Out of the Fray

The 150-year celebration of the Battle of Gettysburg is in high gear this weekend, with many thousands of visitors enjoying the town, the park, and battle reenactments.  But as a year-round resident of Gettysburg, I've been lying low, staying close to home to avoid the intense downtown traffic.  Too, Gettysburg and its battlefields are mine all year long, so I can stand aside to allow room for those whose time here is brief. However, that also means I've no current image to share with you.  Happily, I found  an image  last evening, prompting today's posting, of a brief conversation I had (last year in April)  with a couple reenactors  at Little Round Top.   You'll find more details about this in my April 3, 2013 post, but let me add a small detail about that exchange here.

In April 2012, I was much less informed about the battle than I am today (though I remain far from knowledgeable), and the only topic I could raise for discussion was that of Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamblerlain, whose courageous command and battle tactics kept the Union's left flank from collapsing under waves of Confederate troops.  I had learned about this from the movie Gettysburg (1993) and from reading the book on which it is based, The Killer Angels (by Michael Shaara). The reenactors, however, were quick to point out that Chamberlain was not the only hero of that battle and  informed me of the parts played by others, like Brigadier General Stephen Weed (see my April 10, 2013 post).  Now that I'm a bit more informed, perhaps I'll meet these gentleman sometime again to carry on the discussion.

Until next time . . .
Georgia Anne