Being the 150th Civil War Anniversary since 1861 lots of special events and battle reenactments are occurring everywhere. A self-guided auto tour with a CD audio guidebook allowed us plenty of time to cover the Gettysburg Battlefields at our own pace. There are some 1,400 monuments today spread out over the Gettysburg National Military Park Battlefields for several miles to commemorate over 153 regiments who fought on the consecrated soil.
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| 150 cannon shots boomed the commemoration of the Civil War starting in 1861 |
What a thrill we had watching two living history Civil War reenactments with hundreds of infantry and artillery soldiers from both sides rallying for battle.
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| Civil War ladies in dress attire |
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| Pennsylvania Memorial honors 153 regiments in the Battle of Gettysburg |
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| Flame above the Eternal Peace Monument |
History unfolded for a week as we discovered that during July 1-3, 1863 the Civil War Battle of Gettysburg pitted Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s army of 75,000 against the Union General George Meade’s 97,000. A fight culminated with the famous Confederate charge by Pickett’s division against the Union positions at Cemetery Ridge. Forty minutes later, the South had suffered 10,000 casualties, with combined losses on both sides of 54,000.
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| Meeting the Civil War Generals at the Gettysburg town square one evening |
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| "Mame, we need nurses to enlist. Are you ready?" |
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| A living history tent encampment |
Together with the Union victory at Vicksburg on July 4, the Battle of Gettysburg was considered a turning point in the tides of war. At the dedication ceremony of the National Soldiers’ Cemetery on November 19 during the same year President Abe Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address freeing all African American slaves through the Emancipation Proclamation.
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| Union troops on the way to the battlefield |
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| Confederate troops marching on to the battlefield | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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Being the 150th Civil War Anniversary since 1861 lots of special events and battle reenactments are occurring everywhere. A self-guided auto tour with a CD audio guidebook allowed us plenty of time to cover the Gettysburg Battlefields at our own pace. There are some 1,400 monuments today spread out over the Gettysburg National Military Park Battlefields for several miles to commemorate over 153 regiments who fought on the consecrated soil. 
