My late husband had wanted to visit Gettysburg just once in his lifetime but had never put it top of the list as a priority and so we never made it together. While my son and I were heading home from Watkin’s Glen, I saw the sign for Gettysburg and thought that this might be a perfect time to stop and teach my son some history. Little did I know how stopping here would affect me. When we first arrived, we drove up to a parking spot and across the way was this gigantic statue of Major-General Reynolds. It was our first introduction to all the monuments that covered the multitude of fields surrounding this entire town.
Nothing prepared me for the magnitude of this place! All I had ever learned was what was taught in history books as a school child. No one tells you that the scope of this battle was bigger than most battles, or maybe, I just didn’t understand in my ignorance of it all, I’m not sure. Information signs and monuments about all the different calvary and soldiers from all the different locations from around the country are everywhere, along with how many died or were injured in each area. It’s truly astounding when you start looking at the scope of all of it.
As you read monument after sign and start getting the sheer amount of lives that were lost here in those three days, it is a truly sombering place to visit. In fact, it overshadowed all the other places I had been during this trip, made worse by the irresistible urge to get the hell out of dodge after visiting a certain gully between two of the major locations. I don’t know why but my hair raised up and I needed to leave! I didn’t stop for gas, to get coffee or go to the bathroom! Didn’t pass GO, didn’t collect 200!! I have only felt this way one other time when I went down to a torture chamber in the first castle we visited in Europe, years ago!
thank you very much
You’re Welcome!