Going To Gettysburg - need Advice, Recommendations, Etc

9/7/21 | MplsSteve

[MplsSteve]

In one week from today, The Wife (aka Mrs. MplsSteve) and I will be in Gettysburg for a few days. Obviously, we're gonna visit the battlefield. We lined up a tour guide thru the Gettysburg Heritage Center and at least for the first night, we'll be staying at the Best Western on Steinwehr Avenue.

I have a few travel brochures and have looked them over but I'm looking for any recommendations or advice on what else to see and do there. That includes places to stay that don't cost an arm and a leg as well as places to eat.

What did you like? What did you not like?

I'd appreciate whatever assistance you can give me.

[lurk]

Watch the 4 hour movie before you go.

[nfldgirl]

+1

[CraigEsq]

Oh yes, the friend to friend monument in the cemetery, use the gate by the flagpole across from Tommy’s Pizza and it’s just ahead.

[throwthebumsout]

If you are not already familiar with the battle, prepare by watching a video that outlines the sequence of the battle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUXpCfcJ7Ng

Start with the Visitor’s Center and watch the intro film.

The battlefield is very large. They have a very good road tour that starts and ends at the Visitor’s Center. You can either take the bus tour or do the self-guided with audio.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DaBt9i4X4AIX3S2.jpg:large

Once you are acquainted with the layout you are ready to walk the battlefield.

Also, if you have time, I also recommend seeing the cyclorama. It has a VERY interesting history in itself.

https://www.nps.gov/gett/planyourvisit/cyclorama.htm

[meowmeow]

Watch the movie. It’s really good and was filmed there.

[GOPJ]

There is a lot to learn from getting off the park roads and following the troops. You WILL feel the ground and realize that Meade knew what he was doing when he chose his position.

Nice insight...

[llevrok]

When I go to such historic places, I stop. Close my eyes. Take in a deeep breath through my nose. Open my ears and listen. What must it have been like?

[HandyDandy]

I was there in 1963 for the Centennial celebration. I saw a full re-enactment of Pickett’s Charge. I saw Eisenhower there. It was the biggest event in my life. I was 9yrs old.

[fatboy]

One thing that is difficult to appreciate is the whole area is battlefield. The Best Western you are staying in is on the approach slightly to the north of the route Pickets men took during the charge and Federal 2nd Corps troops that set up a flank attack on Pickets men. And probably fleeing Union 1st and 11th Union Corps troops on the first day of the battle walked through the area. It is a very short walk to the Angle. So, it is almost certain that at some point in the battle, men marched right there on the ground your room is.

Again the battlefield is enormous and very well marked. It can be confusing because of different days and overlapping battle lines. My two favorite parts of Gettysburg are Herr and McPhersons ridge (west of the town on Rt. 30) where the battle started and Little Round Top in particular the Confederate approaches to LRT. You can spend a week walking around this area and still not see everything.

That reminds me, get out of your car and walk around. Gettysburg has in many places a regimental marker and also left and right flank markers so if you are looking at a particular regiment you can literally stand on the exact battleline.

Brigade tablets for confederate units have a round marble base, Union have a square base.

By the Eternal Light Peace Memorial on Oak Ridge there are two mounted Whitworth breach loading artillery rifles. Those guns were capable of hitting LRT 3 miles away.

3 miles east of the town on Rt 116 is the East Cavalry battle field. Custer fought there.

Take high side boots and spray yourself for ticks or stay on the paved roads. There are lots of places to spend money in Gettysburg, museums and so forth, but the battlefield itself is the main thing.

I live a little over 2 hours away for Gettysburg and go there several times a year, sometimes just for the day. I take a field bag with me which holds binoculars, compass, troop movement maps, a book on the aspect of the battle I’m studying that day, snacks, cigars and a flask of whiskey. If nothing else, sneak a nip or two. Sometimes I take a bicycle and ride around the battlefield. During the weekends it can be quite crowded. Even in the dead of winter there will be people there.

[GreyFriar]

True, but improving in some places. in May 2020, grab & go was an apple or orange, granola bar, muffin, juice box. This past July the same DC area HIE had a table laid out with 2-3 types of muffin, granola bars, fresh fruit & fruit cups, and Jimmy Dean sausage/egg/cheese English muffins, and cups of oatmeal (2-3 types), and grits. Plus orange & apple juice cups/boxes and fresh coffee.

Thus it is a toss up. I stayed a night in South Bend, IN a couple of weeks ago and the HIE had a full serve breakfast.

[Joe 6-pack]

My favorite monuments on the battlefield include the Louisiana Monument, which I feel is probably the most aesthetically powerful:

I'm also fond of the Irish Brigade Monument:

In addition to the somber rendering of the Irish Wolfhound at the base, there are two other things I find interesting about it. While the monument is dedicated to three Irish Regiments (63rd, 69th and 88th) composing the "Irish Brigade," it was in fact sculpted by an Irish immigrant, William O'Donovan, who had fought at Gettysburg...for the Confederacy. The 69th Infantry Regiment, was later commanded in WWI by William J. Donovan who won the Medal of Honor, and then founded the OSS in WWII.

No doubt, you'll want to check out the Minnesota Monument, which is near the Pennsylvania Monument, perhaps the most prominent on the battlefield:

[GreyFriar]

Pickett’s Charge was order by Gen Robert E. Lee. And he was following the accepted Napoleonic and British Armytactics of the time. The Civil War was a meeting point of tactics not catching up with technology, the longer range and accuracy of Civil War rifled muskets, compared to the smoothbore British “Brown Bess” and the French “Charleville.” Both of these were not accurate beyond 100 yards, thus one could march a distance before being within lethal range of the enemy.

A Similar meeting point was in WWI when the Machinegun became the new technology and was lethal to the Infantry charging in similar Napoleonic lines.

[GreyFriar]

Pickett’s Charge Field is private property which is actively farmed, thus it is “off limits” for tourists. However, several years ago, there was a trail that was created so one could “walk the Charge” along an existing fence line that ran from the Confederate where the charge began to the High Watermark, or near it.

[Antoninus]

Couple pointers:

• If you haven't already, read The Killer Angels before you get there.

• Budget some extra time for Little Round Top. Lots to see up there.

• Find the statue of Fr. Corby -- one of the amazing stories of Gettysburg, particularly if you are a Catholic.

[arbee4bush]

Take time to see Eisenhower home on the outskirts. We visited GB 20 years ago and are going next month with grands. Just toured Antietam this past weekend. Trying to get as many in before they cancel them all. History, ya know....

[HandyDandy]

Do they still have Gen. Meade at the top of the hill, and Gen. Lee facing him from the bottom of the hill for Pickett’s Charge? Each on horseback? I think Lee’s horse was “Traveler”.

[magyars4]

Fort Frederick and Antietam are not far away

[PaulZe]

yep.

[HandyDandy]

I like that analysis. Some say Custer suffered a head injury after Gettysburg and wasn’t quite right by the time of the Battle of Little Bighorn.

[NEMDF]

Dobbin House: one of the dessert choices (I am just looking at their menu) is gingerbread with lemon sauce. YUM!