It was on the rolling green hills just north of the border between Pennsylvania and Maryland, and on the streets of the tiny town of Gettysburg that in 1863 the Confederate Army lost to Union soldiers in the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War. Today, this 20,000-acre battlefield continues to draw visitors on holidays in Pennsylvania to its valleys and hills, beckoning them to pause for a moment before the monuments and cemeteries.
This park surrounds the little town of Gettysburg, with its abundance of tiny privately owned museums displaying collections of uniform, firearms and other memorabilia from those dark days of war. At this national military park and within Gettysburg’s twenty museums, visitors can attempt to recapture the mood of those momentous days. You can also view the different battlefields including Devil’s Den, Big Round Top and Little Round Top. A tour of Gettysburg during the 3-day re-enactment held each July will have you joined by 350,000 people descending on the town. Any plans to visit at this time would require making hotel reservations months in advance, as well as dinner reservations before arrival. It’s advisable to arrive before the re-enactment, have a good look around, go on a tour and gain some historical perspective.
