We took a break from our busy schedule to go to Gettysburg and visit the battlefield and museum. This is an absolute must see and a trip I’ve wanted to take for years. We only had one day, but I could easily have spent two or three days touring the battlefield. The Peach Grove, the Wheatfield, Little Round Top, Cemetary Ridge were all just names to me before. Now, having walked them along with my friend Lou and AD, they are real places. Standing at the “Highwater Mark of the Confederacy” we marveled at the courage of the soldiers on both sides of the war. To much forward into almost certain death or stand and hold your ground in the face of relentless onslaughts is the kind of courage the American fighting man has displayed time and again, before, during, and since the Civil War.

Reading about and listening to accounts of the battle was chilling. More deaths were caused by disease than enemy action, wounds to extremities almost always resulted in field amputation of the limb, water was in short supply, wounded soldiers could lie on the field of battle for up to two days before being evacuated. In short, the conditions were barbaric and horrific. During the three day battle, around 50,000 soldiers on both sides were killed. In three days.

At the end of the battle the Confederate forces withdrew back towards Virginia. From that point on the CSA was on the defensive, but the war went on for almost two more years.

When you go plan to spend at least one entire day touring the museum and the battlefield. The battle spanned over 25 square miles, so don’t plan to walk it. You can, and should, buy the self guided automobile tour CD. It’s not particularly cheap, but it is very helpful in understanding what happened, when, and where. You can drive and there are Segway and horse tours available as well as bus tours. Personally, given the time I’d like to take two days and do it on a bicycle. However you do it, take the tour.

The Visitor’s Center and Museum is almost brand new. The old one is being torn down and will probably be gone by the end of this week. It’s a very impressive place, but I do have a couple of quibbles with how some of the displays are set up. I won’t specify them, but if you go there and you’ve read my blog you can probably guess.

Two more things I need mention, one humorous in a depressing sort of way, one not humorous at all.

As I was walking through the museum two teenage girls from a high school field trip walked by me. One turned to the other, and this is a direct quote, “Was this during World War II or the Civil War?” Makes me wonder what they are teaching in high school history classes these days.

I know what they are teaching during at least part of the museum tour and I don’t like it. If you didn’t know better and watched the movie you’d believe that the only reason for the Civil War was to end slavery in the United States. This is patently not true as slavery was only one issue and frankly not the most important one. The other issues, the ones I learned way back when, were the issue of state’s rights, economic domination of the south by the industrialized north, and the differing social mores of the south and the north. Slavery was in the mix and in some ways was a sub-set of the state’s rights issue. However, it was not the main cause of the war. Consider that the Emancipation Proclamation only applied to the rebel states and that slavery was legal in Maryland until 1864.

History should be accurately taught and not bow to the demands of political correctness.

None of which detracted from our enjoyment and education at Gettysburg.