High Water Mark
Big Round Top
Today is one I have been looking forward to since we got our itinerary. Gettysburg is a name most Americans are familiar with, and yet to begin to understand its true significance requires study.
Our first stop was at the home of Professor Gabor Boritt, author of The Gettysburg Gospel. His property was beautiful: several miles outside of town, somewhat secluded, and complete with its own small lake. His house served as a hospital after the battle of Gettysburg. Professor Boritt welcomed us and was very genuine in his sharing. He told how he had escaped from Hungary during the revolution against the Soviet Union when he was sixteen and came to America. He attended school in the Dakotas. His admiration of Abraham Lincoln was humbling. He called Lincoln “one of a kind” and the U.S. “at its best.” Boritt said Lincoln is still the most-loved American around the globe, even in China and Russia; quite a recommendation from such a learned man. He also pointed out that Lincoln only gave four speeches during the war, and that, at best, Lincoln only had a few days to write the Gettysburg Address. Boritt thought it significant that Lincoln did not mention the word slavery, but referred to the equality of all people with the phrase “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
The Gettysburg Battlefield covers some 16,000 acres. It was incredible to realize the magnitude of this battle that lasted for three days in early July, 1863. As we toured different areas of the battlefield in our bus, the huge area it encompassed was a lot to take in. General Robert E. Lee had decided to attack the North on its own turf after significant victories at Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg.
Our guide told us that 93,000 Union troops and 70,000 Confederate soldiers met on this land. They fired over seven million rounds of ammunition from July1-3. And the casualties were enormous: 51,000 killed, wounded, captured or missing. Keeping in mind the population of Gettysburg was only 2,400 at the time, Boritt’s description of the aftermath of the battle became more real, though still impossible to fully appreciate.
Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle ever fought in North America or even the Western Hemisphere. The “Angle’ on Cemetery Ridge is the location of the Confederate’s “High Water Mark” meaning the location of the South’s greatest military advancement during the entire Civil War. Though the South was winning the first two days, the Union soldiers managed to fend off Pickett’s Charge and the Confederate army retreated in defeat. This was the turning point for the North in the Civil War. “The Union was born at Philadelphia 1776 but it was preserved at Gettysburg 1863.”
Today was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me, partially because of my admiration of Abraham Lincoln. To stand in a place where he had been was awesome. I even bought a copy of a picture of him for my classroom. I will have so much more to share with my students. I have a VHS tape in my room that is a tour of the Gettysburg Battlefield that I showed to one of my classes and we all found very confusing. Aided with battlefield maps and my new experience, I am anxious to study this battle more in depth to teach more effectively.
We got back to campus a bit late this evening, but I was able to share dinner with my two awesome roommates, Lauren and Sherri. We got along quite well and shared a lot of laughs and even some tears. Thanks to you both for adding more fine memories to this fantastic opportunity.
