Walking the fields

          Today was a walking day, more walking than photography. The weather conditions were much more suitable than the day before.



This explains itself, right?

          Much of the morning was spent on Cemetery Ridge, starting near the copse of trees that the Confederates famously aimed for during their attack on the third day of the battle. The camera pretty much led the way and we ended up next to the marker where Union General Winfield Scott was wounded.

          The Peach Orchard, which has great historic significance in terms of the battle, was next but I have not had much luck there with the Nikon. There are two images I want to get from that location and they continue to elude me. It’s frustrating, but I’m under-lensed for one and I can’t seem to get there when the light is right for the other. These problems would never happen if Dan Sickles had only followed orders.

          When in trouble, blame it on the dead guy.

          By mid-day the heat was turning a little rugged and the humidity was growing. I considered attending the annual collectors show near the battlefield, but instead walked through the showcase of weapons in the battlefield Visitors Center. The Visitors Center is free, you understand, while the collectors show has an admission fee.

If the fee is not free, don’t look for me.

The small farm house that served as General Meade's
headquarters during the battle of Gettysburg.

Next up was the planned stroll across the farm fields where Pickett’s Charge took place. I stopped to photograph the farmhouse where Union Commanding General George Meade made his headquarters during the battle. It’s a neat, little house with white fencing surrounding a small garden and more fences in a larger area.

Finally, when I couldn’t stall any longer, I set off across the field separating the Union positions on Cemetery Ridge and the Confederate line on Seminary Ridge. The distance is about a mile and I took a path I hadn’t used before. Not a bad walk if you don’t have 19 pounds of photographic equipment on your back, as I did. The first half of today’s longest trek crossed from the Union side to the Confederate.

After reaching the Virginia Memorial, I turned around and headed back toward the Union line. I tried to imagine the sounds and sights of the battle (anything to take my mind off the load I was carrying). I completed the walk by stepping over the rocks that form a rough stepping path through the Angle, where a small group of Confederates pierced the Union defenses.

The Confederates that rushed through the Angle must have caused a ruckus before they were killed or captured. Historians who know a lot more than I do estimate that between 100 and 200 Confederates got through the Angle before they were subdued. We don’t know how much trouble they made behind the enemy lines.

The distinctive Cordori barn, which is not the hotel we use here
in Gettysburg.

I was in no mood to make trouble when I forced my way through the Angle today, believe me. In fact, I was in the mood to A) return to the air conditioned hotel immediately and download the images from my camera to my computer, B) study the images closely and C) eat dinner.

We ate at Hoss’s. Great food, fair price, terrific air conditioning.

There was enough daylight remaining after dinner for a return to the battlefield, but I needed to continue my study of the day’s images in the climate-controlled hotel room. After all, you can never learn too much.

Thanks for reading.

Cavalry charges and big rocks

          Today’s Gettysburg wanderings took me to the East Cavalry Field, where George Custer kicked the hindquarters of JEB Stuart’s Confederate cavalry in an engagement that included two of America’s best-known horse soldiers on the final day of the Battle of Gettysburg, July 3, 1863.

This monument marks the spot where General
Custer attacked the Confederate cavalry during
the battle of Gettysburg.

Ironically, Custer is not known best for his victory at Gettysburg. He is best known for his loss 13 years later, almost to the day, at Little Big Horn. One could argue that Stuart is best known for his tardy attendance at Gettysburg.

Be that as it may, the fighting in the East Cavalry Field sometimes gets the short end of history’s stick. Stuart’s force was larger than the group the Union threw at the Confederates in that location that day and Stuart’s cavalry was very experienced. But Stuart’s men and mounts were exhausted from their raid around the back of the Army of the Potomac. The Confederate Cavalry finally found the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia the night before, only to be rushed into a major engagement the next day.

Fairly stated, Custer’s attack was an unexpected and well-executed dash straight at the Confederates. It was among the determining factors in the fighting on the final day of the fight.

Good work, George.

The Rummel farm as seen from the edge of the wooded area where
a Confederate force waited for a chance to attack Union forces.

The East Cavalry Field terrain is mostly flat, open ground. The earth is covered with working farms and a few farm buildings. There are far fewer monuments and position markers here than on other, better-traveled areas of the battlefield.

Much of the action on this cavalry field involved dismounted troops. The fighting around the Rummel farm was especially close.

These images from that field, captured in the morning hours of a sweltering Pennsylvania day, are meant to show the distances involved during this part of the Gettysburg struggle.

As the heat really started getting nasty, my Nikon and I retired to the slightly cooler, shaded spot where the 20^th Maine Regiment fought so stubbornly against the 15^th Alabama Regiment on Little Round Top. Years after the battle, William Oates, the former commander of the 15^th who had become the governor of Alabama, wished to place a marker commemorating his outfit’s charge against Little Round Top. He wanted to place the marker on the spot where he believed his brother was fatally wounded during the fighting. Governor Oates wrote a letter to the governor of Maine about the project.

The large rock believed by some to be the location where
Alabama Governor Oates wanted to place his monument
on Little Round Top is in the foreground. The left
flank marker for the 20th Maine is to the right in
this image.

The governor of Maine was none other than J.L. Chamberlain, the commander of the 20^th Maine at Little Round Top. As I understand the story, Chamberlain did not argue against the idea of a marker, but he had a problem with Oates’ proposed location. Oates believed, or said he believed, that his brother fell near a large rock. The rock he indicated apparently sits behind the line held so well by the 20^th.

Nobody knows for sure today which rock Oates favored for the location of the monument, but Chamberlain was adamant that no Alabama marker belonged behind the line defended by his 20^th Maine. You can understand Chamberlain’s view on the matter. His regiment held the line and won the day. Still, you might also wonder if Chamberlain was wrong. Oates’ boys charged about five times at the Maine line and the fighting was very close at times. Surely the Maine line could have been pushed back on occasion in some spots.



The 20th Maine's left flank marker is on the right. The three possible
boulders mentioned in the text are 1) in the foreground, 2) moss-covered
and in the center 3) beyond the moss-covered rock, behind the small
tree at left.

This brings us to Elder’s Battlefield Law #1: Winners set up the markers at National Battlefield Parks. Losers are allowed to visit the National Battlefield Parks.

The images here are of the large rock commonly believed to be the spot where Oates wanted to erect his marker and of three alternative boulders (my alternatives, all of them) located just in front of the left flank of the line where the 20^th Maine stopped the determined Alabamians.

Thanks for reading.

Institutionalized again

                This year’s Civil War Institute concluded Tuesday and the best word I can use to describe the annual conference is, “Wow.”

The steeple at the Seminary that was used as a lookout
point by both bsides during the battle of Gettysburg.

          The theme this year was 1862, as this year marks the 150^th anniversary of that year. We spent a great deal of time discussing the impact of the Emancipation Proclamation, from various angles, which generated some thought-provoking questions.

          We did not spend as much time on the military aspects of the war that year as I would have liked, but there were some outstanding presentations on the war’s western theater, the behavior of the US Army toward Confederate non-combatants and Susannah Ural gave a tremendous talk to a breakout session about John Bell Hood’s Texas Brigade. I attended another presentation during a breakout session during which the repeated frontal assaults in Civil War battles was discussed.

The rugged Devil's Den area near Little Round Top.

          I was part of a group that walked the path of the 15^th Alabama as that regiment attacked toward the round tops. Dr. Jennifer Murray, of Auburn University, led the walk. I had walked the areas in other years, but never all at once. The tour gave me a new appreciation of the difficulty the men of the 15^th faced.

The left flank marker for the 123rd
New York Infantry Regiment on
Culp's Hill, In the background is a
flank marker for a Confederate
regiment. The fighting was close
up on Culp's Hill.

          An aside here: The day before I’d explored some areas of Culp’s Hill I hadn’t seen before and another area along Baltimore Street. Somewhere along the line I lost my cell phone. I returned to all those areas after dark once I discovered the loss of the cell phone and again the following morning. Thus, I climbed down and up parts of Culp’s Hill three times within a 10-hour period, then walked a nice distance before ascending Big Round Top.

          It might be a few days before my legs work normally again, but that’s my problem, right?

          A wandering group of teenaged French tourists turned the phone in to the Gettysburg Battlefield Tours, a business full of very nice people on Baltimore Street in Gettysburg, and I eventually regained my phone.

A Confederate flank marker on
Culp's Hill.

          Each year the CWI attracts some of the top researchers and writers in the Civil War field. I don’t want to go through all the names of the 2012 presenters here, but you can look at next year’s schedule on line now at www.gettysburg.edu/cwi/about/.

A memorial to Union General John Reynolds.

I’ve already put in my reservation to attend the 2013 CWI in expectation of another great experience. Like history? You need to be here next June.

          Simply put, this was a great week. I learned a great deal, which is the point of attending the conference to begin with, and I spent a lot of time talking to presenters and fellow attendees during meals and between sessions. I was sad to see it end Tuesday, but I am energized and excited to return to my own research soon.

          A note to future attendees: I budgeted funds for the purchase of new and used books on the topic of the Civil War here. There is always a big bunch of new and used titles on sale at the CWI and I am pleased to say that I blew my budget to smithereens early in the conference. Did the same thing last year and I’ll probably do it again.

          You should smile. Guys like me are good for the nation’s economy.

          The remainder of our stay here will be devoted to my camera and the battlefield. I was the happiest guy out there today.

          Thanks for reading.

Gettysburg bound

            We are heading for Gettysburg next week, our annual trek to the site of the Civil War’s most famous battle. I look forward to this trip all year every year and I spend weeks making notes for locations I want to visit and photograph.

          I have battlefield map on which I make still more notes, draw arrows and track the path of the sunlight.

          I could probably burn the notes in the fireplace as soon as I write them for all the good they do me. Once I get to the battlefield, my mind goes to La La Land and the carefully-prepared notes are forgotten. I start following the history, wherever that leads me, and the carefully considered notes, which sit faithfully in the rental car, are forgotten. Last year I accomplished two items on a checklist I made for myself. The checklist was two pages long.

          But I don’t burn the notes. This is partially due to the fact that the landlord does not allow us to burn stuff in the fireplace because it is a gas-fed fireplace.

          My pal Buck Weber asked me the other day whether I’m doing research or preparing for an attack before each visit. I really didn’t have an answer for him.

          The first five days of this year’s visit will be spent attending the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College. I attended my first CWI last summer and greatly enjoyed myself. I learned a great deal and I hope to do the same this year.

          Once the institute is over, I’ll spend several days walking the battlefield. There are several areas which I haven’t visited yet and I want to spend time in some of those locations this year. I photograph the areas in order to help myself understand what I’m reading when I study the battle, so I take fewer pix of monuments and more of the battlefield’s vistas. My idea is to capture the views the soldiers might have seen or at least the ground they covered on a given day.

          Part of the CWI each year is a variety of walking lecture/tours of specific areas of the Gettysburg battlefield. Attendees are given a list of tours and select three favorites. They’ll likely be assigned one of the three favorites. Last year I followed a tour of the areas where the Union sharpshooters worked, a fantastic few hours of history. This year I’ve been lucky and have been assigned a walking lecture following the Alabamians’ attack on Little Round Top.

           There were other lecture/tours that looked interesting to me and it was difficult to pick just three favorites but I’m very happy with this assignment. The Little Round Top area tugs at me every time I visit Gettysburg and I’ll get some in-depth education on the fighting there with this lecture/tour. It was an Alabama bunch that butted heads with the 20^th Maine on the left-most edge of LRT.

          The CWI also offers single-day field trips to other battlefields, but this year I decided not to take a field trip. I’ll stay in Gettysburg and wander the battlefield some more.

          Amy and I have come to enjoy the Gettysburg community so much that I took time off from the battlefield and we drove around some of the neighborhoods to look at real estate prices last year. The prices were reasonable but just a bit too high for us. We’d still like to buy a condo there sometime so we could travel frequently from our new home in Ohio and be free to spend all the time we want at Gettysburg. But that will have to wait, if it happens at all.

          On our first visit to Gettysburg, I walked the area of the Confederate charge on the battle’s final day. I reported back to my wife that I saw where Lee’s troops charged. I had no idea how they did it and even less idea why they did it. I ask myself those three questions at every battlefield location: What happened here? How did it go? Why did it happen that way?

          I’ll be asking those questions again next week.

          Thanks for reading.

A new adventure

          The reader needs to understand that your humble correspondent is a Californian. Born and bred Californian. That includes living in five Southern California counties and working in another through the decades.

          The family has lived by the beach, on the desert and in between. The California lifestyle, which has so many different variations, has been our modus operandi. Our kids are third-generation Californians, which is not a frequent thing.

          Earthquakes? Sure, we’ve had ‘em. Lots of them and some real scary ones, too. If you’re from here, you’ve been through quakes, too. If you’re not from here, you really can’t understand the feeling until you’ve been through one.

          Mostly, we’ve loved living here. The nice weather and the somewhat relaxed social conditions make life comfortable in many ways. Often as not, you’ll hear the Beach Boys on our Mustang’s CD player if you pull up aside at a traffic light. The Mustang is a convertible, of course.

Add to all that the fact that we have family here and you have us at home.

          But that all ends in September when we move to Ohio. California Here I Come becomes California Dreamin.’

          California has simply priced us out. We can’t afford the rent here anymore.

           Bummer.

          Amy, who has worked so hard for 42 years as an educator in our public schools, is retiring. Yours truly has a long time to go before retirement gets in the way of the much-loved career in the racing business. But one retirement in the family means changes and one of the changes will be the new address.

          The money we’ll save living in Ohio, where we’ll own the home we live in, will be the difference between living happily and having to scrape up the rent money every month.

          We’d rather stay here, be close to our parents and friends and lap up the easy ambient conditions. But we can’t afford it. The whole thing comes down to economics and Econ 101 teaches that if your income is less than your outgo, you’re in trouble.

          Why Ohio? Well, we set some parameters and searched for the best fit. The key considerations were housing costs, airport proximity, ease of travel, housing costs, a solid sports climate, housing costs and the cost of buying a home. Indiana and Ohio were the finalists and Ohio had the added advantage that Goodyear’s world headquarters is in Akron.

          We check out of the Hotel California in the fall and head east toward a new adventure. New adventures are rare when you reach our level of experience (read here: age) and we’re excited. Amy has a list of things she wants to do and we’re going to go do them.

          Of course, all this means we have to clean house and decide what stuff will not make the trip and then box up the rest. This is a boring chore that nobody likes. But all adventures begin with yucky preparation and this is no exception.

          So thanks for reading. I gotta pack.

Educational wars

I’ve always liked history. Both my parents enjoy reading about history and I guess I inherited the interest from them. My particular interest is in American military history, particularly the American Civil War and World War II.

          One thing is for sure, I didn’t develop my interest in military history in grade school. Wars were ignored by my teachers through grade 12. My instructors taught history this way, in terms of armed conflict: A few minutes each day for a few days spent teaching what issues led to conflict. Then a few minutes one day spent teaching about the years immediately after the war. And then on to the next item.

          The Civil War, which was fought entirely on American soil and almost entirely by Americans, wasn’t included in during my grade school years. The causes of the war were detailed and I recall something about Reconstruction. But the war itself? No, we didn’t discuss things like that.

          The 20^th Century? No mention of the sinking of the Titanic, but we learned that armed camps and nationalism led to World War I (which we ignored), followed by the Great Depression (the craziness of the 1920s must not have happened) and the rise of Hitler. Not too sure what happened to Hitler, but then came the reconstruction of Europe, which led to the Cold War, which ended. President Eisenhower was in the Army before he ran for president. President Kennedy’s boat sank when he was in the Navy. President Truman didn’t have to make a decision about the atomic bomb, since there was no war, and the United States never sent troops to Korea because, heck, that wasn’t even formally a war.

          My wife says wars were covered when she was in school. But that was in Ohio, not California.

          We’re making a mistake when we ignore the horrors of battle and the beneficial scientific developments that come out of wars. Wars happen; they are a part of history. It is sad but true to say that the only consistency through all the centuries is warfare.

I say we should teach it.

          Want to convince students that war is a bad thing? Teach them what happens when armies clash on battlefields, when navies go to sea and when war planes sortie. Sometimes there is little choice for political leaders but to send the military into harm’s way. Let’s teach our students the importance of considering the implications of making that decision.

          The pros in the education business say I’m wrong about this and we know they’re always right. But I’d sure like to know what I’m missing. Maybe someone will explain it to me some day.

          Thanks for reading.

Tommy Lasorda

            Tom Lasorda, the former Dodgers manager, had a heart attack today. The news reports I have seen say Lasorda is resting in a hospital and I hope he recovers fully and quickly. I revere Walter Alston, the man who preceded Lasorda as the skipper of the boys in blue, but Lasorda is my favorite Dodgers manager.

            Loyally loud, Lasorda never got credit for his managerial skills. He got credit for lots of other stuff, both good and bad, but somehow never got credit for his ability to keep a clubhouse together. Lasorda played hunches and played them well. It was a hunch that led him to send a limping Kirk Gibson to the plate in game one of the World Series one year and that hunch won the Dodgers the title.

            Call it a World Championship hunch.

            Lasorda called me at the newspaper office one night when I was writing for the Oxnard Press-Courier because he didn’t like something he thought I wrote. He chewed me out pretty well, exceptionally well in fact. If I’d written the piece that upset him, I might have regretted writing the thing.

            Tom Lasorda is one of baseball’s great men, a Hall of Famer. He and Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully are the ultimate Dodgers. I hope both men are around as long as they wish to be because the Dodger universe is a better place with them.

            Get well soon, Tommy. Maybe the Big Dodger in the Sky doesn’t need you yet.

            Thanks for reading.