Mrs. Trostle raised hogs. With the
fences down the hogs were free to roam the field.
What happened next, you ask? The hungry hogs began to eat the dead and
wounded. The men used bayonets, hand guns or whatever they could find to beat
off the hungry hogs. When you are in this area, listen to the wind, you might
hear the yells of the men and the grunts
of the hogs."
There are many, many stories about different monuments at Gettysburg. I will
share more of them with you another time. If any of you, the readers, have
a story about a Civil War monument, in any National Military Park, please feel
free to send it to me at: bitsobluengray@aol.com
On
two occasions, in recent years, we have gone to the Remembrance Day Parade in
November. What an awesome sight to see all the soldiers, both Union and
Confederate, proudly displaying their respective flags. Also on that
weekend, at the High Water Mark, with the Union soldiers on one side of the
wall, and the Confederate soldiers on the other, they meet and shake hands
across that wall. You also won't want to miss "Abe Lincoln"
giving the Gettysburg Address from the original site.
Four score and seven years ago, our fathers
brought forth on to this continent a new nation,
conceived in liberty and
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war,
testing whether that nation or any
nation so conceived and so dedicated can long
endure.
We are met on a great battle field of that war.
We have come
to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place
for those who here
gave their lives that that nation might live.
It is altogether fitting and
proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not
dedicate--we can not consecrate--
we can not hallow--this ground.
The brave
men, living and dead, who struggled here,
have consecrated it, far above our
poor power to add or detract.
The world will little note, nor long remember,
what we say here,
but it can never forget what they did here.
It is for us
the living, rather, to be dedicated here to
the unfinished work which they who
have fought here
have thus far so nobly advanced.
It is rather for us to
be here dedicated to task remaining before us
-that from these honored dead we
take increased devotion
to the cause for which they gave the last full measure
of devotion--
that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in
vain--
that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--
and that
government of the people, by the people, for the people,
shall not perish from
the earth.
One of the big "happenings" in the last couple of years, was the demolition of the tall contemporary tower that had been built. While there was a great view of the entire battleground from it, it stuck out like a "sore thumb." We were parked in a field with hundreds of others. When the tower came down there were many, many cheers, but I also noticed tears in the eyes of a few.
Visit the Battlefield Parks, support them with your
donations. So many of our battlefields are being lost to commercial
development... you may want to take a look at this website:
Civil War Battlefield Preservation http://www.civilwar.org/Preservation.htm
Gettysburg National Military Park (National Park Service)
http://www.nps.gov/gett/
Gettysburg National Military Park Home Page
http://www.nps.gov/getty/home.htm
Gettysburg National Cemetery
http://home.ptd.net/~nikki/gburgcem.htm
There are links here for burials in Gettysburg National
Cemetery from all the different states that had soldiers in that battle.
(Scroll down about half way)
Site Map
http://home.ptd.net/~nikki/sitemap.htm
This, to me, is one of the very best sites for images of many
of the battlefields. It's as if you're sitting in a swivel chair and
looking at everything within sight, then moving to another area and doing the
same thing.
Behind the Stonewall - 360 Degree Panoramic Images From Civil War Battlefields
(Gettysburg/Chickamauga/79th PA Infantry)
http://www.jatruck.com/stonewall/
For Gettysburg only:
Behind the Stonewall - 360 Degree Panoramic Images From Civil War Battlefields
(Gettysburg)
http://www.jatruck.com/stonewall/gettysburg.html
OTHER NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARKS:
Antietam National Battlefield (National Park Service)
http://www.nps.gov/anti/index.htm
Appomattox Court House National Historical Park (National Park
Service)
http://www.nps.gov/apco/
Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park (National
Park Service
http://www.nps.gov/chch/index.htm
Fort Pulaski National Monument (National Park Service)
http://www.mps.gov/fopu/index.htm
Fort Sumter National Monument (National Park Service)
http://www.nps.gov/fosu/index.htm
Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park
(National Park Service)
http://www.nps.gov/frsp/
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park (National Park Serice)
http://www.nps.gov/hafe/index.htm
Manassas National Battlefield Park (National Park Service)
http://www.nps.gov/mana/index.htm
Monocacy National Battlefield (National Park Service)
http://www.nps.gov/momo/index.htm
Pea Ridge National Military Park Home Page
http://www.nps.gov/peri/index.htm
Petersburg National Battlefield (National Park Service)
http://www.nps.gov/pete/index.htm
Richmond National Battlefield Park (National Park Service)
http://www.nps.gov/rich/index.htm
Shiloh National Military Park (National Park Service)
http://www.nps.gov/shil/index.htm
Stones River National Battlefield (National Park Service)
http://www.nps.gov/stri/index.htm
Vicksburg National Military Park (National Park Service)
http://www.nps.gov/vick/index.htm
Wilson's Creek National Battlefield (National Park Service)
http://www.nps.gov/wicr/