Four Score and Seven

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My knowledge about the American Civil War is patchy at best, so I thought it would be a good idea to visit the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg before I headed on to Gettysburg. The museum is associated with the Smithsonian Institute so I figured it would be a pretty good one. And it was.

The museum is situated on a hill overlooking Harrisburg and as I arrived there a short time after it open at 10am, there was hardly anyone there. Inside, the museum is set out just the way I like a museum – with a clearly defined path to travel through all the exhibit rooms. No back-tracking required.

The museum features lots of video, dioramas (which you must know by now that I love) and lots of items from the war. It’s not just war stuff either, as it includes items on medicine of the time and new technology used, for example.

The exhibitions were basically in chronological order, with the first rooms focussing on slavery and other causes for the war, before moving on to the events that lead up to and started the war. Then it went on to the mobilisation of armies and navies for both sides, and the details of those who volunteered and made up the opposing forces. It also detailed some of the unexpected contents of these forces (conscription was used, but was only ever single-digit percentages; immigrants such as Irish and Germans who volunteered; and, of course, freed and ex-slaves).

Then the exhibitions started detailing the various campaigns and battles that happened during the war. This gave a very good overview of the conduct of the war, the fortunes of both sides as it changed throughout the war and how the north finally won. The final rooms talked about post-war happenings and repercussions, especially the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

All in all, it was a good preparation for my afternoon’s destination – Gettysburg. After about an hour’s drive, I arrived at just outside of the town of Gettysburg, at the Gettysburg National Military Park. Unlike the museum, there were a lot of people there, which worried me at first. But it soon became apparent that the place is huge so it never felt crowded. I was also annoyed because they don’t allow backpacks in the visitors centre and tell you to leave them in your car. The problem for me is that my personal effects aren’t covered by my travel insurance if they are stolen from inside a car. But, I had no choice so I put it in the boot and hoped for the best.

I headed into the visitors centre and was immediately impressed by how big it was, and how well set out. There are a number of options for visiting the various sights/sites, including having a personal tour guide come in the car with you. I talked to the one of the ticket sellers about the options and decided to go for the package that included a film, the cyclorama (which sounded a bit cheesy), museum entry and a 2 hour bus tour of the battlefield. As it was 2pm, the lady said I should start with the film and cyclorama, then go on the 3pm bus tour and then come back to view the museum. So I did.

The film was the best one yet. It is narrated by Morgan Freeman and the production is top quality. When it finished, we were told to make our way up to the cyclorama. I wasn’t expecting much, and boy was I surprised! It was simply amazing. It is a 360 degree oil painting of Pickett’s charge (the final part of the battle) which they said was 370 feet in circumference and 42 feet high (although wikipedia tells me the Gettysburg version is 359 feet by 27 feet, having lost some of its size due to ravages of time). Combined with some props between the viewing platform and the painting, plus light and sound, the effect is really good. I was really impressed.

So when we were ushered out of there, I headed down to where the bus tour was going to start. The actual battlefield encompasses 25 square miles in and around the town of Gettysburg, of which apparently 10 square miles is owned by the National Park. Much of what the Park owns has been made to look like it did at the time. One of the recent acquisitions is a 9-hole golf course, which they will be turning back into farmland like it used to be. Our tour guide said this was because there were no sand traps there back in 1863.

You could easily spend a whole day visiting all of the sites and monuments, although I suspect even I would be a bit over it by then. There are monuments for the forces form each state, plus smaller monuments for each of the Union (north) regiments and some of the Confederate (south) brigades. Plus some more for some of the generals. Basically, there are a shedload of monuments. The only one that I really would have liked to have visited, but didn’t, was that of the 20th Maine regiment. This was because they featured in the movie Gettysburg. Unfortunately, while a great story, it wasn’t important enough in the overall battle to be included on the tour.

A 2 hour bus tour, including three stops where we got off the bus, was not quite enough for my taste though, although it’s probably best to be left wanting more rather than leave bored. Our tour guide was great (no period costume this time though) and we covered the battlefield in roughly chronological order. He covered the battle so well, in fact, that by the time we got back and I went into the museum, I wasn’t too upset about having to rush through due to the impending closing time.

I finished with a quick look through the gift shop. I picked up another audio book, this time it was volume 1 of a history of the civil war. As I headed to the cash register, the fellow said “You must be a scholar if you’ve got Shelby” (Shelby Foote, the author) in a strong southern accent. I told him that it was because I had a long road trip, but he was really excited. He typifies a lot of the people I have met at these sites so far – really nice and very enthusiastic about the place and their history.

All in all, I was extremely impressed with Gettysburg. The Americans really do this stuff well.

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Photos

Cannister shot
About 30 of these would be placed in a cannister and fired from a cannon

Little Round Top
This was the site of the Union's left flank

Union soldier cemetery
It was here that Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg address

Comments

[Jenny]

Really enjoying your trip along with you! Love the history and the pictures and your general comments on things :)