Gettysburg Battlefield

We spent the better part of 2 days driving & walking the complete 24-mile auto tour.  It includes 16 tour stops and Barlow Knoll Loop and historic downtown.  The tour traces the 3-day battle in chronological order.  We took about 200 pictures of the battlefield and the many markers.  I'm going to put a fair number of pictures, not all will have a description.  Many represent the various states involved.  I did not even get pictures of all the various states' monuments.

Notice the flame at the top of the monument.  It is to represent eternal unity in the US.

This is the town of Gettysburg from the above monument.

This picture is from one of 3 observation towers we climbed.  This is to show an example of how many markers or monuments are on each stretch of every road.

 The picture above and the monument below both are for North Carolina.

The four pictures above all relate to Robert E. Lee.
Cannons line many of the fields.  These fences were constructed by the farmers before the war.  They were to divide the fields and keep livestock separated. 

This was taken from another observation tower.  It is the house Pres. Eisenhower retired to at the end of his presidency. 

This is General Meade of the Union.  He found this hillside and requisitioned Union troops.  He could see the Confederates moving across the valley below which became know as Devils Den.
The following 4 pictures are of the Devils Den.

The only coverage in Devils Den.

The 2 pictures above are the monument erected on the hillside for part of the New York troops.

This collection of rocks used for protection is near the NY monument above.

The 4 pictures below are of a campsite we came across.  It is a group of people putting on a demonstration of a Georgia troop.

The man sitting in front of the tent is a "wounded soldier that might lose his leg".

 This is typically what a soldier carried.  We also learned that a person could not be in the military if his front teeth were missing because a person needed front teeth to rip open the black powder pouch.  Also the rifle you see is a 50 caliber.  The bullets moved so slow (compared to today's guns) that the bullet went in and bounced all around tearing up the insides instead of going thru the body.  That's why so many died.

This memorial was erected where President Abe Lincoln gave his Gettysburg speech.

We wondered thru the National Cemetery.  We were told the names of many of the dead were unknown.  We saw several grave stones similar to this one.

Here is Gettysburg from another hilltop.  We have had 2 beautiful days with highs in the mid 70's.