Summer 2007
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When I can, I try to remain active with my Boy Scout troop back in Richmond. When I heard that we were heading back to Gettysburg just a few weeks after I was to get back from college, I jumped at the opportunity to come along with them, this time as an Assistant Scoutmaster. |
Jump to a Section:
Saturday - Johnny Reb Trail and Historic Gettysburg
Sunday - Billy Yank Trail
Monday - Eisenhower Historic Site
Section 2:
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Morning Routine
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| Sunday dawned bright and early. We started the day off with a flag ceremony. Here, the troop stands at attention while our color guard goes to work… |  |
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A brief invocation was given by our Chaplain’s Aide… | |
| And we boarded the vans for another trip down to the Visitor’s Center for our 8:15 am appointment for the Electric Map. |  |
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Visitor's Center and Electric Map
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This scene looks a lot like it did yesterday, eh. | |
| Next, inside the center at the Electric Map. A marvel of technology… of the 1960s. Tens… nay, HUNDREDS of light bulbs show the progression of the battle over three days in July, set to narration. |  |
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Back outside, the group waits to set off on our longest hike of the weekend: the nine-mile Billy Yank trail. | |
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Billy Yank Trail
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| After a brief stop at the cyclorama-less cyclorama center, the group started down the trail. |  |
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However, almost immediately we encountered some resistance. I mean, we came upon a group of union reenactors. | |
| Although they were still in the middle of setting up camp, they shared some brief facts about life during the civil war era. I can’t remember any of them specifically, but I do recall that they were quite informative. |  |
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More cannon… | |
| About a mile down the trail, we came to the Pennsylvania monument, the largest one on the battlefield. Seeing how we were in Pennsylvania (though just barely), this made sense. |  |
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In a stroke of good planning by the monument’s designers, it was built with a staircase to the top in one of the legs, much like the Arc du Triomphe. The view from the top was great, and we could see all kinds of things, from the fields of Pickett’s Charge (far off, near the treeline) to the rest of our group straggling in (on the road, in the convenient blue shirts) after actually taking the time to read all the signs and have an enriching learning experience. I mean, come on: who actually does that anymore? | |
| Off in the other direction, we could see another, smaller troop heading off on the trail. Little Round Top, the clear-cut hill in the background, is still on our checklist of places to visit today. |  |
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Honest Abe makes a cameo appearance in the Pennsylvania monument. | |
| A couple of our people take in the sights under the watchful eyes of a stern-looking, sword-bearing lady. I’m pretty sure that isn’t a BSA approved knife, ma’am. |  |
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After crisscrossing several fields, including such infamous locations as The Wheatfield and The Peach Orchard, we finally reentered the woods and followed an abandoned railroad easement along into the second third of our journey. | |
| Behind me, you can see the split between the two groups of the troop has stretched out to massive proportions: you can just barely make out the blue specs if you zoom in to the vanishing point. |  |
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Lunch Stop
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But finally we arrived at our lunch stop, the Devil’s Den, another especially gruesome battle location. Due to some cunning forethought, one of our vans was waiting here for us, cooler and all, with a sizeable supply of water in tow. | |
| But before the doors could be unlocked, our guys were off to scramble around on the rocks. |  |
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A number of them accumulated on one of the high points. | |
| “Hey, everybody, smile!” I said. And they did. I mean, I was surprised too. |  |
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Jeremy triumphantly conquers another boulder… | |
| And then settles down under a rock in a nice shady spot. It was quite warm, and due to some sort of fungus or infestation a significant quantity of trees had been cut since the troop’s last visit in the fall of 2001. Hence, shade was a scarce commodity. |  |
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People, like Drew, were finding shade in all sorts of places. | |
| But there’s no rest for the weary: Little Round Top is closer than ever. |  |
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Afternoon Hikes
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And so the troop set off through the formerly forested area, well hydrated and well fed, except for the one patrol whose cooler was left behind. | |
| In no time at all, we had reached the top of Little Round Top. From the steep slopes down towards the fields leading to the confederate positions on Seminary Ridge, you can see why it was such a crucial position for the Union to hold. Given the exertion required, our guys could hardly imagine how they expected to run up the mountain wearing long sleeved wool clothing, caring all their gear, in July of all months and still have enough energy to overcome the entrenched union forces. I’ll stop going into the progression of the battle here, and if you want to find out more, read the Wikipedia article. |  |
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Surprise, surprise: they had another (albeit shorter) tower on top of the hill. | |
| There were also a great deal of monuments around here. |  |
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And they didn’t want you climbing on the rocks around them, either. Just as some of our people were contemplating standing next to this guy for a good and stately picture, a park ranger started yelling at another group with the same idea. So we settled for this picture instead. | |
| Now, we skip ahead a couple of miles (glazing over some monuments, more cannon, and some apparently historically significant farms) to yet another observation tower. You can see the now quite Gettysburg-savvy reading types still making their way up Confederate Avenue in the distance. |  |
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Look at just how far we’ve come from Little Round Top. Imagine making that trek in July. It was hot enough here in May, I’ll tell you. Big Round Top, the hill to the right, wasn’t very contested as it was covered in trees and didn’t make a good artillery position, in case you were wondering. (I read the signs the last time the troop went). | |
| Another observation tower staircase picture! Except this time, we’re going down. Ooh, ahh, and all that. |  |
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Now, we’ve reached the Virginia monument. |
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| Only recently (in the last 50-75 years) have monuments like this become commonplace, and they are to entire states rather than individual units, as were most of the union monuments. Some of the southern states with few soldiers involved here had fairly new monuments. They were very shiny. |  |
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So after a good break under the shade of General Lee (not the car) and his horse Traveller, we set off on the final leg of the hike: a half mile trek through blazing sun over the fields of Pickett’s charge. Some of our guys were more enthusiastic about it then others. | |
| More field. |  |
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Still more field. | |
| Crossing the road. Apparently there was a fence here back in the day. Fences: not the best for running, at least not while you’re being shot at. |  |
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Looking back across the field, you can see the treeline, back by the Virginia monument. | |
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Post-Hike Activities
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| Having successfully completed the hike, the group rests under some trees. I’m pretty sure that a few people fell asleep. |  |
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In order to escape the heat, we went to see one of the only National Park Service-operated attractions we hadn’t visited yet. Here, we walk by the Cyclorama, now with 100% less cyclorama paintings, for a limited time only! | |
| We gathered in several different clusters throughout the theater to see our second video of the day, this one featuring many quotes from persons of note in the 1860s. |  |
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Here, the group reacts to the news that they have a 15 mile hike tomorrow. Or: here, the group cowers in fear after the projectionist accidentally loaded the music video of David Hasselhoff’s version of “Hooked on a Feeling”. Seriously, I could have a caption contest with this definitely not staged picture. |
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| After the movie finished, the troop split up. Since I didn’t feel like spending money on tchotchkes from local gift shops, I joined a group in a great session of Frisbee-tossing. |  |
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Great catch, Naren. Way to… uh… kick that invisible soccer ball, Greg. | |
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Dinner!
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| After the group got back together, it was time for dinner at General Pickett’s Buffets, around back of this building. |  |
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It was quite tasty, as I imagine these folks will agree. | |
| Jeremy was a big fan of the large supply of sizable ribs. |  |
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Yes, General Pickett would be proud of his eponymous dining facility. After dinner, we headed back to the campground for a campfire and some more late night Frisbee. | |
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