150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg & Pickett's Charge

One of my favorite stories of when Pappy was a little kid happened at Gettysburg during the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.    Pop-pop Paul (Pappy's Daddy) was a member of the Historical Society and they would get together as a group and discuss different aspects of the war.  You know with so many people being into history in the family that the celebration of the 100th was something they had to attend so Pappy, his sisters (Carol and Kathy) and Pappy's mom and dad all headed up to Gettysburg for the celebration.It was a super hot July and Pappy was about 12 years old. There were a lot of long winded speakers there and a young boy just doesn't want to listen to a bunch of long winded speakers so he decided to wonder off and explore the battlefield a little more.  Just as his mom and dad looked down and realized he was gone the reenactment of Pickett's Charge began and there marching up the field with all of the soldiers was Pappy.

At the 150th celebration one of the planned activities was where people could march up the field with the reenactment soldiers just like Pappy had done before only this time with three generations along for the charge.

They had a lot of activities going on to honor the 150th but since Gettysburg in July generally means that you are going to be in for some real heat we decided to save a lot of our energy for the big charge later in the day.  We spent the beginning part of the day in the Family Activities tent which had a lot of really neat educational booths with volunteers who were all ready to tell the kids about life for a soldier in the 1860s.

Wyatt had to guess what this was, let's see if you can guess.  In the pouch was a needle, a patch, and thread.  That's right it's a housewife (well that's what the soldiers called it now-a-days we just call it a sewing kit).

 Next, they taught Wyatt some of the calls the drummer boys used to communicate to the soldiers.  Here is Wyatt trying to call all the men to their arms and ready position.  He did a great job and she was really impressed how fast he picked it up.

 They had areas for dress up where the kids could try on different outfits from the period.  Here is Wyatt all dressed up as a soldier in his Union Blue.  He had to say how the jacket made him feel.  He said it was very big and really hot.

Wyatt's all about cheering on the Blue team!

 They gave him a big gun to try out with the outfit, pretty fierce.

 There were a lot of different guest lecturers.  This was one speaker we attended where you had to guess what the person did during the war.  She was a young girl who lived in Gettysburg that helped out the soldiers who were injured by bringing them water to drink and wrapping their injuries with bandages.

 This is the hands on medical section that let the kids use different tools that the doctors used back then.  Wyatt got to use a long cone thing (you can see it in the next picture a little better) to listen to Mommy's heart.  The big circle side went up against Mommy's heart and Wyatt put the other side up to his ear.

 They also let Wyatt hold this bullet:

 CANNON FIRE!!!

Pappy explained how it took a lot of people to operate a cannon and told us all about each of the steps to getting the cannon ready to fire.

 Wyatt was ready to get that cannon going

 Good thing the cannon wasn't real because that is one heavy piece of lead!

 Wyatt had a book that had a bunch of different activities in it to complete and when he was finished he could earn a very special 150th Anniversary Junior Ranger Badge.

 Wyatt showing Mommy all about how to fire a gun, don't worry it isn't real:

Mini Lincoln:

"Four score and seven years ago..."

A close up look at Wyatt's cool new 150th Junior Ranger Badge.  They also gave him a copy of the Gettysburg Address, and a cool card with a picture inside that had the personal history of a person from Gettysburg.

 Before we knew it all the buses to the confederate side were filled to capacity and there was no more room so we had to walk from the Visitors Center all the way to Meade's headquarters and up to the Northern line. It was quite a hike in the hot sun.

 We stopped and rested a little bit before walking all the way across the field a mile to join up with Pickett's men to make the charge.  While resting we got to see the Union trumpeters gathering together.

 Pappy and Wyatt enjoy a rest under the tree:

 Wyatt with the Meade statue he loves so much:

 We started heading down toward the confederate line all the way on the other side of the battlefield.  It was another SUPER long walk leading up to another LOOOOONG walk.  Here is Pappy, Wyatt and Daddy being troopers. Wyatt already looks tired and he has ridden the whole day down!

Made it to the confederate line where there were lots of reenactors and onlookers pumped for the big charge.

Pappy gets just a moment to rest a fence before we start the charge.

Everyone getting lined up:

Wyatt ready to get his troops going:

The march was amazing!  There were lots of spells of people doing the rebel yell while we all charged forward.  It really had a great impact while walking up toward the Union line and imagining that 150 years before the rebels were marching forward with bullets and cannon fire raining on them.  It really made you realize how brave all of Pickett's men were.  It was amazing watching the events of the march unfold right in front of your eyes and amazing to feel like you were a part of something not only honoring history but also making history as well.  To have three generations there honoring 150 years since the Battle of Gettysburg was a true dream come true.

Here is a mat of the battle and where people are stationed (a little reference point):

The reenactor playing Pickett amazed me!  He looked exactly like Pickett and to give you an idea below is a picture of the actual Pickett and and then a picture of the reenactor- AMAZING!!!

A view of the charge taken from the Union Line being headed up by Robert E. Lee (from online site):

 One of my favorite parts of Pickett's Charge is the moment when Gen. Lewis Armistead put his hat on his sword and bravely charged forward challenging snipers to shoot him and displaying that he was one of the men and facing the same obstacle as all of them.  It was not typical for General to lead attacks (as they would become quick pickens for the other side) it was a moment of absolute dedication and courage. Armistead actually made it over the stone wall where he was shot several times which were all supposedly flesh wounds.  Although he was expected to live through these injuries he died at Spangler Farm in Gettysburg just a few days later.  He didn't die from bullet wounds but from fever.  He is buried in Baltimore, MD (next to his uncle who was well known for his service at Ft. McHenry in The Battle of Baltimore.)

** Also a little note for Grandma and Pappy, Armistead was born in his great-grandfather's house (John Wright Stanly) in New Bern, NC. Pretty cool how his life is in New Bern and MD too**

After a long walk from the Southern line we finally saw the Union line.

 After the march Pappy and Wyatt rest and re-hydrate under the tree.

 Wyatt decided he still had enough energy to march a little longer.  He found this big stick which looked a lot like a rifle and marched around the tree.

 Left, Right, Left, Right, Left...

 The Maryland monument which expressed exactly how we all felt after that walk:



We were all exhausted after the day of walking and figured out that we walked over 5 miles in the hot July sun.  It was quite a challenge but a great day filled with a lifetime of memories.  After a nice Country dinner at Cracker Barrel it was time to head home and relax.

 ( picture of the 50th celebration with the survivors):