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Tracking Down the Past Essential Gettysburg By Carl Zebrowski
By the time President Abraham Lincoln left Gettysburg on November 19, 1863, the south-central Pennsylvania town had amassed far more than one small town's share of national history. Some 170,000 troops of the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia had clashed here in the defining battle of the Civil War from July 1 through 3 of that year. Their advances and withdrawals had taken them all over the sprawling hills, fields, and woods that make up today's Gettysburg National Military Park, not to mention up and down the usually quiet streets of town. In the end, 51,000 men had been killed, wounded, or captured in the bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil. The battle had turned the tide of the Civil War. Then, a few months later, Lincoln came to town to speak during the dedication of the National Cemetery for fallen Union soldiers. In 272 words, his Gettysburg Address redefined America, focusing the young country on the ideals of freedom expressed in the Declaration of Independence. Certainly, there's too much history here to absorb in one short visit. So we at Civil War Times talked among ourselves, consulted some historians at the National Park, and chatted with other experts to put together a manageable abridged tour of the battlefield and town, a tour that would send visitors home with more than just a litany of sites visited but not understood. We ended up with 11 must-see sites—seven on the battlefield and four in the town. Together they offer a genuine insight into the battle, the war, and the era. And, perhaps most important, instead of running from place to place, you'll have time to stand and reflect, to absorb fully the lessons the battlegrounds and historic places can teach.
It seems obvious to begin a tour with the visitor center, but this particular center is more than your typical clearinghouse of tourist information. Plus, with plans in the works to privatize the visitor center's operations, this building may itself soon be history. The center's first attraction is its museum. Boasting one of the largest collections of Civil War artifacts in the country, it features hundreds of weapons and accouterments. There also are dozens of uniforms and hats that range from the typical sack coat and kepi to the unusual zouave outfit and fez. A camp setup poses a private's meager tent site next to an officer's comparatively comfortable lodgings. The next stop is the famous electric map show, where you sit in an arena-like setting around a huge map topped with tiny blue and yellow (butternut?) lights that show changing troop positions while a 30-minute taped narration neatly summarizes the three days' fighting. The center also has a well-stocked Civil War bookstore with a rarely rivaled selection of general-interest books, children's books, and hard-to-find specialty books. Before leaving the building, pick up a copy of the free map of the park. 2. The Cyclorama Center A short walk from the visitor center, the cyclorama center is the home of one of only two cycloramas left in the United States. Inside, you stand in the center of the ring created by Paul Philippoteaux's 356-foot-around, 26-foot-high oil painting of the climax of Pickett's Charge. From your vantage point at the middle of Cemetery Ridge, you see hundreds of Rebels charging at your front. A bit to the left is the Copse of Trees, where a few Rebels began to break through the Union line before they were beaten back and the battle ended. Behind you, Union reinforcements approach and medical personnel tend to wounded soldiers, including one pale soul who closely resembles Lincoln. The painting helps you imagine what it might have been like to be among the tens of thousands of men caught in this life-or-death struggle. Elsewhere inside the center, one of the five extant copies of the Gettysburg Address is sometimes on display. Outside, arrows along a rooftop observation deck point out important battlefield locations. 3. The National Cemetery Across the street from the visitor center, the cemetery reveals glimpses of the inestimable price of the battle and of the lofty purpose of the war. The price lies in the earth beneath the arcing rows of hundreds of flat stones that mark the graves of soldiers identified and unknown. The purpose lies in Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, which the president delivered near the site of the Soldiers' National Monument on November 19. Visiting the cemetery sets an appropriately quiet mood for the rest of the battlefield tour—not only mournful, but thanks to Lincoln's uplifting words, also hopeful that what happened on this hallowed ground was not mere folly.
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