"Photos of Gettysburg visit." Topic

Hi Guys
Recently returned home from a holiday in the US.
Really thought the Government shutdown was going to screw with some of my plans but fortunately congress and Obama got their crap together long enough for me to get to visit some battlefields.
Here are a few photos from Getteysburg:
link
Cheers
Scott

Hope you had a good time. Did you make it to any other battlefields?

Hi 79th PA
We had a blast.
Yep, we visited Antietam also. Excellent experience.
Cheers
Scott

Great. Antietam is probably my favorite battlefield.

I'm glad the trip worked out for you.

Well done!!
The photo of you and your wife are fantastic.
Thanks for sharing;
Joe

great pictures Scott!

Glad you had a good time. I like the period photo.

Jealous!

Loved the pics. The period one of you and your wife turned out really well! First rate.

Thanks,

John

Hi Guys
As stated on my blog, the period photo was taken on a camera from 1860! Once we were dressed, the photographer Mr Gibson poured some chemical liquids onto a tin plate. Once they reached a 'tacky' consistency the plate was ready to be used as the film onto which our image was captured. Once Raech and I were positioned (myself looking determined and Raech 'demure'), a brace was placed behind us to keep us in place. The lense was then exposed for 18 seconds and "tada"! Our photograph was taken.

I was in the US last year in the spring,
Being 1/2 British and 1/2 American and living my life in the UK,
I visited a number of Battlefields including Gettysburg and Antietam, I was very impressed by the way the battlefields have been looked after and there accessibly.
I enjoy Gettysburg, but I loved Antietam and how unspoilt it is.

One of the most humbling experiences I've had is walking the length of Pickett's Charge, from the large statue of Robert E. Lee, across the sunken road, all the way to the Bloody Angle where Gen. Armistead was killed. It was the last weekend of June and I was wearing a cotton tee-shirt, hiking shorts, and good hiking boots. I walked at a standard Army quicktime pace and it took me about 20 minutes to make the trek. By the end of it, I was dripping sweat, even though it was only about 11:00 in the morning, and I had twisted an ankle tromping through the brush. The Confederates made that same trek in heavy wool uniforms, carrying rucksacks, bedrolls, rifles, bayonets, ammunition, etc., and would not have had the high-tech Vibram-soled boots I wore, but would instead have had rudimentary shoes, if they had shoes at all.

As I walked along, I tried to estimate the places where I would have encountered Union artillery shell and shot, then canister fire, sharpshooters, and finally massed musket volleys. I think there would have been about ten minutes of being chewed to pieces before I reached a place where I could conceive of the Confederates being able to respond with effective musket volleys. The final rush to the Bloody Angle and Hancock's waiting guns would have taken place over 300 yards of completely open ground, without any cover at all and under fire from all sides.

I tried to imagine the sheer hell that Pickett's men must have tried to wade through. It must have been such a cauldron of unmitigated hellfire that I'm surprised anyone lived through it, and it really brought home a new sense of respect for the men on both sides of that conflict.

Wonderful post of what would have been an incredible trip. The tour on horse back sounds like a wonderful way to get around the battlefield.

Trailape, did you make it to little round top and if so how steep is it and how do you think any force could have been shifted of it?

Cheers,

Kurt.

Hi Kurt
Yes, we got to Little Round Top.
Certainly it would have been a tough objective to take against a well entrenched enemy but like any position not impregnable to a well coordinated, well supported and determined attack.
All the same, I'd not like to be a weary Texan attacking uphill against the 20th Maine commanded by Chamberlain on that fateful day in July 1863.

Really great and thought provoking thread guys!