GETTYSBURG: 
HUZZAH, HUZZAH HUZZAH, I HAVE RETURNED!: Yes, I
am back from the great adventure with my investigations nearly
completed. I just need a little time in which to digest all of the
sociological data I have gathered while I was away and then I will
report here just as soon as possible. In the meantime, look at the
pictures.
UPDATE: I have been asked to explain just what it is
you folks are looking at here. I'm not sure why I didn't put captions
in before; captions have been around for quite a while now, so I guess
I have no real excuse except laziness.
In descending order:
1.) A view of the Codori farm on Cemetery Ridge, taken from the positions held by the Vermont Brigade on the third day of the battle.
2.) A monument to the 143rd Pennsylvania Infantry on McPherson Ridge. The white farmhouse in the background belonged to the McPhersons and was used as a field hospital on the first day of the battle.
3.)The monument to Major General John Reynolds, taken at sunset. Reynolds
brought his infantry corps up to this line on the first day of the
battle and was killed in the fighting for the woods a few hundred yards
to the left of where this statue is now.
4.) A monument to the 84th New York Infantry, although absolutely no one in that regiment would ever concede that title for a moment. As far as the men in that
regiment were concerned they were the 14th Brooklyn and dont you ever
forget it, smart guy. This was taken at the railway cut, an unfinished
(at that time) pass through a hill that large numbers of Mississippi
infantry got caught in and were forced by the 14th and the 95th New York to surrender.
5.) Union artillery on Cemetery Ridge.
6.) Detail, 143rd Pennsylvania monument.
7.) Silhouette of the monument to Major General John Buford, commanding officer of the 1st Cavalry Division, at sunset. Buford was the one who saw the potential of fighting on this ground and almost sacrificed his division holding the line on the first day of the fighting so that Reynolds and the infantry could come up and take up positions. Buford is, in my opinion, the unsung hero of Gettysburg, as his decision to take and hold ground so favorable to the defensive was the key one in the
Union's ultimate success. In a bit of trivia you may or may not care to
know, there are a great many statues of generals mounted on horses at
Gettysburg: Reynolds is mounted, as are George Gordon Meade, Robert E.
Lee, Oliver O. Howard, and James Longstreet. John Buford is not
mounted, which is strange, really, because of all the generals I have
just cited Buford was the only career cavalryman. The others were
engineers, artillerymen, or in the infantry. There is something odd, I
think, about a man who spent most of his army career on horseback and
who commanded a cavalry division on the battlefield where his service
is so just commemorated not rating a damn horse. Who makes these
decisions, that's what I want to know. Just as a sidelight, I will be
adding more Gettysburg pics to thephotoblog as they become available.
HUZZAH, HUZZAH HUZZAH, I HAVE RETURNED!: Yes, I
am back from the great adventure with my investigations nearly
completed. I just need a little time in which to digest all of the
sociological data I have gathered while I was away and then I will
report here just as soon as possible. In the meantime, look at the
pictures.
UPDATE: I have been asked to explain just what it is
you folks are looking at here. I'm not sure why I didn't put captions
in before; captions have been around for quite a while now, so I guess
I have no real excuse except laziness.
In descending order:
1.) A view of the Codori farm on Cemetery Ridge, taken from the positions held by the Vermont Brigade on the third day of the battle.
2.) A monument to the 143rd Pennsylvania Infantry on McPherson Ridge. The white farmhouse in the background belonged to the McPhersons and was used as a field hospital on the first day of the battle.
3.)The monument to Major General John Reynolds, taken at sunset. Reynolds
brought his infantry corps up to this line on the first day of the
battle and was killed in the fighting for the woods a few hundred yards
to the left of where this statue is now.
4.) A monument to the 84th New York Infantry, although absolutely no one in that regiment would ever concede that title for a moment. As far as the men in that
regiment were concerned they were the 14th Brooklyn and dont you ever
forget it, smart guy. This was taken at the railway cut, an unfinished
(at that time) pass through a hill that large numbers of Mississippi
infantry got caught in and were forced by the 14th and the 95th New York to surrender.
5.) Union artillery on Cemetery Ridge.
6.) Detail, 143rd Pennsylvania monument.
7.) Silhouette of the monument to Major General John Buford, commanding officer of the 1st Cavalry Division, at sunset. Buford was the one who saw the potential of fighting on this ground and almost sacrificed his division holding the line on the first day of the fighting so that Reynolds and the infantry could come up and take up positions. Buford is, in my opinion, the unsung hero of Gettysburg, as his decision to take and hold ground so favorable to the defensive was the key one in the
Union's ultimate success. In a bit of trivia you may or may not care to
know, there are a great many statues of generals mounted on horses at
Gettysburg: Reynolds is mounted, as are George Gordon Meade, Robert E.
Lee, Oliver O. Howard, and James Longstreet. John Buford is not
mounted, which is strange, really, because of all the generals I have
just cited Buford was the only career cavalryman. The others were
engineers, artillerymen, or in the infantry. There is something odd, I
think, about a man who spent most of his army career on horseback and
who commanded a cavalry division on the battlefield where his service
is so just commemorated not rating a damn horse. Who makes these
decisions, that's what I want to know. Just as a sidelight, I will be
adding more Gettysburg pics to thephotoblog as they become available.
Labels: Civil War, Gettysburg, vacations
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