Sitting on the Gettysburg Battlefield.

[Guest TankerHC]

All that typing on this phone screwed it up. Probably never get the hang of these tiny keyboards. Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2 Edited October 15, 2013 by TankerHC

[leroy]

I'm glad you are there, and evidently thinkin about what all that symbolizes....   Everybody should take a trip to these locations and do a bit of thinkin..... Its a great and very sobering thing to go and just stand and think at these places...

 

I'll never forget going to the Manassas Battleground and seeing the statue of Stonewall Jackson; erected (...i think...) on the location where he earned this nickname "Stonewall"....  History is very important; and a goodly portion of this country has forgotten (...or never knew just how and just what happened...)...

 

The truth is that we are still reaping the harvest of and feeling the effects of the politics of the civil war at this very time in history; over 150 years later... What we are seeing on the political and policy scene today is round two of Civil War Reconstruction.... The parties have changed; but not the goals...  The goals are to punish those who would believe that the Constitution says what it means and that free men are, in fact, free to decide their political course at the local level without feeling the effects of special interest or the heavy hand of outsiders and proffiteers...

 

What we have now is federalism on steroids where the "best and brightest" tell us delightful rustics what to do and how to do it... The fact is that Obama is, indeed, like Lincoln; he just aint called out the troops (...yet...)... He has just called out his lackeys from the NPS and the DC police....

 

leroy

[china coaster]

   Many of my friends went , and my wife wanted to go to Gettysburg for the sesqicentennial re-enactment, but they weren't about to get me up there. I am surprised they all got back. Besides we have plenty of battle sites to look at right here.

[Guest TankerHC]

I come here 6 or 7 times per year and spend a week to 2 months. Was raised 40 miles from here. My family fought here and from the Valley on up. The slim down is being enforced. Day ago a family got out of their car. Not sure but from the description I think they walked over to General Reynolds monument. If you know this field you know Reynolds monument is right off 30 about 15 yards from a state Road (30). So you can walk to it in 20 seconds. They were run off and ticketed. Although a few of the main streets are blocked, you can't get down monument Avenue for example, if you know what you're looking at from each vantage point your not really missing a whole lot. You can still get to little and big round top if you're willing to hike. Plus most tourists mistake The Gettysburg Battle as having taken place on the federally owned field when in actuality to follow the battle you need to start from 4 primary locations. South Mountain, New Market, Richmond, and York. There are so many monuments before you even get to the federal property that it would take a lifetime to see and read them all. Major parts of the battle occurred right in Gettysburg, Hanover, York Tewksbury and the surrounding town's. Even the tiny area where my cousins live was raided by Confederate Cavalry and the railroad burned. You can't set one foot within 60 miles of gettysburg that isn't related to this particular battle. I've been brought or have come here for my entire 50 year's and still haven't seen everything related to this particular battle. It is hurting downtown business though. The Battlefield Horse and Buggy and bus tours aren't running and ate with my family downtown tonight. Walking every business is just about empty. Rourkes was completely empty at 9PM. Walmart empty except a few people. Gettysburg Harley didnt see a bike in the lot or a single bike on the road this morning. Either on 15 or 30, Hanover and Baltimore Pikes or anywhere else. About the only thing going are the ghost tours. And not as many people as normal. Sat across the street from Rourkes on the bench and in 1 hour counted 7 people walk by. Anyone that's been there at anytime knows how unusual that is. But I'm staying at Drummer Boy campground on property that was part of the first Cavalry Engagement on the first day but privately owned. Lot of people here but every one I have spoken to are like me. They all know you don't have to drive down Obama's roads to follow the battle. My cousin also noted that most of them are military retirees and they know their history. Not your average tourists.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2

[DaveS]

Gettysburg is a beautiful battlefield to visit and reflect back on our history. We took four of our cannons up for the 150th anniversary battle reenactment. A chilling experience. However, we have several nice battlefields here in TN and north GA. One of my favorites (the monuments rival those at Gettysburg in my opinion) is located just south of Chattanooga at Chickamauga GA. Very, very nice park there. Stones River, Lookout Mountain, Shiloh are all nice places to visit. Other's include Franklin and Fort Donelson in Dover.

 

If we let our past and history die, well, it's just.....history then huh?

 

DaveS

[Guest TankerHC]

I can't agree more with Daves post. I have been across nearly every major and minor battlefield in every state. I think all the monuments on all fields are viewed because a lot of people go to find specific monuments. There are some that cannot be rivaled on each field. But I stopped looking at monuments a long time ago. Lot more people like me because I meet them everywhere. The important part of the fields is not the monuments, some placed on the fields 50 or even 140 years after the fact, the Tennessee memorial at Vicksburg for example. One of the most beautiful memorials anywhere but recent. What's important is what happened, the why,s and how's. You don't get that staring at monuments. You get that from old maps, first hand accounts and standing in the middle of an empty field visualizing. (I know sounds ridiculous to most people). But battlefields like New Market with only two monuments. One barely readable. I don't see the VMI Cadets marching off to fight for a few hours. A miniscule part of the history of the war. Or the building displays in building's that did not even exist in the 1860's. What I see is what no one there is ever told. Early's Division taking up winter quarters on that same field prior to the Valley Campaign. I know what they did in that camp and that less than 6 months later nearly a third of them would be dead or wounded. That's what I see on those fields. Including the Revolutionary War and second war with England. I go to all of them. It's damn near a religious experience for me. I grew up staring at the flag flying over Fort McHenry every morning and went to bed seeing it under the light nighly. And then on top of that having a family so engrossed in history, including our own that I never saw the inside of an amusement park until I was in my 20's because our amusement parks were museum's and battlefields. They ruined me. (Not really). For monuments, at Gettysburg it's also the sheer numbers and they are second. There are more monuments at Vicksburg, and Gettysburg, which was an extremely important battle, it's not the most important to me. That battle would be Shiloh. Because Shiloh showed that the generals who warned the politicians prior to shots being fired were right. It showed that Americans would be willing to kill each other in large numbers in bloody battles for what they believed in. Go ahead and laugh at me but that's how I view these fields. Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2 Edited October 16, 2013 by TankerHC

[DaveS]

I can't agree more with Daves post. I have been across nearly every major and minor battlefield in every state. I think all the monuments on all fields are viewed because a lot of people go to find specific monuments. There are some that cannot be rivaled on each field. But I stopped looking at monuments a long time ago. Lot more people like me because I meet them everywhere. The important part of the fields is not the monuments, some placed on the fields 50 or even 140 years after the fact, the Tennessee memorial at Vicksburg for example. One of the most beautiful memorials anywhere but recent. What's important is what happened, the why,s and how's. You don't get that staring at monuments. You get that from old maps, first hand accounts and standing in the middle of an empty field visualizing. (I know sounds ridiculous to most people). But battlefields like New Market with only two monuments. One barely readable. I don't see the VMI Cadets marching off to fight for a few hours. A miniscule part of the history of the war. Or the building displays in building's that did not even exist in the 1860's. What I see is what no one there is ever told. Early's Division taking up winter quarters on that same field prior to the Valley Campaign. I know what they did in that camp and that less than 6 months later nearly a third of them would be dead or wounded. That's what I see on those fields. Including the Revolutionary War and second war with England. I go to all of them. It's damn near a religious experience for me. I grew up staring at the flag flying over Fort McHenry every morning and went to bed seeing it under the light nighly. And then on top of that having a family so engrossed in history, including our own that I never saw the inside of an amusement park until I was in my 20's because our amusement parks were museum's and battlefields. They ruined me. (Not really). For monuments, at Gettysburg it's also the sheer numbers and they are second. There are more monuments at Vicksburg, and Gettysburg, which was an extremely important battle, it's not the most important to me. That battle would be Shiloh. Because Shiloh showed that the generals who warned the politicians prior to shots being fired were right. It showed that Americans would be willing to kill each other in large numbers in bloody battles for what they believed in. Go ahead and laugh at me but that's how I view these fields. Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2

Very well said. Better than I could've done. Being a Civil War Historian and Re-enactor, I know exactly what you are saying. One of my biggest wonders is, what that soldier (north or south) felt like as he hid behind a stump or rock as his enemies by the thousands advanced across the field of battle toward him. Did he think of home? His own life? Things we'll never know for sure. Re-enacting helps some, but the "life or death" feeling is just not there. Our boys in Blue and Gray paid dearly!

 

DaveS

[seez52]

I'm glad you are there, and evidently thinkin about what all that symbolizes....   Everybody should take a trip to these locations and do a bit of thinkin..... Its a great and very sobering thing to go and just stand and think at these places...

 

I'll never forget going to the Manassas Battleground and seeing the statue of Stonewall Jackson; erected (...i think...) on the location where he earned this nickname "Stonewall"....  History is very important; and a goodly portion of this country has forgotten (...or never knew just how and just what happened...)...

 

The truth is that we are still reaping the harvest of and feeling the effects of the politics of the civil war at this very time in history; over 150 years later... What we are seeing on the political and policy scene today is round two of Civil War Reconstruction.... The parties have changed; but not the goals...  The goals are to punish those who would believe that the Constitution says what it means and that free men are, in fact, free to decide their political course at the local level without feeling the effects of special interest or the heavy hand of outsiders and proffiteers...

 

What we have now is federalism on steroids where the "best and brightest" tell us delightful rustics what to do and how to do it... The fact is that Obama is, indeed, like Lincoln; he just aint called out the troops (...yet...)... He has just called out his lackeys from the NPS and the DC police....

 

leroy

Amen, brother!