Gettysburg

In 2004, I went on a trip encompassing Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky.  One of the places we stopped was Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  I am not a big history buff and, although I enjoyed watching The Civil War when it first aired on PBS, I did not remember much about Gettysburg except for the Gettysburg Address.  Because we were only there for a day, we just saw a
few specific sights – the Gettysburg National Cemetery, the Pennsylvania State Memorial, and the Eternal Light Peace Memorial – as we walked and drove around the area.  I was happy to have been there but, to me at the time, it was just one of the spots we saw on the way.  Unfortunately, the photo with this post was the only one I took while I was there – it was pretty rainy and back then I had a camera that used film.

Fast forward 14 years…

I had seen Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels on many reading lists and always meant to read it.  I knew generally that it had to do with the Civil War and that it was supposed to be good, but never made the walk to the shelves.  Early in April, I decided it was time.  It tells the story of the battle at Gettysburg from both the Union and Confederate sides, through the perspectives of various leaders.  In his “To the Reader,” Shaara explains that he “avoided historical opinions” and went back “primarily to the words of the men themselves, their letters and other documents.”  I could not put it down.

Now, I cannot wait to be able to go back to Gettysburg and see all the places mentioned in the book!  All of a sudden, the names I remember seeing have meaning – Little Round Top, the Peach Orchard, Devil’s Den.  I understand the reasons why those places are important and will pay a lot more attention to the high ground versus the low ground.  Although it’s a cliché, The Killer Angels really brought history to life for me.

Besides learning about the battle itself, there were two parts of the story I was interested in.  One, that “Taps” began as a bugle call by Dan Butterfield signaling rest for the night.  The other was Robert E. Lee’s illness.  Shaara often mentions that Lee is not feeling himself and has some type of heart ailment.  I wanted to know more about his health and how that affected him.  This article told me all about his illness, along with cardiac health knowledge at the time.  I like reading about medical stuff so that was right up my alley.

If you are interested in knowing more about Gettysburg, I definitely recommend reading The Killer
Angels.  The Mercer County Library System has the book available in multiple formats – book, large print, book-on-CD, audio and ebook through eLibraryNJ.  We also have the movie Gettysburg, which was based on the novel, as a DVD and Blu-ray.

If you’d like to go to Gettysburg yourself, take a look at these resources:

National Park Service’s site for Gettysburg National Military Park

Gettysburg Foundation Museum and Visitor Center

hoopla – search “Gettysburg” for numerous books, music and video on the subject.

Look in our catalog for “Gettysburg guidebooks” for visiting information.  In addition, many general guidebooks for Pennsylvania travel include a section on Gettysburg.

A book we have had at the Hopewell Branch for many years is another good one to check out – Gettysburg: The Story Behind the Scenery by William C. Davis.  There are a lot of photographs and easy-to-read text so you can quickly get an overview of the battle and history of the park.

- Andrea, Hopewell Branch