Historic Gettysburg

Gettysburg is a borough and town in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is an amazing place to visit especially for all history lovers.

The Gettysburg National Cemetery is a beautiful place, full of history, and memories.

At the Gettysburg National Cemetery. you’ll find a memorial (pictured above) that marks the site of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address in 1863.

The Gettysburg Battlefield where a three-day battle during the Civil War took the lives of 51,000 people is now the Gettysburg National Military Park.

The Visitor Center and Museum offers information about the battle. The conflict at Gettysburg crippled the Confederacy with heavy casualties and turned the Civil War in favor of the North.

The highlight of the museum is the Battle of Gettysburg Cyclorama painted in the late 1880s by French artist Paul Philippoteaux. This dramatic painting is enhanced by audio and visual effects that put visitors right in the center of the fury of Pickett’s Charge, on the third day of the battle. The museum has 11 galleries with artifacts and displays about the battle, the war, and its aftermath. You’ll also find interactive exhibits and theaters with videos and audio accounts by military leaders, common soldiers, and civilians.

There are nearly 1,400 monuments and statues all across the battlefield making it one of the largest collections of outdoor sculpture in the world. The highlights among the monuments mark the prominent positions and battles at Seminary Ridge, Cemetery Ridge, and Oak Ridge.

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At Seminary Ridge, the primary Confederate position on the west, one of the most prominent monuments is the North Carolina Memorial, depicting five soldiers advancing in Pickett’s Charge.

On top of the ridge stands the Virginia State Memorial, with a young bugler and color bearer surrounded by five fellow soldiers. Above them, you’ll see General Robert E. Lee on his horse Traveler, cast in bronze by Louis Tiffany & Sons.

Facing them on Cemetery Ridge, held by Union lines for the final two days of battle, is the Pennsylvania Memorial, the largest and most complex of all of the monuments and the only memorial that records the names of all the soldiers from the state who fought here engraved on 90 bronze tablets at the base.

On Oak Ridge, the site of the opening day battle before the Union Army fell back to Cemetery Hill, is the Eternal Light Peace Memorial. It was dedicated in 1938 by over 1,800 Civil War veterans of both armies to “Peace Eternal in a Nation United” on the 75th anniversary of the battle.

It is best to see the battlefield and understand all that occurred by taking a tour with a licensed Battlefield Guide. If you prefer you can take a self-guided driving or walking tour of the battlefield using a CD audio tour or a detailed guidebook. A full walking tour takes around four hours.

The Soldiers’ National Cemetery was dedicated in honor of over 3,500 Union soldiers less than six months after the Battle of Gettysburg. It was at the dedication that Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address. The first monument was erected in 1869 honoring the 1st Minnesota Infantry, which suffered great casualties here on July 2, 1863. The cemetery was designed by landscape architect William Saunders and forms a wide semicircle, the section divided by state. It is on Cemetery Hill, the Union battle line, and includes a large part of the battlefield. This was one of the first national cemeteries and also includes the graves of soldiers from later wars.

Eisenhower National Historic Site – the home of the 34th U.S. President and Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower was purchased after his retirement in 1950 after a 30-year Army career. The house is furnished as during their time when he entertained such foreign dignitaries as Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaul, and Nikita Khrushchev. There are White House artifacts and gifts from foreign countries. You can see a collection of Eisenhower’s paintings and you can enjoy a farm tour which also includes a scavenger hunt for children.

David Wills House is the home of Gettysburg lawyer David Wills where Abraham Lincoln spent the night before delivering the Gettysburg Address. The Wills House Museum shows how life was in Gettysburg after the battle. Touring the rooms you can see exhibits on the Gettysburg Address and Wills’ work helping the families looking for loved ones who fought in the battle.

Shriver House Museum is the restored 1860 home of the Shriver family. Confederate sharpshooter commandeered the house and knocked two holes through the brick wall to be able to shoot at Union troops on nearby Cemetery Hill. Costumed interpreters bring it all back to life. Medical supplies were found here, confirming that this house was also used as a hospital for wounded soldiers.

Sachs Covered Bridge is one of Gettysburg’s most popular scenic sights. It is a 100-foot-long covered bridge that spans Marsh Creek. During the Civil War, it was used by both the Union and Confederate Armies and as a major escape route for the Confederate Army as it retreated to Virginia after the battle. The bridge was built in the style known as the Town Truss and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is for pedestrian use only.