On the 14th, I went on a class trip to Gettysburg, PA, with my Civil War class, to see the battlefield.
**WARNING: the following is a BRIEF description of the battle of Gettysburg**
Day One, July 1st, 1863. The south[confederates] were coming in from the north, in an attempt to steal shoes from the town of Gettysburg. No battle was intended to happen here, but yet, this was one of the most bloodiest battles ever. The north[union] was coming from the south, not knowing that the south was that close by. The battle started completly by accident. General Buford, of the North, head of the northen cavelry[horses], was ahead of the army, scouting. He noticed the confederates, and ordered an attack, hoping that General Reynolds, also from the north, who was on his way, would come in time. The south was ordered by General Lee[head of the hole southern army] NOT to attack the North, because they didn't know the north was there! They thought Buford and his 2,00 men were just Pen.. state militia! Anyway, they attacked, and the south responded. There, 15,000-20,000 southeners were attacking the 2,000 of General Buford. Now, Buford is cavelry, of horseback, and they usually don't fight. But Buford previously armed his men with Spencer Carbines, which could shoot 8 rounds per minute, compared to the souths 3 rounds per minute. Buford held position [from the tower], and eventually Reynolds came and saved the day. The south retreated, and planned to come back the next day, from a flanking position.
Day 2: July 2nd, 1863. General Lee wanted two hills, in the center of Gettysburg, named Little Round Top[LRT] and Big Round Top[BRT] for obvious reasons. They were higher ground level, and the idea for a battle was just to send men charging at each other. So, the best way to do it, was to CYA[Cover your @$$], and fight. Since the south retreated, the north was able to get these hills first. BRT was too wooded, and there would have been no room to but artillery[cannon], so LRT is where most of the battle took place. Colonel Joshua Lawerence Chamberlain, of the 20th Maine, was at the exact END of the union line, where the south would come at first. When the south charged, Chamberlain attacked from the top. His 350 or so men were covered, and there were other regiments there[like the 16th NY, and others], but it was Chamberlains men in front. After about 4 hours of fighting the south back, making them keep regrouping, and charging, Chamberlain was running short of ammo. It was HOT [100 F] of that day, and water suplies were cut off by the south, so these men were hot! When the south went again, chamberlain made a rash decision. He made his men[not that many left] attach their bayonets[the sword like things on the top of the rifles] and charge at the advancing south. this was the only thing he could do, because he was out of ammo, and if he were to retreat, the south could ahve taken the hill, then the battlefield, then defeat the union army, then march on washington, DC, and win the war for the south. Chamberlain charged, and the south fell apart and collapsed. 800+ southeners were taken hostage. Chamberlain, for the most part, saved the country.
Day 3: July 3rd, 1863: general Lee was mad. He tried the left, and the right, and they both failed. He was surrounded, except for the center. He gave General Pickett command. Now, the center of the field was open land, running uphill, 1 mile, to where the north was. Pickett used te grove of trees as his 1 mile marker. He sent the southern army into open space, when he was surrounded. This was the only thing he could do, though. General Longstreet, lee's second in command, did not approve of this tactic at all. but, it went on anyway. The south advanced, and was brutally destroyed. I don't remember the numbers, but i think, of the 20,000 southeners who advanced, only 3,000 made it to that grove of trees. What Pickett did first, was have a constant cannon fire at the north for an hour, to hopefully weaken defenses of the north. That didn't exactly work. The north chanted "fredericksburg!" [whioch was another battle, which the south destroyed the north].
Picketts charge failed, and the south retreated back to Richmond, VA[the capitol of the CSA*confederate states of america* at the time]
I'm getting tired of typing, but that was all from memory
After the tour of the field, we got a chance to roam the town for a while, and view all the tourists sites, and stuff. the ride, from here to there was 4 hours, and the same, the way back, without traffic.
I want to go back to gettysburg, because we didn't really get to see in hole place.
I can only post 5 pics here, but the rest are in my PB. I took a lot of pics of empty field, because remember, gettysburg was supposedly one of the most haunted places in America, because of the battle there. I couldn't decide which ones to post here!
Here's my PB:
http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h240/Markman_2006/Gettysburg%20Nov%2007/?start=all PLEASE remember to look in my PB for all the other pics, To understand the battle a little better you've got to see all the pics :Lol:
If you've got any questions about the pics, or the battle, you can PM me, or post it here!
Enjoy!
--Mark--
