[mainepatsfan]

And so it began.

[battlegearboat]

Meanwhile, my Great Grandfather was at the Siege of Vicksburg with Grant.

I always found it interesting that these two momentous events occurred simultaneously.

[Pistolshot]

A tragedy for the South, a lot of luck for the North at Gettysburg.

Grant at Vicksburg was different. After trying direct assaults his tactics changed to isolation of the roads leading into Vicksburg and then starving it out.

[kjo]

Last week I visited Gettysburg, Fredricksburg, Chancellorsville, and The Wilderness. Weather was beautiful. Still shocked at how little attended the battlefields other than Gettysburg were.

A national park ranger at Chancellorsville told me he thought everyone was at Disneyworld. It’s no wonder kids don’t know history anymore. Had all the sites to myself.

[norwaypinesavage]

50,000 lost in three days. Nearly one of every three men in the armies. Kind of puts some perspective on war.

[Fiji Hill]

The largest military conflict in North American history...

I would argue that in terms of its length, number of participants, and casualties, Tenochtitlan, in 1521, was the largest battle in North American history--that is, if you consider Mexico to be part of North America.

[don-o]

Where IS Jeb Stuart?

[Lee'sGhost]

God bless the memory of the fighters for liberty.

[Nuc1]

Southerners, myself included, tend to have a somewhat romantic view of the Civil War, excuse me the war of northern aggression (even though we shot first), that leads one to believe that the South had a chance of achieving victory. When from the very beginning the south lost battle after battle. Mr David J Eicher wrote a book, The Longest Night, a single volume military history of the civil war, that gives the reader an understanding of the overall war dynamic that histories of individual battles don’t convey. And that dynamic is undeniable, the South was loosing from the beginning. If the boy general had moved down the peninsula the war would probably ended years earlier and many lives might have been saved. Oh well, what is is.

[Jackknife]

R.E. Lee monument at the location where he observed Pickett's Charge on the 3rd day

The 26th North Carolina monument near the Lee monument. In my opinion, the most striking and beautiful monument on the battlefield.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

Buford won Gettysburg for the Union before the “battle” started.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

Many years ago I took the family to Gettysburg. As we visited the area right around Little Round Top I noticed a large number of blackberry bushes, with a good quantity of ripe berries. I plucked several of the berries and began eating them, before realizing that I was eating fruit grown in soil that had been fertilized by the blood of American heroes. A sobering moment, to be sure!

[StoneWall Brigade]

http://www.gettysburgreenactment.com

The Battle Reenactment is next weekend General Lee will be there

[ReleaseTheHounds]

I have an original NY Times dated July 6, 1863 (long before it became a liberal rag) providing the first reports from the Battle of Gettysburg. Amazing stuff — including the misreporting of the deaths of Longstreet and Hill.

The Battle of Vicksburg (also wrapping up that weekend) gets lost in the Gettysburg news. What an amazing turning point in that war.

[KC-10A BOOMER]

I was fortunate enough to visit the Gettysburg Battle field and to walk the hollowed grounds paid for by the blood of our countrymen to uphold the union or fight for states rights. One can only imagine the individual courage and will to stand shoulder to shoulder in a firing line using outdated Napoleonic tactics designed for weapons which were effect at 100 yds with weapons that were accurate to kill at ½ mile. Their legacy must be protected and their stories told so much individual heroism by those that stood and fought those 3 days from the fight for Seminary Ridge to Pickett’s Charge. I think I need to watch the movie Gettysburg today to honor their memory. I always enjoy watching Ted Turner being cut down in Pickett’s Charge (too bad we can’t get any of the liberals to honor those fighting for our freedoms as I type this, they are always living in the past).

[Jimmy Valentine]

R.E. Lee should have listened to Longstreet and slipped to the right flank (south) and found himself better ground to fight a defensive battle.

[RightWhale]

The Pennsylvania Railroad was responsible for the Union victory and from that day the Modern American Corporation has advanced to rule the entire planet.

[StarfireIV]