"Going to Gettysburg July 2015 - advice?" Topic

Hi!

The whole family (including Son #1 wargamer) is heading back to the USA for almost 6 weeks this summer, and since we'll be visiting friends in Mechanicsburg I thought it would be great to see the re-enactment. Any advice from re-enactors or veterans of the scene would be appreciated! If I had to pick one day … any preferences? :)

Cheers,

Christopher

Aside from making reservations last year, can't tell you a whole lot more. I hear it's a tremendous experience but haven't braved it myself. Best wishes!

First off you will be surprised by how laid back and non tourist trap it is. I was expecting Disney style stuff bt it was all in all subdued.
Get a guide. Worth the money.
Stand at the kick off point for Pickett charge and be stunned at how long they actually went under fire, in the open.

The Miniature Diorama show was cool, not expensive and helped .

You do realize that the reenactment is NOT on the battlefield. I actually thought that is was expensive … bleacher seating will cost you $100 USD for the weekend per person. Oh, and did I mention that it is HOT! Take a hat, sun screen and lots of water.

Mark

Take a bicycle and park your car!

Err … crap. I just assumed that it would be on the battlefield. We'll probably just go for one day, but yep – 30$ per person or 40$ in the bleachers! Are the bleachers necessary? I suppose they have set them up to both get the best view and block out other angles.

Your much better off going on a battlefield walk with licensed guide Troy Harman if he's available.

Licensed guide is the way to go.

Last i knew Troy was a ranger – not a guide…

But i agree – Licensed Battlefield Tour Guide is the way to go…

Also check for ranger programs at the visitro center or online befor you go… Anything Troy is doing is worth attending…

The evening campfire series is good too

James

Christopher, in addition to being a wargamer, I am also a reenactor and can tell you a little about the reenactments at Gettysburg. About every five years or so they have a big one that is pretty good, put on by a different group of reenactors. This is not one of those years. This one is held by a group that puts one on every year, and has something of a reputation for putting on sub-standard events at overly-inflated admission prices. What's more, it is not held on the actual battlefield (the National Park Service does not allow battle reenactments on their properties). It is held on some private land a few miles from the park. My recommendation, skip the reenactment and see the actual battlefield (National Military Park). For someone not already well-versed in the battle, a licensed guide is a good way to go. Hope this helps. Enjoy your visit to the USA.

Thanks for all the advice! I had already started to think that just going to the battlefield itself would be a better bet, and the guide seems like a good way to go, especially for the family.

The National Park Service will have several fine living history events on the battlefield over the July 4th weekend. Not battle reenactments, but they are very worth seeing.

Went to Cold Wars and stayed for a few days in Gettysburg. Hired one of the guides for a day. It made the day. Howard was knowledgeable in the extreme, and practised enough to get his timing spit on. I would heartily recommend the battlefield guides.

My daughter and I were in Gettysburg last year for the fireworks. We could hear the re-enactment but it did not impact downtown much and we had a great time.

I've been to Gettysburg a few times over the last 10 – 20 years. The view from Little Round Top is amazing. I once accompanied a group of Boy Scouts as we walked from Pickett's starting point in the trees on Seminary Ridge (the term ridge is being very generous to that piece of land) to the Grove of Trees that was their target. I don't know if you can do that anymore. One thing that we encountered during our walk was a number of narrow drainage ditches in the field before you get to the first fence at the road. They were only a couple of feet wide but about 5 or 6 feet deep. It made me a bit uneasy with the kids jumping over them. No casualties, though. I don't know if these ditches still exist or not. It was a great walk. Really gave you the feeling of being there.

Absolutely hire a licensed guide. You will get 400% more out of the experience than simply driving and walking around.

Absolutely avoid the reenactment. You'll pay top dollar for a wasted day.

If you can be there the weekend of the battle, the 3rd, 4th and 5th this year you will see some of the best informed reenactors around (alas, I will not be one of them).

As someone who worked in the town for 2 years in the late 80s and as a reenactor who attended several "big" Gettysburgs, including the 135th, I must chime in with John the G et al.; skip the touron (yes, that's a combination word of tourist and…well, you figure it out)-packed money siphon and hit the field(s) and hills. Guides will be a big help. Be careful driving around the square in the town center--traffic flow depends on courtesy and any problem is both parties' faults.
There is a WalMart and a 24hr supermarket (Giant Foods) east of town on York St (PA30), and a smaller one (Kennie's) one block south/3blocks west of the square. Lincoln Diner, one block North of the square (away from the battlefield) is 24 hours but cash only; good solid food, recommend their breakfasts. There is a miniature shop (Gettysburg Miniature Soldiers) across the intersection from Tommy's Pizza (personal recommedation)further south past where Steinwehr Ave splits from Baltimore St, then crosses Washington St. The museum/visitor's center is further down Washington st (Rt 134) or Baltimore Pike.
Further down Steinwehr, on the right just before the edge of the Pickett's Charge field is General Pickett's Buffet, which is actually quite worth the price for dinner, despite its somewhat touristy-sounding name.
And if you manage to make it to Little Round Top, to an off the beaten path marker for Co.B 20th Maine,the furthest left flank unit of the Union Army whose skirmishing flanking fire from an unexpected direction was contributory to the 15th Alabama's retreat from Little Round Top, you will also be near the final resting place of my best friend JJ. He was an incredible nonprofessional scholar of the Civil War who told us about Joshua Chamberlain's exploit decades before Michael Shaara did. Our old gaming group scattered JJ's ashes, along with some of the polyhedral dice we wargamed with in college, back in June 2013. If you chance to see a ghostly image of a Sumo-wrestler who also looks like a nerd, that'll be JJ's shadow--tell him Mark said Hi.

Thanks for all the great advice – and I'll keep my eyes peeled for any stray dice on Little Round Top – great story there!

I'm something of an old hand at Gettysburg, been there dozens of times. If possible hire an LBG (Licensed Battlefield Guide), they really know their stuff. If Wayne Motts or Wayne Wachsmuth or Andy Ward are available (I'm not sure if they're retired) definitely ask for them (Please tell them that "That Dynia Guy" from the old GDG says hi). Make sure to hit the 1st Day's field, too many people skip that.

Check at the Visitor's Center (the new one is really nice, has an excellent museum, a Soldier's Canteen to eat in and a great book/souvenir shop) to see if there are any special programs for the day, sometimes they have demos (I once saw a four gun "Confederate Battery" firing on the field.) Make sure that you have plenty of beverages in your car, my girlfriend almost passed out from dehydration.)

Go to the Cemetery. I always say this, too often we forget the cost of the war. I envy you in this, I haven't been since before they tore down the old Visitor's Center and Cyclorama building.

Any questions feel free to ask, I love to talk about Gettysburg.

Been there 32 times and going again this year before Historicon. THe advice to get a guide is exactly right. Also, start out where the battle started and Day 1 at Herr Ridge and proceed through the 3 days in order. Be sure and walk around the rear slopes or Little Round Top where the markers are for the 20th Maine. Don't miss the East Cavalry Field – it is often ignored but well worth the visit.

There are some good shops in town for books and buttons and bullets. Lots of good places to eat – try and get to the Cashtown Inn if you can. Good food, great atmosphere. There is also an English Pub in town which is well worth it.

Enjoy. Oh, if you have the time, go down to the Antietam Battlefield. It will haunt you for a long time.

I completely agree with what is said here. The Licensed guide was fantastic and was able to show me where my relative fought – and was captured on the first day. He showed us everything we wanted and more. It made the trip unforgettable.

I would also add one thing though. Go at least once at dawn or dusk when the park is not open and largely empty. There is something special about those times that I cannot explain but you will instantly feel while you are there. So much so that in our three days there, we went three times. Twice in the evening near dusk and once in the morning.
Larry

Skip the reenactment. The good ones are on the 5 year anniversaries. This one will be pretty pathetic with the lowest quality of re-enactors. Use the money for a good tour of the battlefield.

Ditto on hiring the professional guide. Well worth the money and they are fun people. I have known 1 of them for 40+ years. After touring the battlefield, swing by Artillery Ridge Campgrounds and take a tour on horseback. They only cover a limited part of the park, but it gives you a completely different perspective.

I would just plain skip all reenactments at Gettysburg. I sat through one in those bleachers in 95 degree humid weather. Not to mention the gawd awful traffic (I knew a couple back roads so it saved my bacon in that regard). I kept waiting for a reenactment on the battlefield. Never happened.

Now, OTOH, the reenactments at Shiloh are all in front of and involve the Hornet's Nest. Fantastic. I was there in 2012 for the 150th and it was magical, if that's the right way to call it. Artillery, infantry, some cavalry. All right there in front of us. Well done and well worth it.

I also attended on at Antietam on the anniversary weekend (not the 150th – an off year), and it was also great – attack on the Sunken Road and in the Cornfield. Don't know if it is still being done there. If it is, go!!

As I understand it, the NPS and the reenactment powers that be in Gettysburg had a major falling out some years ago and reenactments were forbidden moving forward on the Gettysburg battlefield. Prior to that, they were on site. The ones there now are not worth spending your money on. Save it and get a guide.

BTW, there are guides in the F'burg area that are a great bargain and well worth whatever they charge. They take you to places which are overlooked or most people don't know how to get to (Meade's breakthrough against Jackson) and a must for a first time visitor.

From my advice, having grown up about an hour away from Gettysburg and spending a lot of time there in years past, the battle walks are really great and they're free. The ranger leading the "walk" goes into a lot detail about one section of the battle. I looked at the list for July 1 – 3 this year:

July 1
Striking Stone & Cutler: The Attacks of Junius Daniel's Brigade on July 1
Buford, Birney, Humphreys and Geary: Defending the Emmitsburg Road on July 1.
"Plant Your Flag Down There!" – The Defense of Cemetery Hill

July 2
"Our little brigade fought like heroes" –The Irish Brigade at Gettysburg.
Myths, Memories, and Martyrs: The Battle for Little Round Top
Gun Fight at the Peach Orchard

July 3
Hancock at Gettysburg – July 3rd
Pickett's Charge

The park service's calendar is here: link

The ranger programs are here: link

Towards the bottom of that page is the "July 1-3 Anniversary Schedule(pdf)" that you can open to get their schedule over the anniversary programs. Traffic is particularly heavy over these days of course, but they also run programs especially for this time of the year.

Chris, are you going to Historicon??

Two of the best times I had at Gettysburg and Antietam was with William Frassanito's books, just wandering the fields finding the locations. The books include all the photos taken of the battlefield at the time. He has found each site photographed, determined the direction the photo was taken and includes present day photos and maps of the locations.

In the Antietam book he has also included photos of soldiers killed at the battle and buried in the cemetery there. You can get used copies for less than a dollar on Amazon.

Antietam; A Journey in Time:

/link

Gettysburg: A Journey in Time

link

Frassanito's research and books in the mid-1970s actually spurred the conservation of those two battlefields.

link

Another thing about driving around the park at dusk: there are wild whitetailed deer roaming around the park. Drive slowly: first to enjoy the view, next, to avoid those who are not driving carefully, and third, to be able to stop when the deer decide that they have the right of way.

I have found that the park ranger 2-hour or more tours are the best. They have been better than the tours that I had with the LBGs (who are good too, but not quite as good as the park rangers), IMHO.

One year, I took a tour with the ranger that started at Hauk's Ridge near Little Round Top and covered all of the attack of Hood's division including the Wheatfield. Best battlefield tour that I have ever been on.

Hire horses from the Artillery Ridge camp-site; you get a 2-hour ride which may well really change your perspective of the final attack. It's not expensive (compared to 100 bucks for a bleacher seat)and the guides we went with were well-informed.

Thanks for all the great advice! We're very much looking forward to our trip, but ran into a little snag with the guides.

Unfortunately, the reservation system for the battlefield tours wouldn't accept my foreign info (good to know for other ex-pat visitors!), and by the time we got things straightened out it was then too late to make a reservation for the 3rd. We can still go and see if any "first come, first serve" guides are available … but if anybody has any other advice or insider tips for getting a good guide for the 3rd that would be great!

Cheers,

Christopher

So, Chris, how was it? Hope the rain on the 4th didn't drown any plans.
AAR, NOW, soldier! B^D