Gettysburg National Military Park

  The three day battle between the Union and Confederate armies in the fields and hills surrounding the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania is considered the turning point of the Civil War. Riding high on victories against the Union troops in earlier battles, Confederate General Robert E Lee led his men in an invasion of the the north only to be beaten back and forced to retreat to Virginia. The war continued for almost two more years with a total loss of more than 600,000 men. Over the five years of fighting, the Union and Confederacy lost about the same number of soldiers with at least half dying from diseases.

  We’ve visited Gettysburg several times but never long enough to get a full grasp of the battle. This time we bought tickets for the museum, film and cyclorama. Gettysburg NHS is operated in partnership with the Gettysburg Foundation so National Park Passes are not accepted for free admission. A few exhibits can be seen without buying tickets. The museum is excellent with many artifacts. The movie gives a good overview. The cyclorama is a bit disappointing. I thought it would move with the narration. Instead everyone remains in place while different areas of the painting are highlighted. After the show there’s a short amount of time to examine the painting but it’s difficult to see from a seated position. It does have great historic significance since it was painted by French artist Paul Philippoteaux in 1884.

  We also bought a driving tour that plays automatically at each stop after being downloaded onto a phone. After some initial frustration because I thought it would start at the park visitor center we found the correct starting point and it worked great. This is the first time that we drove the entire route in the right order and we got a really good understanding of the positions of the two armies over the three days of battle. It's hard to imagine the horror that took place on these peaceful fields.

 There are 1,328 monuments and markers on the battlefield, some marking the position of units in the battle, others honoring individuals or soldiers for each sate. The first monument was the Minnesota Urn, erected in 1867. More Union monuments were put in place in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The first Confederate monument was the Virginia Monument erected in 1917. Not surprisingly many of the Confederate monuments were installed during times of racial tensions in the early 1900s and the 1960s and 70s.

 

  The museum. movie and seating for the cyclorama are accessible. Most of the sights along the driving tour can be seen without leaving your vehicle. More accessibility information here.

  Follow the  signs for RV parking for the visitor center where museum, film and cyclorama are located. A paved path with a slight uphill grade leads to the visitor center.  We had no problem driving our RV on the tour road. It may be a little tight for larger RVs but buses do the entire route so it is doable. Park  39.81058, -77.22453