Getting Back to Gettysburg

It took us a year, but we got back to Gettysburg to see the town and battlefield again, only this time Jerry and Sandy were with us. Our first stop was the Military Park Museum and Visitor Center. The cyclorama in the Visitor Center is amazing in itself, providing a small glimpse of what it must have been like to be in the middle of the battlefield.

We also walked around historic downtown Gettysburg, looking at the plaques on the old buildings. Below is the Presbyterian Church of Gettysburg. Abraham Lincoln attended services at this church on Nov. 19, 1863 and the pew he sat in has been preserved in the sanctuary.
The second plaque let us know that this was also the church that Ike Eisenhower attended when he lived in Gettysburg. His farm is not far from the church. Then again, this is a small town, and nothing seems to be very far. It doesn't take an hour to go across town like it does in Phoenix!
Sandy and Don crowd around Honest Abe and another unknown "visitor". Wonder if they got the right directions?
We did the auto tour around the battlefield the second day we were here. Obviously, this hawk found the perfect spot to scan the fields around here! The bird just sat there and looked at us as we drove slowly by.
Here is a view looking out from the battlefield towards the town of Gettysburg. There were approximately 195,000 soldiers that fought here in 1863, and it is estimated that there was 51,000 casualties (wounded, dead or captured). These fields witnessed the costliest battle of the Civil War. The sheer numbers just boggles my mind.
Jerry thought he was going to check and see if this cannon really worked.
We climbed one of the lookout towers and got a great view of the surrounding countryside. At the time of the battle, the little town of Gettysburg had around 2,400 people. Can you imagine the impact the 195,000 soldiers had on it? The townspeople had to cope with the casualties from both the Union and Confederate armies.
Little Round Top was a crucial spot in deciding who won the battle at Gettysburg. Don and Jerry look out from here to view countryside that General Meade saw when he stood on top of this hill.
There are hundreds and hundreds of markers and statues here. The statues are interesting works of art in themselves, and the markers provide historical information as we passed along the road in the battlegrounds.