Gettysburg Battlefield

Yesterday Barbara and I visited the Gettysburg Battlefield.  This is a beautiful historic park, but due to the events of July 1863 it made the day very solemn for both of us.  It has been reported that approximately 620,000 soldiers died during the Civil War.  While at the visitors center I noticed a discrepancy in this number so I asked.  According to one of the rangers at the center a historian recently looked into the archives and discovered that somewhere between 720,000 and 850,000 people, this includes civilians, died during the Civil War. Most of these actually died of disease brought on by their battle wounds.  Of all of the battles that took place during the Civil War, Gettysburg was by far the deadliest.  Over 51,000 soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice or were wounded at Gettysburg.

While at the battlefield I couldn’t help but think of the issues that our nation faces today.  In President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address the very last line states, “And that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not parish from earth”.  This clearly indicates that our government should be run by the people.  So as I frequently thought about this yesterday, with tears in my eyes, I had to ask myself, what has happened to our government?  It is clear that our government today has lost sight of this, and they now believe it is their job to control us and tell us how things are supposed to be, not the other way around.  In a lot of ways we are still fighting the same fight today that we fought 160 years ago, fighting for the rights of the people and to be free. 

During the battle of Gettysburg, the Confederate army advanced and for most of the battle it appeared that they were going to be triumphant.  During the most famous battle at Gettysburg, known as Pickett’s Charge, the Confederate army lost 5,000 men in one hour.  This was the final battle at Gettysburg.  So in the end, the Union army held their ground and after three days of fighting the Confederate army retreated back to Virginia.  There would still be two more years of fighting before the conclusion of the war.  However, prior to the battle at Gettysburg, on January 1, 1863, President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves.  Many of these slaves took up arms and fought alongside the Union army.

I pray that this country never sees another civil war, but with the issues we are facing today, I believe it is a distinct possibility.   

There are so many statues and monuments in this park that it would take months to see them all. Here I have included just a few.