A New Nation, Conceived in Liberty

The third full day at Gettysburg was spent visiting the Gettysburg National Military Park. The first part of the tour was a 20 minute, giant screen movie about the Battle of Gettysburg. I loved it. Next we road the longest escalator I've ever been on. Seemed like it went up 3 floors. This took us to the Cyclorama, a 360 degree circular oil-on-canvas painting that depicts "Pickett's Charge," the climactic Confederate attack on the Union center on July 3, 1863. Completed and exhibited in 1884, it is one of the last surviving cycloramas in the United States. The painting is an amazing sight at 377 feet in circumference and 42 feet tall. Along with lights and narration, this was quite an experience. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures.

The museum is filled with photos, artifacts, information, and interactive programs that could take all day if one were to be there by themselves and not with 3 kids. We probably spent 2 1/2 hours there, but I could have spent most of the day. The kids are standing in front of a huge display of photographs of some of the soldiers that fought in the war.


One of the interactive programs challenges you to pack all the items a soldier would need to set off on the march with only a 90 second window of time. The goal is to keep the pack under 45 pounds and still have all the essentials. None of us met the challenge.


Many of the men fortunate enough to survive the battle, came out of the war without legs or arms. We learned that at one farmhouse turned hospital, the surgeons would amputate and then toss the limbs out the window and the pile of amputated arms and legs was as high as the window sill.


After hanging out at the National Military Museum, we went back in town. There were numerous museums and tours of buildings available. In fact, one could spend a whole lot of bucks visiting all these attractions and while some seemed quite reputable, others seemed to be a bit more sideshow-ish. So from day one I had been asking every tour guide, store clerk, hotel employee, and visitor center volunteer what they would suggest we see. There were various answers and I was perplexed as to which one would be worth forking over the money to see. We continued to walk around town and came upon a quaint little bed and breakfast called the Brafferton Inn, but when I tried to open the door it wouldn't budge so we turned around to leave. Just then a kind gentleman opened the door and asked if he could help us. I asked if we could just look around. He graciously allowed us in and gave us a mini tour. Built in 1786, The Brafferton Inn is the oldest continual residence in Gettysburg. Here's the punks standing at the front porch.


Of course I asked him which of the museums we should see. He told us of The Shriver House and it sounded exactly like what I was looking for. We were not allowed to take pictures inside so this is all I have of our excursion, but you can click on the link to see more.


This was definitely a highlight of the trip for me. A woman dressed in clothing of that time period narrated the tour. We learned that George Shriver, owner of the home, set off for the war and left his wife and two young girls here at their home. When Confederate soldiers began to infiltrate the town, Mrs. Shriver took her girls and the neighbors' 15 year old daughter, Tillie Pierce, and traveled a few miles to Mrs. Shriver's parents' farm where they thought they would be safer. Little did they know this farm would be even closer to the fighting and was quickly used as a hospital. Tillie Pierce kept a diary of the events and 25 years later published her story. I bought the book and found it fascinating. To learn more about Tillie Pierce click here.

Back at the Shriver home, the Confederates took over the house placing sharp shooters in the attic. We saw where they had knocked the bricks out of the wall so they could shoot through them. A Confederate soldier had actually been killed there and we saw the bullet holes all over the outside of the house where Union soldiers fired back.

Of course no day was complete without a trip to the Battlefield, so we took a drive back out again. We took 4 trips out to the Battlefield and on the last one I really wanted one more picture in particular....


Here's a Reb. coming up Little Round Top....take cover!

If you've seen the movie "Gettysburg", you may recognize the above picture. This is the cupola at the Lutheran Theological Seminary where General John Buford, played by Sam Elliot, surveyed the ground of the upcoming battle.

After a full day of hands-on learning it is imperative that students converge at the local coffee shop for some hot chocolate with extra whipped cream.


A few other tidbits of information about our Gettysburg adventure:
1. We ate pizza 3 nights in a row...it's a cheap dinner. $11 bucks feeds the family.


2. We bought bread, lunch meat, mustard, chips, bottled water, and Oreos and made our lunch everyday, which we took along and ate out at the Battlefield. So about $20 provided 3 lunches for 4.


3. Natty didn't even eat one whole bowl of dog food the entire trip, so that saved us a bundle. (Of course, she still begged for ice cream, but then, don't we all?)


The next post will tell all about our sweet, chocolatey adventure. Stay tuned because....

Somewhere a dog barks....and its breath smells of chocolate.