Gettysburg

Last weekend, we went to Gettysburg.

There were many places I have wanted to play tourist and "take advantage of the proximity to" and suchlike while we are on the East Coast. Gettysburg has been in the top three. (I'll let Washington DC, Boston, and NYC battle it out for the other top two spots).  Getting to go was definitely a longing fulfilled.

J tracked down a highly-recommended audio tour (on CDs) that you play in your car; you listen as you drive and visit the various sites, and you can stop and get out whenever you like. It was AMAZING.

The kids were less enthused at the prospect, but we prepared with some really good snacks and there was peace and love (mostly). By the end they were saying things like, "That was INCREDIBLE!" and "Best day EVER!"

We decided to do Gettysburg as a day trip instead of an overnight: a long day, but possible. "Long Days" of travel involve J and I packing the van the night before, down to the breakfast doughnuts and DVDs for "Saturday morning cartoons." We rolled out early and hit the ground running in Gettyburg around 10:00.

We watched the movie of the battle they have in their theater. We all enjoyed the presentation of the cyclorama of the battle (I hadn't been to one of those since fourth grade.) The different parts of the battle were illuminated as the story was told.  The foreground was set so that real props exactly matched up with where the painting picked up, fence posts and all. Really Exciting.

There was also a museum--we spent a couple of hours there. There was so much to read about, so many fascinating artifacts, so many individual stories woven into this seemingly inevitable tragedy.

Still, the highlight for us was certainly the battlefield tour. We meant to do the "quick" version, but in the end we just couldn't cut any of the sites or stories. We spent about four or five hours, including our clambering and reading.

From the Confederate Line

North Carolina Monument: From this spot, Pickett's Charge

detail

It turns out that you are not permitted to climb on the cannons.

Monuments to people, regiments, and states lined the roads. Some marked specific locations of regiments during the battle.

This monument had a dog on the back; the ninjas had just heard about "Sallie," who traveled with a regiment of Federal troops and was lost during the battle. Three days later she was found guarding the bodies of the fallen from her regiment.

We were in Gettysburg on the weekend that fell between the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War and the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's assassination. Everything seemed so maintained and close that it was hard to believe so much time has passed.

Above: Robert E. Lee and Traveller atop the Virginia Monument. Since returning from Gettysburg, Pixie and Bud have had several conversations on the merits of Robert E. Lee. They (and we all) have had good talks about gifts, loyalty, context, training and resources. They see him as a hero, and I think that's about right.

One thing that I was curious to see before coming was how the South would be treated. The story of the Civil War is a complicated one that begs for simplification in its presentation; that simplification happens differently in different contexts. On the whole, I was broadly happy with the balance in the representation; if the Union soldiers were the heroes, the Confederates were tragic heroes. We are all Americans now. I am glad that the kids were able to parse out nuance and appreciate the Good where it could be found, on either side; and to begin to appreciate the pain and suffering that may accompany leadership.

We were able to climb a couple of high observation towers to get the lay of the land. It was windy!

We made our way around the battlefield to the Federal side, wending our way up to Little Round Top. It may have been too long since I had read The Killer Angels, but I remembered enough.

I tried to imagine being a Confederate soldier rushing up this hill; or an outnumbered Federal one trying to defend it. Terrible. But beautiful last Saturday.

As we headed back down from Little Round Top, more memorials. More stories. It would have been nice to hit Big Round Top; but that was accessible by trail only. There is lots of hiking that we didn't get to do, so if we ever return (and without a large contingent of Under-10s) we may do some more of that. But for where we are now, what we were able to do was perfect.

We ended our tour at the High-Water Mark of the Confederacy; we listened to a detailed description of events while sitting at the spot where they happened. The battle cries and cannon were all on our speakers; the actual location was quiet and windy. I just wept.

After that, there was only the cemetery to see.

I find that I am feeling sad and weighted just writing about the trip, as if by proximity. The terrible story combined with the peaceful beauty of the battlefield can be a wearing paradox. It reminded us all of the Normandy beaches. But it was great trip, and I am grateful.

PostScript: When J and I were dating, I remember driving north from Georgia to Philadelphia and we stopped to read some historical marker on the side of the road (I am always wanting to read those historical markers, and he knows, and is often stopping). Whatever the sign was about I don't remember. I only remember that it referred to "the Glorious Victory at Gettysburg." Are you kidding me? I was appalled. (We were obviously already north of the Mason-Dixon line at the time). Almost as many soldiers were killed, wounded or declared missing from the Battle of Gettysburg alone than during the entire Vietnam Conflict. Glorious? Sure, be glad you won--but glorious? No. 

Having visited the battlefield, though, I think I can accept the term if we throw out one of the American meanings of the word ("having striking beauty or splendor") in exchange for a Hebrew one for glory, כָּבַד, which can carry a sense of weightiness or heaviness. If that is the case, then I came away with the sense the the Battle of Gettysburg was glorious, indeed.