This weekend I drove out to Gettysburg to meet up with friend Chris Army to attend a program he coordinated for an online, bulletin board discussion group. (You can read Chris’s thoughts on the weekend here.) I met Chris and Mike Waricher near the D-Shaped field of Farnsworth’s Charge fame, had a nice dinner at the Gingerbread Man, and turned in early.
On Saturday we met for breakfast at the Lincoln Diner with “Chaplain Chuck” Teague, a ranger at GNMP. Then it was over to Valentine Hall at the Lutheran Theological Seminary for a four hour PowerPoint presentation on Lee’s Operational Plan at Gettysburg with GNMP ranger Lt. Col. (ret.) Bill Hewitt. This was a follow up to a program Bill did last year on Meade’s Operational Plan. Bill did a fine job, complete with maps, flow charts, and graphs in an attempt to dispel the notion that Gettysburg was a chance encounter of two armies groping blindly in the dark.
After that, we hit the battlefield, with stops on Oak Hill, Cemetery Hill (in the National Cemetery), and Culp’s Hill. It was a little brisk, but otherwise bright and sunny and a good day for pictures. Click on the thumbnails for a larger image.
Here’s Bill in action in the classroom:
The group on Oak Hill and views of the first day’s field and Barlow’s Knoll from the same spot:
The group in the National Cemetery (that’s Chris in the blue & white jacket on the left, looking at the camera), the First Minnesota Urn, and a view of Evergreen Cemetery:
A few views of Clio atop the monument of the 123rd NY and the line of monuments below her on Culp’s Hill:
Harry Smeltzer
Bull Runnings 
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