Maggie’s The Battle of Gettysburg begins today... 157 years ago.

[Blue Sky Country]

Hell on earth...

That is what many survivors of the battle would say later. Ironically, what would become the single largest military engagement fought on US soil and the largest battle fought in the western hemisphere in the age of black gunpowder, and which will lead to over 53,000 men dead or wounded, began when several vanguards of Robert E. Lee's army, advancing far ahead of the main body foraging for supplies, encounter a Union cavalry patrol. As more troops from both sides converge via all of the roads that intersect in this region of Pennsylvania, the fighting escalates out of control as both armies dig in for what they know will be a decisive encounter.

The Army of Northern Virginia, at it's peak strength of 75,000 men at arms, and riding on a crest of a spectacular wave of victories across the south, crosses into Pennsylvania to strike what General Robert E. Lee hopes will be the decisive blow that will end the war in the favor of the Confederacy. A war which had already raged for two years. More importantly, a successful Confederate invasion of the North might even persuade the major European powers to intervene on the Confederacy's behalf with materiel and industrial resources.

DAY 1
JULY 1, 1863

...And it begins with an almost absolute rout of the Union Army, which quickly fell back towards the town center in the face of well coordinated and well organized Confederate onslaughts. Two Confederate brigades led by James Archer and Joe Davis encounter several Union cavalry units on the Chambersburg Pike. They were quickly brushed aside as the main force directly behind them thunder on towards the town.

The Army of Northern Virginia, 75,000 strong, advances towards enemy positions on the Chambersburg Pike in sweltering 100+ degree summer heat.

After devastating the Union 1st Corps with an accurate and unwavering barrage of artillery, Ewell's line advances straight for the town center, each man firing at his own pace and delivering a merciless rain of bullets at the exhausted defenders, who fled, leaving behind over 1,000 dead and wounded.

Major General John F. Reynolds arrives on scene with the Union 1st Corps, only to be shelled by massed Confederate artillery from Gen. Richard Ewell's 2nd Corps, firmly dug in on Oak Hill. The Union 1st Corps falls into headlong retreat after suffering devastating casualties, including Gen. Reynolds, who was killed by a rifle bullet. What was left of the 1st Corps was now fighting a desperate rear guard action as troops from Ewell's line pursue them right through the streets of the town itself.

With the exception of the small breakthrough achieved by the 6th Wisconsin at the railroad cut, the first day of the battle was a disaster for the Union army.

By nightfall, the Army of Northern Virginia had complete control over Gettysburg and the surrounding country. With the exception of a single Confederate regiment being surrounded and forced to surrender at an unfinished railroad cut north of the Chambersburg Pike by the Union 6th Wisconsin 'Iron Brigade', the first day of the battle had resulted in a total retreat of every Union force deployed on the field that day, with some units suffering over 30% to 50% casualties as they barely escaped encirclement.

As Confederate troops patrolled the streets of the town and regrouped their lines, General Meade orders the Army of the Potomac to fortify their own positions on a high ridge known as Cemetery Hill. It was a choice that will ultimately decide the result of the battle in the days to come...

Not including the uppermost image, the rest of the images in this post are from the History Channel's epic 2011 docudrama.

 

[Dougie308]

I have walked that battle line a few times and I was always overwhelmed by the magnitude of what transpired there. In particular the courage and leadership of Col. Joshua Chamberlain and the men of the 20th Maine.

 

[jrassy]

I was there for the 150th anniversary, amazing ground to have fought on.

 

[Blue Sky Country]

DAY 2
JULY 2, 1863

As daylight broke on the 2nd of July, both armies, now reinforced to their fullest strengths and occupying a front that stretched for several miles, saw that the Union clearly held a position of advantage. During the night, the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th Corps of the Army of the Potomac had pulled up and fanned out along the elevated terrain of Cemetery Hill and neighboring Culp's Hill. The Union forces are now arranged in a fish hook shaped line that overlooks the town and the low country surrounding it. A traditional frontal assault against such a well defended line would be suicide. This leaves Robert E. Lee with a dilemma: Either drive forward and push the defenders off the high ground with sheer force, or flank and try to encircle Meade's army.

DAY 2
MORNING - EARLY AFTERNOON

Initial probing attacks by the Confederate forces to test the strength of the Union defenses gave way to all out battle as Longstreet orders Major Generals John B. Hood and Lafayette McLaws to strike the southern portion of the Union fish hook from the side in one overwhelming assault. As the Confederate ranks plowed through the Peach Orchard and the Wheatfield, they unexpectedly ran into the Union 3rd Corps, commanded by Major General Daniel Sickles. A man who has already gained much notoriety among his own circle by using the first ever plea of temporary insanity to be acquitted from a murder charge for shooting to death his wife's lover prior to the war, Sickles would gain even more infamy in this battle. In direct violation of Meade's orders to hold the line, Sickles decided to advance the 3rd Corps over a mile ahead of the rest of the Union line in order to "observe the Rebels more clearly". In doing so, he had broken the formerly invincible fish hook and opened the entire Army of the Potomac to being cut up and encircled. It was a disastrous situation, made apparent as Longstreet's artillery began to mercilessly pummel the 3rd Corps, caught in the open with no route of escape and the troops of Hood and McLaws delivered volley after volley straight into the Union line at pointblank range. With thousands of men dead, wounded or captured in a matter of hours, the 3rd Corps was virtually annihilated. During the fighting, a fragment from an exploding shell shattered Sickles' right leg. According to popular lore, as a stretcher bearer team carried the grievously wounded Daniel Sickles off of the battlefield, he remained sitting up on his stretcher, propped on an elbow and puffing on a cigar, refusing to show any sign of pain.

Longstreet's Confederates slam into Daniel Sickles' 3rd Corps and virtually annihilate them.

As the 3rd Corps was being wiped out in the Wheatfield, only a suicidal charge by reinforcements under John Caldwell saved the Union line from being cut in half and surrounded. Caldwell's division faced the combined forces of Hood, McLaws and Barksdale in the Wheatfield and was also cut to pieces, with only 50% of it's troops surviving the fighting, which approached an intensity of sheer madness in a half mile wide open land that will change hands more than 6 times before being firmly held by the Confederates again at nightfall. Over 8,000 men from both sides would meet their deaths in this stretch of the battlefield alone. Caldwell's disastrous counterattack gave Meade precious time to regroup the fish hook on Cemetery Hill into one solid line again.

As the battle surged back and forth across the Wheatfield, the fighting reached new levels of intensity and sheer madness.

On nearby Little Round Top, the Union 5th Corps had better luck in holding their ground against repeated Confederate attacks. It was during one of these harrowing moments when the 20th Maine Regiment of Volunteers under the command of Col. Joshua L. Chamberlain would carry out one of the war's most dramatic sagas, an almost suicidal bayonet charge straight into the face of Hood's battle hardened and veteran Confederate riflemen, forcing them off the hill and back towards where they had started from. For their efforts, the 20th Maine would lose over 30% of it's numbers dead or wounded.

DAY 2
PM - EVENING

Attacking under the cover of darkness and dense foliage, Confederate troops under Hays and Avery easily overwhelm Union breastworks on Culp's Hill. However, they failed to seize the opportunity to capture Meade's headquarters and main supply depot, just 400 yards away on the Baltimore Pike.

As night fell, the Army of the Potomac still managed to keep it's firm grasp on the high ground, despite taking tremendous losses. However, on the Union right flank on Culps Hill, Confederate general Jubal Early saw the rapidly approaching darkness and dense tree cover of the slope as an excellent opportunity to potentially fold the enemy line in upon itself. Six hundred Confederates under Harry T. Hays and Isaac E. Avery clambered up the slope and got to within 100 yards of the Union breastworks held by the 6th Wisconsin Iron Brigade before unleashing a devastating volley of musketry. The 6th, and their supporting units were overwhelmed quickly and fled, leaving the Confederates in control of their entire right flank. This has now become one of history's greatest "what if" questions. For the site of the Confederate breakthrough on that night had only been 400 yards away from the Baltimore Pike, the location of George Meade's headquarters and the entire Union supply depot consisting of hundreds of wagons of ordnance, small arms, ammunition, loose gunpowder and provisions. Unable to see the Baltimore Pike due to the same dense foliage cover which had enabled their successful capture of the Union breastworks, Hays and Avery called off any further advance in fear of their fire possibly hitting their own troops in the darkness. Had the Confederates pushed the rest of the way and captured the Baltimore Pike, this would have been game over for the Army of the Potomac on that very night...

 

[Dougie308]

I stood at Little Round Top looking down into Devil's Den and imagined hearing the order "Fix bayonets!" and the complexity of wheeling the line after the exhausting day they had. Knowing the absolute confidence they had in their commander but realizing that the would be their final chance to hold that flank.

I tear up even now thinking of it. And as a reward for their heroics they were withdrawn and placed in the center of the line facing the Emmettsburg Road as it was quietest spot of the battle to date. The next day would prove it to be anything but quiet.

My wife has documented three great great uncles who wore grey and survived the one mile march across the field that faced those men. And I have documented a relative who was a young private in blue manning a cannon on the ridge behind them.

Three days that like many before and since where actions played out as much by chance as design, but which changed the course of history for millions.

It may sound corny, but I think anyone who has an inkling of those three days (the book Killer Angels can offer that insight) and doesn't find themselves in silent awe or outright tears does not deserve what that event helped to preserve for them.

 

[Blue Sky Country]

DAY 3
JULY 3, 1863
AM - EARLY MORNING

In the predawn darkness, troops of the 12th Army Corps wait for the signal to counterrattack.

As the guns on Cemetery Ridge turn to blast the Confederate stronghold on Culp's Hill, the 12th Army Corps advances and quickly recapture the hill.

It did not take long for the rest of the Union forces on Cemetery Ridge to realize that a critical portion of their line had been compromised and taken in the previous night. As daylight began creeping into the sky in the early hours of July 3, the 12th Army Corps wheeled their heavy guns around and began blasting Culp's Hill. The shells quickly found their marks, splintering trees and reducing earthworks to rubble. Caught by surprise, the Confederate troops under Hays and Avery were forced to fall back. Thus, the only Confederate foothold on the Union fish hook was lost, forcing Robert E. Lee to abandon his decision to send Ewell's 2nd Corps into the gap cut into the Union line by Hays and Avery and flank the Army of the Potomac in a dawn assault. As the sun filled the sky by 10:00 AM, the rest of the Confederates on Culp's Hill had withdrawn, leaving Meade occupying the same positions as he had done on the night of July 1.

For the rest of the day, Lee and his staff pored over their maps and eventually settled with the agonizing decision to send Longstreet's entire 1st Corps along with General George Pickett's Virginia Division and a handful of brigades from Hill's corps straight into the right-center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge and try to breach it by sheer momentum alone. Before the attack was to be carried out, every single heavy gun that the Army of Northern Virginia can bring to bear will pummel the ridge with everything they got, with the goal of wreaking enough destruction to the line that the infantry might have a chance of making it through with the least resistance from the enemy.

DAY 3
AFTERNOON

Over 170 Confederate cannon massed along Fairfield Road blast Union defenses on Cemetery Ridge.

At exactly 1:00 PM on the afternoon of July 3, more than 170 Confederate cannons of every caliber and make opened fire in unison from Fairfield Road and the Peach Orchard. It would be the largest artillery bombardment ever to take place in the western hemisphere. The thunder of the fusillade could be heard all the way in Harrisburg, 100 miles away. By 2:40 PM, the Confederate guns, having spent their remaining ammunition reserves, ceased firing and the order was passed down the line to commence the assault.

Over the next two hours, 12,500 men from several combined divisions and corps emerged from the tree line and would traverse an open section of land over a mile in length up to the enemy positions on Cemetery Ridge. Unbeknownst to the Confederate observers, only a few of the Union guns had been obliterated by the fusillade. As recoil from every shot caused their cannon wheels to sink deeper into the earth, the gunners were forced to elevate their muzzles even higher in compensation. Thus, most of their shells in the latter part of the bombardment had struck the rear of the Union line, causing untold destruction to wagons, mules and supply trains, but leaving the business end of the front almost untouched. This immediately became apparent when Union artillery began opening up on the advancing Southern line with ruthless accuracy and lethality.

Confederate troops advancing through the mile long stretch of pasture in front of Cemetery Ridge run headlong into a literal wall of death from Union artillery and rifle fire.

With only enough room and time to close the gaping holes ripped through their ranks by a blistering rain of Union shells, Longstreet's and Pickett's men continued their advance up a valley of death. At 600 yards away, Union riflemen found their range, and volley upon volley of musketry joined in the thunder of the larger guns. According to popular folklore, some Union gunners climbed atop their earthworks even as bullets cut the air all around them and chanted "Remember Fredericksburg!" at the enemy lines being slaughtered in front of them.

At the height of the doomed assault that will forever be known as "Pickett's Charge", a division commanded by Gen. Lewis Armistead managed to break through the Union line but after several minutes of vicious hand to hand fighting, they were forced to retreat.

Of the 12,500 troops who began the charge, less than half would make it back to their own lines. Only one Confederate section, commanded by Brigadier Gen. Lewis Armistead had managed to break the Union line. After several minutes of ferocious close range combat, Armistead was mortally wounded and his troops were forced to retreat. This will forever be known as the "'High Water Mark' of the Confederate advance into the north. With the failure of this final assault on Cemetery Ridge, the Confederacy's hopes of ending the war through a "shock and awe" military victory had been shot to pieces.

 

[Twitchy]

Name a good book/movie to get up to speed. I was just there last week.

 

[Blue Sky Country]

Name a good book/movie to get up to speed. I was just there last week.
View attachment 7106060

The Killer Angels trilogy by Jeff Shaara is a must read for anyone who is serious about Civil War history. It is one of the most deep and well written novel/biographies on the subject. His style of switching points of view between high ranking commanders and frontline troops/support teams/civilians caught up in the action covers the entire range of emotions and perspectives experienced by everyone who was involved.

Another fantastic read is A Strange And Blighted Land. Gettysburg: The Aftermath of Battle, by Gregory A. Coco. Covers the darkest and most gruesome side of the campaign, which was how the town tried to cope with the sheer death and destruction that the fighting has wrought upon their peaceful existence. Credit for this one goes to @pmclaine , who brought this book to my attention in my other thread in the Movies section.

 

[S Roche]

Blue Sky, Thanks for all the info you provide. The Civil War was a hard time for my GG Grandfather. 5 sons went to war, only 1 came home. I have went through all the letters that were saved and it was not easy to read some.

 

[hankpac]

My wife's Ancestor, John Mayberry Easley, was a member of the Mississippi 42 Infantry, Gastons Rifles. He was captured on the second day of fighting at Gettysburg. Gaston was killed on Day 1. Easley spent the remainder of the war at Ft Delaware, as a POW, except during the period that he was in hospital, from starvation and disease.
After the cessation of hostilities, he was placed in a cattle car, with other survivors and shipped by rail to Memphis TN, to then walk home to Bruce MS, approximately 150 miles, barefoot, and battered. His wife was waiting at home, rather than going to Church that day, because she somehow knew he would be arriving that day.
As he walked past the Church building, an old man who sat by the window so he could spit, saw him and said "Isn't that Old Man Easley?"
The congregation, plus his children, spilled out of the doors of the church, and accompanied him home. It was joyous yet sad, since so few others had returned.

 

[Flintdog2011]

"Killer Angels" is a great read, but the "Civil War, a narrative" series by Shelby Foote is without a doubt the best writing ever done with regards to the war. He covers everything from the political machinations, to the home front, to the battle strategy, and even first person accounts. I cannot recommend these books enough...

 

[Dougie308]

My wife has documented five of her predecessors. Brothers from Virginia, who crossed that field towards the Emmettsburg Road. All survived. 100 years later a letter was found in a family Bible that explains why. It seems that they and many others took shelter in that sunken road and did not climb the fence. Watching the slaughter before them they made a choice that would haunt each of them to the end of their days. The one who wrote the letter found in that Bible became a circuit riding Baptist minister devoting his life to God.

 

[Blue Sky Country]

My wife's Ancestor, John Mayberry Easley, was a member of the Mississippi 42 Infantry, Gastons Rifles. He was captured on the second day of fighting at Gettysburg. Gaston was killed on Day 1. Easley spent the remainder of the war at Ft Delaware, as a POW, except during the period that he was in hospital, from starvation and disease.
After the cessation of hostilities, he was placed in a cattle car, with other survivors and shipped by rail to Memphis TN, to then walk home to Bruce MS, approximately 150 miles, barefoot, and battered. His wife was waiting at home, rather than going to Church that day, because she somehow knew he would be arriving that day.
As he walked past the Church building, an old man who sat by the window so he could spit, saw him and said "Isn't that Old Man Easley?"
The congregation, plus his children, spilled out of the doors of the church, and accompanied him home. It was joyous yet sad, since so few others had returned.

That is one powerful story right there. It is one thing for modern readers to simply glance at written accounts and even primary sources, but it is a wholly different thing to have lived in this time when the scale of human suffering was truly indescribable. By the way your post in the other thread about "Old Farmer Jack" Hinson was equally profound. The rifle that Hinson used to avenge his sons' brutal murders has been displayed by numerous entities, including the State of Tennessee's historical society. There is another picture in my files where it was being held for the camera by three men, one of whom may be the curator of the museum that you spoke of. I've had it saved since the time when I was building Kentucky and Hawken pattern rifles for trad hunters and marksmen.

ETA: Found a copy on one of my portable drives:

@S Roche and @Dougie308 It really hits home when you have family and relatives who had been involved in something as titanic and harrowing as this. Being able to place ourselves in the shoes of those who suffered and died during this traumatic time is what enables us to actually preserve history, retell it again and learn from it. You guys made awesome contributions and additions to this post.

 

[Maxduty]

Amazing to think, if they'd have marched west, DC would have fallen and history would be different.

 

[Faronth]

My grandfather passed the November following 9/11. He was a good man who led a long life and was the patriarch of our family. We laid him to rest in a private family cemetery that dates back a couple of hundred years. After the service I walked among the gravestones of my forefathers. It was only then that I realized that when my grandfather was a kid, the old men of this small Maine town he was born, lived, and died in were civil war vets. More than a few had their rank and unit on their gravestones. I wished that I could have realized that sooner and been able to ask him about the firsthand accounts of the civil war he surely was told as a young boy.

I still remember the stories my grandfather’s told me about Guadalcanal and the North African desert fighting in WWII. Brutal accounts.

Most people don’t realize just how close we are to the past. They just see it as a bunch of paintings or black and white photos in a history book. They don’t think of the real people who paid an incredible price to hand us the country we have. I sincerely hope we don’t blow it all for promises of free stuff and a government big enough to run every aspect of our lives.

May God continue to bless this county.

 

[RyanScott]

I sat with my grandmother last week and she told me about the Worlds Fair in Chicago in 1933. She was 3 years old. the human lifespan can be exceptional compared to the events around it.

 

[pmclaine]

My grandfather passed the November following 9/11. He was a good man who led a long life and was the patriarch of our family. We laid him to rest in a private family cemetery that dates back a couple of hundred years. After the service I walked among the gravestones of my forefathers. It was only then that I realized that when my grandfather was a kid, the old men of this small Maine town he was born, lived, and died in were civil war vets. More than a few had their rank and unit on their gravestones. I wished that I could have realized that sooner and been able to ask him about the firsthand accounts of the civil war he surely was told as a young boy.

I still remember the stories my grandfather’s told me about Guadalcanal and the North African desert fighting in WWII. Brutal accounts.

Most people don’t realize just how close we are to the past. They just see it as a bunch of paintings or black and white photos in a history book. They don’t think of the real people who paid an incredible price to hand us the country we have. I sincerely hope we don’t blow it all for promises of free stuff and a government big enough to run every aspect of our lives.

May God continue to bless this county.

Amazing to realize history is not so far in the past.

I believe there are still people receiving civil war pensions, either wives or children of vets. At least there were up until real recent times.

https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-08-08/civil-war-vets-pension-still-remains-on-governments-payroll-151-years-after-last-shot-fired

 

[Blue Sky Country]

My wife has documented five of her predecessors. Brothers from Virginia, who crossed that field towards the Emmettsburg Road. All survived. 100 years later a letter was found in a family Bible that explains why. It seems that they and many others took shelter in that sunken road and did not climb the fence. Watching the slaughter before them they made a choice that would haunt each of them to the end of their days. The one who wrote the letter found in that Bible became a circuit riding Baptist minister devoting his life to God.

For those on the very front of the lines that went up that 1200 yard field of death on the afternoon of July 3rd, it would have been apparent not even yet halfway across that plain that the charge was doomed from the start. As soon as the lines first emerged from Seminary Ridge, the Union Ordnance and Parrott rifled guns, which had ranges of more than 4,000 yards, would have opened up on them immediately with explosive case shot. How the survivors continued, and what compelled them to continue was just incomprehensible. Every step they took forward against the "leaden wind"(as described by many a survivor) of hundreds of bullets and shells slamming into their ranks every second must have been utterly horrific beyond imagination. When they reached within 400 yards of the first Union defenses on Cemetery Ridge, there would have been a brief lull in the enemy artillery fire, which up to this point had been constant and unwavering.

Veterans and survivors of previous frontal assaults such as at Malvern Hill the year before, would have immediately known what that lull was. The brief period of silence would have been the gunners switching to canister and double canister round. When the guns opened fire again, now it will not be individual pockets within the advancing ranks being obliterated. Entire sections up to 25 yards wide would be cut down by a rain of invisible scythes. On certain points of the line where closely grouped Union guns had overlapping fields of covering fire, there would not even have been survivors. A single canister ball can remove entire arms and legs and separate torsos upon impact. One cartridge contained up to 60 balls along with a tin headcap which held the cartridge together. There had been stories of men who had reached the fence and urged those on either side of them to charge, only to turn around and realize that they themselves were the only ones standing. Everybody else who were around them had been mowed down. This was what those troops in the final stretch of the advance would be facing in addition to the rifle fire. Hell alone would have been a gross and irresponsible understatement.

 

[animaldoc]

We were there over the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd walking the battlefield. The last day we stopped at the Soldiers National Monument. They had placed flags on all of the graves for the 4th. This was the spot where the Gettysburg Address was given when Lincoln dedicated it a national cemetery.

 

[Dougie308]

I cannot even begin to comprehend the nerve of anyone who followed their regimental colors through horror before them. The heat, the smells, and the sounds around them must have shattered the minds of many left untouched by physical dangers of that day.

For those on the very front of the lines that went up that 1200 yard field of death on the afternoon of July 3rd, it would have been apparent not even yet halfway across that plain that the charge was doomed from the start. As soon as the lines first emerged from Seminary Ridge, the Union Ordnance and Parrott rifled guns, which had ranges of more than 4,000 yards, would have opened up on them immediately with explosive case shot. How the survivors continued, and what compelled them to continue was just incomprehensible. Every step they took forward against the "leaden wind"(as described by many a survivor) of hundreds of bullets and shells slamming into their ranks every second must have been utterly horrific beyond imagination. When they reached within 400 yards of the first Union defenses on Cemetery Ridge, there would have been a brief lull in the enemy artillery fire, which up to this point had been constant and unwavering.

Veterans and survivors of previous frontal assaults such as at Malvern Hill the year before, would have immediately known what that lull was. The brief period of silence would have been the gunners switching to canister and double canister round. When the guns opened fire again, now it will not be individual pockets within the advancing ranks being obliterated. Entire sections up to 25 yards wide would be cut down by a rain of invisible scythes. On certain points of the line where closely grouped Union guns had overlapping fields of covering fire, there would not even have been survivors. A single canister ball can remove entire arms and legs and separate torsos upon impact. One cartridge contained up to 60 balls along with a tin headcap which held the cartridge together. There had been stories of men who had reached the fence and urged those on either side of them to charge, only to turn around and realize that they themselves were the only ones standing. Everybody else who were around them had been mowed down. This was what those troops in the final stretch of the advance would be facing in addition to the rifle fire. Hell alone would have been a gross and irresponsible understatement.

 

[Blue Sky Country]

Bringing this back to front page early this year because everybody who passes by here needs to understand the significance of what had occurred on this hallowed ground, and not let these cultural and historical markers be desecrated and defecated upon by those who wants to see this country destroyed...

 

[Thumper580]

If only General Ewell had attacked the union cavalry when he first arrived... The Confederate infantry were exhausted from an all day March, but the union only had light cavalry defending the town. General Lee told Ewell to do as he saw fit.... The Confederate infantry could have easily run the Union cavalry out of town. I doubt General Swartzkoff would be so soft with his orders... ATTACK, ATTACK!!!

 

[Thumper580]

I've dug up cannister shot here in Central Virginia while relic hunting. They are little bit bigger than a ping pong ball except solid steel..... Imagine 60 of those flying through the air... From just one Cannon shot.

 

[srtsam]

I've taken the family to Gettysburg and its sobering to see first hand what these men tried to accomplish. Since moving from NJ, we now frequently visit Shiloh. Also awesome and not nearly as touristy as Gettysburg. That said, From what i can gather ,I think if the south had more victories in the western campaign it would have allowed the north not to concentrate almost all its resources to the eastern campaign. I feel that without foreign aid the south lost the war in the west.

 

[Fig]

‘’Killer Angels” should be required reading.

 

[tomcatmv]

I've only been to Gettysburg once, with my Dad when I was maybe 10? That would have been around 1960. I remember walking a lot of the battlefield, especially Devil's Den. As the day got late we had climbed the one observation tower(we were the only ones around) and a misty light fog started forming and I'll never forget the feeling that the ghosts were rising. My Dad felt it too. Very humbling and somewhat spooky experience.

 

[hunter1959]

I live just 30 minutes north of Gettysburg.. have been on the fields of that great battle/tragedy to many times to account... in the process, I began to concentrate on specific skirmish and battle sub plots of those small handful of days... the courage exhibited on both sides is extraordinary to learn of and to contemplate... the mind experience in sitting on top of Little Roundtop, in the rocks of Devil's Den, the Copse at the Point, the woods of Seminary Ridge, the rock fences of Culps Hill, can become almost metaphysical... for me, to see any of that battlefield become subject to communist anarchy creates internal violence that I rarely find myself within... I hope that this Democrat Governor in Pennsylvania will react appropriately and not as a PC feel good whimp that so many of the Dim administrators around this country have exposed themselves to be... I worry about the residents of the village and the surrounding farm ground if this does come off as suggested by some reports of the heathen advanced planning ... I think all of us who have a patriotic history and fervor and are in range of the sites will think energetically about what we might do, if those people show up and begin another tragedy..

 

[canman]

What planning? What have you heard?

 

[hunter1959]

What planning? What have you heard?

as brought forth here.... several referenced coming across social media suggestions that protestors around the country have been buying heavy fireworks ordinance that was not sold due to July 4th celebration cancellations around the country... that those fireworks would be used to "condition" the local public to the noise, as though it was just a super celebration of the 4th and the historic battle... condition the public to relax because they have heard it before... then move into the neighborhoods and begin looting and burning... hard to imagine it happening, but it could.... best to be aware of the potential and if it doesn't happen better yet...

 

[Blue Sky Country]

as brought forth here.... several referenced coming across social media suggestions that protestors around the country have been buying heavy fireworks ordinance that was not sold due to July 4th celebration cancellations around the country... that those fireworks would be used to "condition" the local public to the noise, as though it was just a super celebration of the 4th and the historic battle... condition the public to relax because they have heard it before... then move into the neighborhoods and begin looting and burning... hard to imagine it happening, but it could.... best to be aware of the potential and if it doesn't happen better yet...

If these motherfuckers do shit like that on this hallowed ground and hallowed day, we are going to clean this shit out for good and start stacking ANTIFA corpses just like Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang stacked dead Mongols from Beijing all the way to Shangdu. And it will not be just killing the scumbags who want to murder and cause mayhem in our communities, we will be addressing EVERY SINGLE FUCKING grievance that the American people has been subjected to since the fucking Gun Control Act of 1968.

I will fucking come down there with a framing hammer, separate the wounded terrorists from the dead ones after the firefight, and then calmly smash each motherfucking face into full bakery jam consistency with CCR and The Trashmen blasting from speakers in the background.... Seriously...

 

[hunter1959]

If these motherfuckers do shit like that on this hallowed ground and hallowed day, we are going to clean this shit out for good and start stacking ANTIFA corpses just like Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang stacked dead Mongols from Beijing all the way to Shangdu. And it will not be just killing the scumbags who want to murder and cause mayhem in our communities, we will be addressing EVERY SINGLE FUCKING grievance that the American people has been subjected to since the fucking Gun Control Act of 1968.

I will fucking come down there with a framing hammer, separate the wounded terrorists from the dead ones after the firefight, and then calmly smash each motherfucking face into full bakery jam consistency with CCR and The Trashmen blasting from speakers in the background.... Seriously...

I see you like Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket... LOL.... hold your powder while we see if this is a hoax

 

[Blue Sky Country]

I see you like Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket... LOL.... hold your powder while we see if this is a hoax

Hopefully it is a hoax... If not, then that means the "atmosphere flush" button in this starship called the USA is gonna get pressed, and all good Patriots will be clad in pressure suits or inside emergency O2 pods when that code gets punched in...

 

[hunter1959]

Hopefully it is a hoax... If not, then that means the "atmosphere flush" button in this starship called the USA is gonna get pressed, and all good Patriots will be clad in pressure suits or inside emergency O2 pods when that code gets punched in...

you do have an active imagination... after weeks of watching what has been happening and the history of our country willingly being given over to those communist agitators by our Dim elected officials is maddening, without question... but I do have faith in the power of non-friendly persuasion when it is needed... We have angered and pissed off people across the full range of our country... Central Pennsylvania is no place to attempt something like this, to many of us have been breed to the gun from infancy... and I will tell you, and I have not mentioned this here before. I am 16th generation in this country, the first of my family came from Scotland in 1638 and settled in what is now Tidewater Virginia... there has not been one noted war this country has faced that hasn't had multiple members of my family involved, starting with the French and Indian, and onward.. I look at my own service and how I feel about this country as an obligation to the past, the current and the future for my children and grand children... without question, I don't plan to turn this country over to any group that is not of us and for us, without having a say in the outcome... lots of us like this

 

[Blue Sky Country]

you do have an active imagination... after weeks of watching what has been happening and the history of our country willingly being given over to those communist agitators by our Dim elected officials is maddening, without question... but I do have faith in the power of non-friendly persuasion when it is needed... We have angered and pissed off people across the full range of our country... Central Pennsylvania is no place to attempt something like this, to many of us have been breed to the gun from infancy... and I will tell you, and I have not mentioned this here before. I am 16th generation in this country, the first of my family came from Scotland in 1638 and settled in what is now Tidewater Virginia... there has not been one noted war this country has faced that hasn't had multiple members of my family involved, starting with the French and Indian, and onward.. I look at my own service and how I feel about this country as an obligation to the past, the current and the future for my children and grand children... without question, I don't plan to turn this country over to any group that is not of us and for us, without having a say in the outcome... lots of us like this

Many folks with whom I competed in N-SSA meets in the past also live in this region and I must definitely echo the strong and traditional sentiment of rural Pennsylvania when it comes to preserving freedom and individual safety via superior firepower. Many of the rifles that I built, including one with a Parker-Hale hexagonal bored Whitworth barrel, had been shipped to customers in this region, and Virginia also. Not to mention all of the revolvers that I had been sent to have work performed on.

N-SSA and other more local matches using Civil War firearms and gear had been the one window shining sunlight on me when I had been going through a very nasty breakup and I had spent much of the waking day every day under varying levels of alcohol intoxication. Not just the matches and the extended rendezvouz lasting up to a week where rifled muskets, custom built sharpshooters' pieces, and other period long arms are put through their paces from 600 to 1400 yards away, but the entire history of the Civil War era, the traditions and music that emerged during this time, the stories of legends like Jack Hinson... All of those things that we would share with spectactors who come to these events... Those were the things which kept me from really sliding into a dark place...... Just as my GF now and her introducing to me all of the wonderful things in the Harry Potter universe, as well as her presence and support, had kept me strong through my father's death and my mother's stroke last year.

Of all the times I had chatted with the folks who purchased my rifles, of all the times around the campfire at the end of each day's shooting events... Of all the times we sat around with whiskey and cigars to the tune of live regimental and folk bands, NEVER before had any of us even remotely hinted at a future possibility where a group of societal rejects and terroristic scumbags will try to desecrate the very ground containing the graves of so many men who gave the ultimate sacrifice to turn THESE United States into THE United States...

I will go to hell before I allow that shit to happen on my watch...

 

[hankpac]

My wife’s great great grandfather John Mayberry Easley served with the 22 Miss infantry in Gaston’s Rifles. Gaston was killed on day one. Easley, a Private, was captured the second day, and spent the remainder of the war at Ft Delaware, except for time he was in the hospital. At the end of hostilities, he and other survivors from central MS, were sent by train in boxcars to Memphis where they were mustered out, and began a 150 mile walk home to Bruce/Banner MS.
John Easley arrived home on a Sunday, and passing by the church, an old man who sat near the window, so he could spit, spotted Easley passing. Church broke up early and he was escorted to his wife, who had sent the kids to church, saying, “You go to church, I’m staying home. Your father is coming home today.” She’d had no word ahead, just knew he was coming.