"Reflections on Gettysburg" Topic
13 Posts
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Ottoathome | 24 Nov 2015 5:57 a.m. PST |
This past weekend was "Remembrance Weekend" in Gettysburg. This is a weekend marking the dedication of the National Cemetery at the town and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. there is a "re-enactment" of the actual signing ON the day itself, and on the weekend following a huge crowd of re-enactors show up for a parade and some of them have private ceremonies at the cemetery which is what the unit I belong to (14th New Jersey) mark the graves of the NJ slain with flags. That has grown to where now all the graves are marked with flags and many plant state flags as well. These all must be taken up by the end of the weekend, but it is very nice an quite moving. The parade is quite good, larger some years than others, and in its own right quite evocative. Not only for the uniforms and troops themselves, but the dedication of the participants to an idea and the whole meaning of the war. Of course I will not deny that for many it is a large social event with old friends meeting and having an outing which very much at times reminds one of war games conventions and the social event that these often form. There are swapping of "old war stories" of things that went on in the unit or at other re-enacting events" just as we gas on about old games and old friends and funny things. The event is heavily dependent on the weather. Sometimes it can be brutally cold with blowing snow, as it was one year, and this year it was on the more or less mild side. It made the ceremonies on that high windy hill where the ceremony is located a bit easier. For those of you who have not been, clustered around the central monument are the graves of the dead, all separated by state. In the various states you have the name and unit of the fallen soldier, but some of them are just known as coming from New Jersey. That's kind of sad to walk down the rows and read and reflect that the poor soldier is not even known. On the leftmost section all the graves are "unknown" differentiated only by numbers. That's perhaps the saddest of all. We don't know anything about them, perhaps they might even be confederate, remembering that many dead were interned as fast as possible after the battle, and later exhumed and reburied. As Dorothy and I were walking to the ceremony at the graves we passed many other graves not from the civil war. By pure chance she was passing a grave which was not from the Civil War but was of the same name as her maiden name, and the dead soldier was from Pennsylvania near where her father came from. She was pretty sure it was a relative of hers. Gettysburg is a strange place. It is a modern town with all it's hustle and bustle, but it is also a town ineffably locked with a very specific moment in time in 1863. At the same time it can be jarring. We live in a world of hates and animosities and old feuds going back millennia, yet here are blue and grey sharing beer and pizza al-fresco on the streets and taverns, restaurants and diners of the town in perfect harmony. We had the unit dinner, we met with friends, we had a fair amount of young people at the gathering, yes all in costume. I don't re-enact. I'm a member of the unit and pay my dues and support all the activities, and got into it because my former co-worker Norm, and his family was into it and through the job of the last 18 years he and I have become good friends. I tell him that I already have two expensive hobbies (war games and model railroads) and don't need a third, and my century is the 18th and not the 19th. However, "When you make a unit re-enacting the General Staff of the Army of the Potomac, I'm in! I'd go for the champagne and oysters picnics with all the women in tight-laced corsets and flowing dresses! But even as a bystander it's monstrously fine fun! Otto |
Who asked this joker | 24 Nov 2015 6:42 a.m. PST |
Thanks for posting Otto! Sounded like a wonderful time…minus the cold and wind of course! |
TKindred | 24 Nov 2015 7:01 a.m. PST |
FWIW, the federal government hired a mortician to oversee the taking up and interring of the dead across the battlefield. One of his primary duties was to insure that no confederate dead were interred in the newly-created national cemetary. His full report is available through the archives at Gettysburg, as well as the Pennsylvania Archives. It is interesting for a couple of reasons. First off, he was adamant that he was able to identify confederate remains due not just to their uniform, but also because they all seemed to have a distinctive style of underwear, apparently issued by the central government or CS relief societies. He point out that even when the odd body was found to be wearing some piece of federal uniform, that distinctive style of underclothing was a giveaway for identification as confederate. Secondly, he provides a list of every body identified as federal, with a name and identification where available, and then goes on to provide a list of articles found in the deceased's pockets, or otherwise upon their person. It is a fascinating read. Time and again, he lists brass letters and numbers, and, quite often, round eagle cartridge belt plates. I was puzzled by this at first, then realized that these soldiers removed these items from their caps/hats and cartridge box belts prior to battle. It's a no-brainer that those polished brass items would make an excellent aiming point on a sunny day. Additionally, many of the men also had coins, hard rubber combs and occasionally a wallet or coin purse. If you can locate a copy of the report, it's worth the time to read if, for no other reason, than as a glimpse into the aftermath of battle. |
John the Greater | 24 Nov 2015 7:05 a.m. PST |
Thanks for the reflections, Otto. My unit, the 28th Massachusetts, always holds brief ceremonies at the three monuments to the Irish Brigade. We always approach them by crossing the Wheatfield in the Brigade's footsteps. |
CorsairFAS217 | 24 Nov 2015 7:15 a.m. PST |
It is an amazing event. Considered by most as the last big event of the year. I was with the National Regiment for several years with the 1st MD US Vol. Here are some shots from 2008
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Ottoathome | 24 Nov 2015 7:54 a.m. PST |
Thanks for the photos. Impressive does not go far enough. It is good to see these things remembered and enjoyed by so many. |
ScottWashburn | 24 Nov 2015 10:36 a.m. PST |
Yes, it was a great weekend. Perfect weather and lots of troops and spectators to watch us. For me it was a bit more emotional then usual. I've been the colonel of the Mifflin Guard (a battalion-sized organization based in the North east) for over 25 years and this Remembrance Day I retired from that position and turned command over to my Lt. Colonel. I am going to miss being in command, but it was time. |
49mountain | 24 Nov 2015 3:48 p.m. PST |
Several Years back with a group of gamers, we sat in the italian restaurant along the parade route and had a great view of the parade from our booth. We were warm and inside drinking beer and we felt for the guys in the parade. They were a hardy and dedicated bunch which we greatly admired. A great day to be remembered. |
Frederick | 24 Nov 2015 6:39 p.m. PST |
This sounds like a great weekend – thanks for posting |
Ottoathome | 26 Nov 2015 6:59 a.m. PST |
Since there seems to be several war gamers among the attendees and re-enactors, would any care to meet at next years weekend. I ALWAYS go to the Gettysburg Toy Soldier Store and buy a bit. Perhaps we could meet there and then go have a drink or a snack. For me Gettysburg is always a separate type of place and space where the centuries seem to coalesce. I always see something new and experience something new there, and I always learn something. For me, lately it has been realizing both the similarities and differences of people, life-styles, and culture between then and now, and the difference imposed by the change of technology. I do not mean in military things, but more from staying in rooms in Bed and Breakfasts in old houses which did not originally have central heating or running water. One also realizes the tremendous amount of WORK life was back then just to keep alive. This was work not only for men but for women as well. This in an age before modern appliances, power tools, and the internal combustion engine. I will give you an example. One day, several years ago, when going home I stopped at a supermarket. It was after Christmas and they had the small Christmas trees on sale for $1 USD each. I realized they would be tossed out if not sold, so I bought all 9 of them which were left. I then started out planting them in the early spring. It said dig a hold one foot deep and about a foot around for the ball. This I proceeded to do. Now I live in North West New Jersey in the mountainous Skylands region. Here, you get about three inches of top soil after which you hit an amalgam of clay and rock. I'm reasonably in shape, but to get that cylindrical hole took me over two hours! I had to chisel out the sub soil with a iron pry bar, pick, and the like. Most of it was small stones and rock. When I finally had the hold big enough and put the root ball in, then filled it in with soil, I found I had only enough soil to fill about half of the remaining hole. I had to dig ANOTHER hole for the next tree to get the first one filled! Over the course of a month I finally got them all planted. At the end of it I gave up and just bought bags of topsoil from the garden supply store to fill in the holes. I did have a magnificent pile of small stones and some large ones for my trouble! If you walk behind my house into the woods, and they are large and deep, you will find huge piles of these stones running for miles through the forest,joining with other such piles all in neat straight or almost straight lines. The woods grow around them deep and thick. I's a reminder that this whole area was before 1700 the most populous part of New Jersey and the Delaware Valley was filled with farms. These are all the old remnants of fields and the piles of stones the rocks and stones the ground threw up each year and the farmers laboriously hauled with sled and oxen to the edge of the fields and dumped there. Some of these piles are six feet high! Occasionally you will find an old foundation or a square of rocks showing where a cabin once was, and you realize the life of hard unrelenting toil these people lived. It's humbling. I was almost done in by 9 tiny Christmas trees. But the trees are doing fine now four years after being planted. So there is a reward Otto |
Scott Mingus | 26 Nov 2015 8:54 p.m. PST |
I usually watch the Remembrance Day parade from in front of Gettysburg Miniature Soldiers (as we did again this year). My two oldest grandsons love the parade. |
Ottoathome | 27 Nov 2015 5:50 a.m. PST |
Dear Scott So did I this year. We must have been within yards of each other. Otto |
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