The Pennsylvania borough of Gettysburg is home to just over 7,100 people, and today it likely would be just another sleepy village in the Keystone State, were it not for being the site of the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War, which was fought over three days in Gettysburg between July 1 and July 3, 1863.
Instead, Gettysburg has become a must-see destination for military history enthusiasts and armchair generals. The battlefields of Gettysburg have been well preserved, which has limited commercial development and allowed the small community to remain very much as it was.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF GETTYSBURG
Before the famous battle that occurred in and around the town in July 1863, Gettysburg really wasn’t all that different from other rural communities in the region. It was noted for its housed carriage manufacturing, shoemakers, and tanneries. In fact, it has been suggested that it having several shoemakers is what led Confederate Major General Henry Heth to send Brigadier General J. Johnston Pettigrew toward the town in search of supplies, notably shoes for his soldiers.
Pettigrew’s troops approached Gettysburg on June 30, 1863, only to turn back after spotting Union Cavalry under Brigadier General John Buford arriving south of town. The next day, Heth’s division again advanced to Gettysburg, and so began the largest battle ever fought on American soil.
The Union won a decisive victory at Gettysburg, but the Confederate forces under General Robert E. Lee successfully managed to escape back to Virginia with most of his force still intact. The battle proved to be a turning point in the American Civil War — with Lee pushed back toward the Confederate capital of Richmond until his surrender in April 1865.
On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln also traveled to Gettysburg’s National Cemetery, where he delivered the Gettysburg Address, the carefully crafted 271-word address considered one of the most famous speeches in history.
GETTYSBURG: A CENTER OF HISTORY
The history of the Battle of Gettysburg lives on in the Pennsylvania town, and today the Gettysburg National Military Park is maintained by the National Park Service. It currently features 1,320 monuments, 410 cannons, 148 historic buildings, two observation towers, and 41 miles of avenues, roads, and lanes.
The borough is now home to nearly a dozen museums of various sizes that tell the story of the infamous battle, the greater American Civil War, and the military history of the United States.
These include the Shriver House Museum, which has been meticulously restored to resemble its appearance in the 1860s; the Gettysburg Museum of History, which has a collection spanning more than a century of American military history; the Battlefield Military Museum; the Lincoln Train Museum; and World War II American Experience Army Museum.
Just outside of Gettysburg is the Eisenhower National Historic Site, which preserves the home and farm of World War II General and later President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The farm served as a weekend retreat during Eisenhower presidency, and he was regularly met with world leaders, including Premier Nikita Khrushchev of the Soviet Union, President Charles de Gaulle of France, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Britain. It became the Eisenhowers’ home after they left the White House in 1961.
THE GETTYSBURG MUSEUM AND VISITOR CENTER
For those on a time crunch to Gettysburg, or just those who prefer to see historic objects in a museum setting, the must-see destination is the Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center, which was opened in 2008 and is now operated by the Gettysburg Foundation in partnership with the National Park Service. Within the 22,000 square feet of exhibit space, the Gettysburg Museum of the American Civil War features one of the largest collections of Civil War relics — with many of the park’s 43,000 objects related to the American Civil War now on display.
The Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center includes interactive exhibits, a multitude of displays of period items including uniforms, equipment, and notably firearms from the conflict. While it covers the entirety of the Civil War, much of the focus is still on the three-day Battle of Gettysburg.
The collection of artifacts includes numerous pieces that were used at the actual battle — and this includes a Model 1857 12-Pounder Napoleon cannon, the 12-pounder field gun that was used by both Union and Confederate armies at the Battle of Gettysburg; and a rare Confederate 3-inch wrought iron muzzle-loading rifled cannon that was one of just 61 produced at the Tredegar Iron Works in Virginia.
In addition to the small arms and uniforms, the collection of the museum also has a notable display of the musical instruments that were carried by the bandsman during the American Civil War. It has been reported that General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate Army once even stated, “I don’t believe we can have an army without music.”
From marching music to camp songs and concerts to “Taps,” music helped moved the armies through daily activities, rallied morale, incited conflict, and defused tensions. In addition, soldiers also sang their own music, often at their evening encampments, for comfort and camaraderie. Although the minimum age for enlisting soldiers during the Civil War was 18, boys as young as age 12 were allowed to enlist as musicians.
BEYOND THE ARTIFACTS
Visitors can also view the film A New Birth of Freedom, narrated by award-winning actor Morgan Freeman, and take in the Cyclorama painting that depicts Pickett’s Charge on the third day of the battle. The 20-minute film is meant to orient visitors to the battle and Gettysburg’s place in the American Civil War, and the French artist Paul Philippoteaux’s Battle of Gettysburg Cyclorama painting is a work of art like no other. Measuring 377 feet in circumference and 42 feet high (longer than a football field and as tall as a four-story structure), it took Philippoteaux and a team of assistants more than a year to complete the painting.
The Gettysburg Cyclorama oil painting is accompanied with light and sound effects to help immerse visitors in the fury of Pickett’s Charge during the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg.
The Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center also provides access to licensed Battlefield Guides, and buses to see the Gettysburg Battlefield and the Eisenhower National Historic Site. The building is free to enter, but there are fees for the Gettysburg Museum of the American Civil War, the film, A New Birth of Freedom, and the Cyclorama painting depicting Pickett’s Charge.
Though the American Civil War has often been described as “the first modern conflict,” the Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center reminds visitors that the primary weapons were a mix of smoothbore muskets, which were used alongside rifled muskets — with most still being muzzle loaded. The collection includes historically significant long arms, including those domestically produced as well as imported.
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