Our Gettysburg visit

General Warren watches from his
spot on Little Round Top.

                GETTYSBURG, Pa. – This town has not been good, historically, to people named Lee, but we’ve had three great days here so far.

I photographed the several areas of the battlefield over the first two days and finally did some exploring today. More on the exploration in another paragraph.

I spent the first two days working on replicating some of the images I’ve produced before. I want the images in a different format and there is no way to get around re-shooting. It has been a good exercise because I’ve re-examined what I did previously and made some changes. The changes, I hope, made for better images.

Today was supposed to be a day of exploring the park. There are plenty of locations I hadn’t been to or had not spent enough time around. I started with the areas around Culp’s Hill. This was the scene of some brutal, costly fighting. It is an important part of the Gettysburg saga, in one way or another a part of all three days of fighting.

And I found something neat. I had been told that the placement of the flank markers and unit memorials were done by veterans of the United States Army only. No Confederate veterans were invited to participate in the work of placing the markers. There are no flank markers and the like, I was told, for the Confederate States Army.

Today I found left and right flank markers for the First Maryland Regiment and a unit marker for the First Maryland Regiment, CSA. Added to that, there is another marker denoting the advancement of that unit during the fighting. The unit marker has been changed to reflect that it now notes the Second Maryland Regiment.

Maryland never left the Union, but that state did have organized units on both sides of the war and I suspect that is why the Maryland CSA unit is remembered today on Culp’s Hill.

A monument to Union Sharpshooters.

I spent part of the morning in the Peach Orchard as well. I want to go back there and do some more exploring with my Nikon. I did nab a few images while I was there, but I want to give it more time in the future.

I always spend time at Little Round Top when I’m here and much of the first two days were in locations there. Found, with help from a Park volunteer, the location where Company B of the 20^th Maine waited in ambush for the Alabama boys and photographed both of the markers denoting the death of Union officer Strong Vincent.

The monument to General Warren on Little Round Top was frustrating this trip. I’ve been unable to figure out where I stood in 2010 when I photographed him overlooking the Valley of Death and the Confederate line on Seminary Ridge. I spent seven hours this week looking for the best shot. Finally, I abandoned that angle in search of something different and that image is included in this blog.

One last note: The Park has been jammed with visitors this week. Today the traffic was very heavy. The 150^th anniversary of the start of the Civil War and the proximity of the 148^th anniversary of the battle here (July 1-3) drew a massive crowd. If you expect to be here for the 150^th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 2013), make your travel plans very early.

We had a visit with our two kids and our daughter-in-law today. All live nearby, so we have already had a delightful visit. Sunday begins the Civil War Institute, so I’m very excited.

Thanks for reading!