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Oddly, none of us were particularly enthused about visiting Gettysburg. None of us are war buffs, much less Civil War buffs. Not to say we consider such events or places unimportant; but touring fields and ridges where long ago battles raged holds limited interest for us. However, we were 'in the area', so off we went, to see what we could see. We began the driving by reading aloud a bit about this very historic and bloody battle, arriving at our chosen campground around 5:00 PM. While camped there, Joya snapped this shot of Jordan. It has nothing to do with Gettysburg, but I liked it.
After setting up camp, we decided we had enough light, energy and time to begin a driving tour of the battlefields. So, armed with an audio tape, we began the self-guided tour. Soon after starting the tour, Jody spotted this bird of prey sitting on a fence just off the road. We sat and watched her for perhaps 20 minutes. She was quite unconcerned with us, as she had all of her attention on the burrow of some critter that she presumably hoped would be her dinner.
I think that the one truly astonishing, shocking fact of Gettysburg that we all were trying to digest during our tour is the sheer intensity of the fighting and dying that went on during the 3 days of that decisive battle. Over 50,000 lost their lives there; a staggering number to try to grasp. By comparison, U.S. losses during the 15 years of the Vietnam war were less than 60,000. Some regiments experienced casualty rates approaching 40% after minutes of fighting. Jody mustered up the courage to climb the open viewing tower on Culp's Hill, which offered views of many of the significant battle locations. Cemetery Hill, where Lincoln delivered his dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, is in the background.
This is the only 'battlefield shot' I included. On this location was fought the battle commonly known as 'Pickett's Charge', which lost the battle for the Confederates, and ultimately turned the tide of the war. It is fittingly now an empty, somber place.
We stayed out on the driving tour until hunger and a surfeit of military jargon drove us back home. Such things as 'flanks', 'fronts', 'lines', 'breastworks' and the like were confusing for us war novices, and the number of generals and strategists involved was also a bit much for us. So we headed back home to make dinner, and to try to make sense of what we had absorbed.
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