Gettysburg

Gettysburg. It only needs one definition. A place of bravery, solitude and death. Thousands of men laying down their lives to preserve a nation, or to preserve a way of life. The blue and gray.

Before telling about my experience, let me tell you that if the union hadn't stopped the confederates here before they got to Pennsylvania, the confederates could have been closer to the capital. If they took the capital, they could have won the war.

If they won the war, I would live in Georgia, still, but slave filled Georgia. I would live in the southeast, but the slaved filled one. I would live in A united branch of states, but a CONFEDERATE one. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks would have been in bonds, never to teach against segregation, 'cause they were slaves!

If the confederates won the war, a whole chunk of history we know and love could be taken away.

But they didn't.

And that's the good part. Today we live in remembrance to those fallen heroes, and we honor them.

My experience at Gettysburg was very interesting and exciting. We walked into the visitors center, saw the brief movie narrated by Morgan Freeman, (which was very good) and went up the escalator to see the cyclorama. Now, that cyclorama was a huge painting with a 3-d effect to it, having sculptures, by the picture, so it looked as if the painting was real. This painting/sculpture went all around the room, showing the different parts of the battle and bloodshed. It was a performance like no other. Cannon sounds came from all of the parts of the room, light showing where you should look. Since it was a circular room, I had to run up to one place and then run to another. It was a good show though.

A employee there stated the masterpiece weighed 5 tons, 40ft tall, 270ft in circumference. It was painted in 1874. It was made in a factory in Paris, one of three in the world. And, on top of all that, it's the largest painting in North America.

I also saw a cool museum there. It was very information-filled, had a good layout, and was altogether interesting.

Next we embarked on the hardest part of the day...the battlefield! We had picked up an audio tour cd (you put it in your car and drive around and stop at designated pull-offs and press play) who featured James Mottas, a tour guide and historian. He led us through a long tour of the battlefield layout, the personalities, and the fighting. It was pretty cool.

I saw Cemetery Ridge, Culp's Hill, Little Round Top, Devil's Den, The Peach Orchard, and many others. I learned interesting back stories t0 many individuals in the battle. And finally, I saw the hugest monuments ever.

Tomorrow we are going to see a Gettysburg reenactment. It should be fun.

Til next time,

Andrew.