My bride and I are headed to Gettysburg to see the battlefield next week if the Government doesn't shut it down out of spite. Any suggestions on touring, what to see, and if anyone knows of a personal guide that would get into the vehicle with us please message me.

My wife has at most 3 days up there and I have to deposit her at the Lancaster airport to go back to work since unlike me she is employed and refuses to retire. I can go back after that.

Also I plan to return home through Hatfield-McCoy territory in the Tug Fork boundary if anyone has suggestions. I have someone to watch the cows so I don't have to get back until mid-November.

Start off at the visitors center/musuem administered by the National Park Service. The museum and especially the Cyclorama are worth seeing. You can find a guided tour here as well, including guides that ride with you. As I recommended in a prior post on this doing a tour with a licensed guide first to give you the "lay of the land" and then you can return to explore areas of interest yourself later. The battlefield is easily navigated by car with areas to park and walk to see what you want. HIGHLY recommended is the PA monument which has a spiral staircase inside to access the top where you can get a great lookout over the battlefield! Feel free to PM any other questions you may have and I will try to help you out.

Is it easy to see where Dan Sickles made his foray? I understand he claims to have saved the day and others claim he nearly caused a Union disaster. How far away from the main battlefield was the Custer-Stuart cavalry clash?

Pretty far away, like a couple miles, and isn't well marked.

Go to east cemetery hill for some Louisiana history being your from there.I’m partial to the Virginia monument two gg grand dads was there July 3 under Pickett.

Have dinner at the Dobbin House Tavern. Go a bit late so you can walk around the place after most folks have left. You will thank me later!

I appreciate any pointers I can get. I have been to Little Bighorn several times and this battle is in comparison huge. We are studying the battle and the maps we can find.

I've wanted to go for years but eastern USA being heavily populated with all the concurrent traffic has dissuaded me. Maybe October will make for lesser crowds although the homeschool folks tend to go whenever I want to go.

I hate heavy traffic.

American Battlefield museum is a must see

I wouldn’t let traffic keep you from special places like Gettysburg. There is lots to see in that region of the country. All Americans should see Gettysburg at some point, IMHO. Southerners in particular seem absent from the place. I actually have that same opinion regarding many of the Civil War sites. Folks are not doing a good job of passing history down to the younger generations. Pretty sad. I guess it is easier to let the kids play video games. We don’t roll that way around here.

Once your wife is safely out of sight, checkout Redding’s Hardware and Sporting Goods. Used to be a pretty good store, as was Sell’s in nearby Hanover.

Agree, dont let traffic stop you. But...its heavy this time of year. Yesterday drove over to see my nephew. He lives and works in Gettysburg(realtor). Traffic was bad in the afternoon. Evening I came through again Littlestown way from seein other family and trafffic was worse. Whole damn ghost tour walked right in front of me. Have be ready hit the breaks quick in town.

Im 40 minutes east across 30 there abouts and traffics iffy everywhere round here...parades.. halloween stuff...give yourself plenty of time.

Reddings isnt what it used to be...same as Sells. But Dave usually has some powders on the shelf at Sells when I cant find it anywhere else.

I'm going to bite the bullet and fight the traffic. I would love to go to Boston but I'll have to save that for a bus tour. Same for Philadelphia.

Sickles being where he was certainly threw a wrench in the Confederate game plan on Day 2. One of a number of things that went wrong for them that day.

I concur with the advice to take a guided tour first.

Longstreet drug his feet day 2 should of been there earlier

I've heard that and then there are those that claim Longstreet has been maligned for cooperating with the Yankees after the war. Confederate General Joe Wheeler was not similarly condemned for fighting with the Yankees in the Spanish-American war. Enough time had passed I guess.

I’ve been twice, once on July 4th week and traffic and crowds we never a problem. We took the bus tour to start, then the visitor center. We bought a CD to play in the car that guided us through the battle sights and you can go at your own pace. Lack of CD player in most cars these days may hamper that. We found three days to be plenty of time.

Big fiasco happened he wanted to replace Gen. Bragg it pretty much stems from Gettysburg day 2

If they still have them this time of year, go on a ranger tour. Very informative

The Peach Orchard. And Sickles nearly cost a disaster putting a hole in the Union lines that Longstreet darn near exploited.
Cavalry field is about a 20 minute drive from the main battlefield

It's been a few years, but pre-COVID the Gaslight Inn (a B&B in town) was a great place to stay and if you contract a private battlefield guide, they'll come have breakfast with you and pick you up right from the hotel.

Thinking of heading there next spring. I need all the information as well. Why someone would go to Costa Rica or some other port when there is so much history in America…

His command was destroyed, he lost his leg, and the gap he created in the Union line was only plugged by Hancock sacrificing the entire 1st Minnesota. Sickles didn't do anything to ruin the Confederates day

Anyway, there is an auto tour. Everything is explained along the way. You get the Auto tour map at the Visitors center. It will take you out to the Day 1 action then take you through the day 2 action and ultimately you'll end up at the day 3 action. From there you'll continue on to Culps hill which saw action on Days 1,2, and 3. From there you can go to Cavalry field

There’s a lot the movie left out

It had to though. It was long enough as it was. But it completely ignored Culps Hill which tied up an entire third of the Army of Northern Virginia and it ignored all Cavalry action sadly

If you spend the night while touring the tug fork stay in Pikeville Ky ....Not many good places to eat or stay in Matewan or williamson west virgina the place caters to the ATV trail riders.....I grew up in the south willamson area and own a Farm 20 mins from there....My wife is from Matewan she just informed me they are a couple of nice B&B in Matewan ran by one of her former class mates and shes a excellent cook....

Agreed 👍

I'm beginning to think this will take two different trips. The second one would be after you digest the first one and figure out what you missed the first go round. The LBH was like that for me and this one is so much bigger and took so much longer.

Have been there MANY times and still get a feeling of reverence and awe everytime I visit! Will often read a new book or article about a particular segment of battle/unit etc and try to experience that particular area with a new perspective. As someone else said I believe Gettysburg is definately a place every American who can should visit. In fact this thread makes me want to head there again soon.

High water mark is the spot for me cemetery ridge a part of me some how was there 🤷‍♂️

That spot means a lot to me as well. I like to just stand there and try to imagine what it was like

19th VA infantry I’m proud to say my ppls was there crossed the angle 👍👍👍

Had the Confederates won a resounding victory would the Union have negotiated a settlement ratifying secession? I know we can't say for certain but I wonder.

Would Lee have forced them all the way back to defend D.C.

The smartest thing was to whip them dam Yankees into oblivion on Virginia soil like we’d been doing 😃

Stand at Buford's statue on the Chambersburg Pike and envision seeing the Southern Army marching toward you and remembering all the times they have been the defenders and your comrades have charged their lines, dying in droves without dislodging them.

Walk Pickett's Charge, start from the staging area at the foot of the hill and go on up to the Angle. Time yourself, it took my wife and I 17 1/2 minutes. As you are walking, imagine that ridge in front of you full of Yankees shooting at you and your friends . Also look to your right, imagine that hill a mile or so that way has a Yankee artillery battery on it, firing solid shot along the lines of your comrades.

Also, stand at the Devil's Den and look up Little Round Top, imagine trying to climb it. And stand where the 20th Maine were on Little Round Top and imagine that you were the end of the line and your entire army depends on you holding that tiny piece of ground.


We've been to Gettysburg three times, it is always humbling.

Jubal Early could’ve walked into the city a year later if he’d been a day earlier

Sir I don’t doubt your expertise but it is my understanding that the Confederates were certainly surprised and disconcerted to see them there. They had planned a neat echelon attack wherein they would flank the left end of the Union like and roll it up.

That plan beginning to unravel from the outset given the last-minute Union occupation of Little Round top and the rough terrain at that end of the field.

If Sickles lost his entire command it was won only at an equivalent cost in Confederate casualties and, more importantly, lost momentum and time on the Confederate side (how many times did the Wheatfield change hands?). The time lost was absolutely critical, Longstreet not having initiated the Day 2 attack on Cemetery Ridge until 4pm.

250 men of the 1st Minnesota were sent in to plug a gap, and around 200 of those men were killed, wounded or captured. I believe that 80% casualty rate was the record loss by any one regiment in a single action on either side during that whole war, but several other units approached that, including I believe at least one Confederate regiment west of Gettysburg on Day 1. Catastrophic losses in an attack were not that unusual.

As for Sickles losing a leg, he wasn’t alone. A few Generals on both sides lost limbs during that conflict.

Barksdale should have been cut loose the same moment as hood

At approximately noon on July 3, 1863, Custer and his men heard enemy cannon fire: Stuart’s signal to Lee that he was ready for action.

Thus began the melee that was East Cavalry Field at Gettysburg. Much back and forth preceded Custer’s career-defining action. An hour or two into the battle, after many of his cavalrymen had been reduced to hand-to-hand infantry-style fighting, Custer ordered a charge of one of his regiments and led it into action himself, screaming one of the battle’s most famous lines: “Come on, you Wolverines!” Around three o’clock, Stuart mounted a final charge, which mowed down Union cavalry – until it ran into Custer’s Wolverines, who stood firm, with Custer wielding a sword at their head, and broke the Confederates’ last attack.

I have only been to the East Cavalry Field once. IIRC the rather flat topography there does not tell the story the way the ground at the battlefield proper does.

Brother, you said it. This country is still an amazing place. I’ve only been over a fraction of it, and could happily spend the rest of my days just toodling around in this region. Don’t need or want a passport; won’t ever subject myself to the indignities of air travel.

If you come, avoid the Peoples Republic of Maryland, my birthplace, and a great place to be from. The only reason to go back there now is to enjoy the wonders of the Atlantic Blue Crab, and Virginia does a tolerable job with those.

What I wrote in another thread a few months ago with one deletion:

We went there for the first time in April while on a long road trip. It was a truly touching experience. We stayed in town in an 1880s Airbnb for 3 nights, and we would have liked to have stayed longer. If you want to read every monument, you may want to stay for a month. We got a private guide at the battlefield visitor’s center who really was amazing and answered every question we could think of.

If you stay in town, you are right there. My wife did her daily runs through the battlefield. There are tons of cannon and monuments all over the place, including outside the park. In that regard, even the guides in the park can’t cover it all in 2-3 hours.

Note that there are some closures for restoration. The Little Round Top area was not accessible. The closures are listed on the park website. I suspect that there always will be some area under renovation.

One other nice thing was the ability to tour President Eisenhower’s retirement home which is just outside the battlefield. They have limited viewings, so you may want to pay attention. It was not bad in April, and the fall may not be bad, either.

While we were driving on U.S. 30 (the historic Lincoln Highway that also passes through my city), we drove past the Flight 93 Memorial. I really felt bad that we were not aware of it and were not in a position to stop. I don’t know if that would be too far out of reach for your trip.

There are many on 24HCF who can provide more detail than me. If you go, enjoy your trip!

[quote=Cheyenne] We got a private guide at the battlefield visitor’s center who really was amazing and answered every question we could think of. [quote]

We did the same thing on our visit a few years ago. I highly recommend doing this! Its worth every penny!

And for goodness sake wear tick spray! That Park is loaded with the little bloodsuckers

Same here - each visit turns up something new.

The Ranger tour is by far the "best" experience for a detailed discussion of the events, and locations.

The driving audio tour is a good runner-up option as well - if you need to take a break in the tour - you can and pick up where you left off. You won't get the interaction of the guide, but it will still give you a decent number of facts and thoughts on the events, and each day's highlights.