We severely needed more time at Gettysburg. We walked Pickett's charge. We covered the fish hook with rangers. And, at the site where Hollywood oversold the 20th Maine, and at many other sites, we paid our respects. It's hard to synthesize a day at Gettysburg.
I will mention a few highlights on the lighter side.
1: The Gettysburg Cyclorama was really cool—fun to experience the closest thing the 1800s had to a movie. It's a 3-ton painting stretching 27 feet high and 359 feet long that traveled the country. It was displayed in cylindrical structures where viewers stood in the middle while, as someone relays the tale of the three-day battle, different parts of the painting are lit up.
2: Daniel Edgar Sickles needs to be defamed, at least a little bit. He never made it into mainstream history books or the major motion picture, even though he single-handedly almost flubbed the Battle of Gettysburg, the fulcrum of the Civil War, by insubordinately moving an entire corps of Union soldiers into an open field where it was virtually destroyed. Here's a short list of his life:
Married a 15-year-old when he was 33
Escorted a known prostitute into the New York Assembly
Had an affair with a dethroned Queen of Spain
Shot and killed the the son of Francis Scott Key (author of the national anthem)
Became the first person to be acquitted of murder pleading temporary insanity.
Oh, and his leg, blown away by cannon ball in the Battle of Gettysburg, is displayed in Walter Reed to this day.
3. To end on a high note, here is something I think every American should read, the love letter of Sullivan Ballou. Ken Burns discovered it in his documentary research and keeps a copy of it in his wallet. It brought me to tears.
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