One-tank road trips: September 2008 Archives

The entrance way to the new multi-million dollar Visitors Center at the Gettysburg National Military Park was lined with hundreds of small American flags.

Background post - Restored Gettysburg Cyclorama to Reopen.

My oldest son and grandson spent Saturday afternoon, September 27, with me in Gettysburg at the new Gettysburg Visitors Center. We got tickets from the 3:15 showing of the "A New Birth of Freedom" movie (featuring the voices of Morgan Freeman and Sam Waterston, among others) and the restored Cyclorama. We took a few photographs to share with Cannonball readers.

Author, editor and Licensed Battlefield Guide, Diana Loski, will speak to the Lancaster Civil War Round Table about the life and military career of Confederate General William Dorsey Pender at 7:00pm on Thursday, October 9th.

William Dorsey Pender was one of the youngest, and most promising, generals fighting for the Confederacy in the American Civil War. Pender commanded a division of the 3rd Corps under A.P. Hill at Gettysburg where he received shrapnel in his leg. His leg was amputated but he died on July 18, 1863.

After an expensive renovation, the Gettysburg Cyclorama will be reopened for public viewing in its new custom-engineering theater within the new Gettysburg Visitors Center at Gettysburg National Military Park. I plan to see it in a couple of weeks, but don't plan to fight the crowds this Saturday (I will be at Dutch Wonderland with my grandson instead).

Many of you may not be aware that this particular painting is one of four very similar Gettysburg Cyclorama paintings done by the same overall artist and his team of assistants. There are also other Civil War cycloramas that were created in the same time period, including one depicting the Battle of Atlanta.

The replanted Peach Orchard as seen from across the tree-lined swale on the George Rose farm at Gettysburg.

A few years ago, the National Park Service had all the trees cut down in the historic Sherfy Peach Orchard along Emmitsburg Road in the Gettysburg National Military Park. They applied nutrients to the soil and allowed the field to lay fallow for a couple of years before replanting fresh saplings. They also dramatically expanded the area covered by peach trees to more closely resemble the dimensions of the 1863 peach orchard that was defended by elements of Daniel Sickles' III Corps of the Union Army of the Potomac. The trees are maturing well, and nearly all have survived the Pennsylvania winter and the spring rains. In addition, the NPS has replanted nearly a dozen other historic orchards, including several along Emmitsburg Road (such as the Rose Farm just south of the Peach Orchard). This is part of the overall battlefield rehabilitation project that has drawn so much praise and criticism, depending upon one's environmental versus historical preservation mindset).

Entrances to the new Gettysburg Visitors Center are now framed by wildflowers, making a colorful late summer scenic.

I spend most of a cloudy Saturday in Gettysburg, first stopping by several borough bookstores and souvenir shops to inscribe newly restocked supplies of my three human interest stories books. I then had a formal book signing at the Museum Gift Shop of the new Gettysburg Visitors Center. We sold 57 copies in a little more than four hours on a day when attendance was considerably lower than in the prime summer tourist season, so I was quite pleased with the results.

I took a few photos of the day to share...

The Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Civil War Round Table is, once again, pleased to welcome historian and actor Patrick Falci to our Thursday, September 18, 2008 program., which will be held at 7:00 PM at the Lititz Public Library on Thursday, September 18th. Lancaster Civil War Round Table is free and open to the public. Anyone with an interest in the Civil War is welcome!

Come out and enjoy an evening with Patrick Falci! Registration for this free event is suggested by emailing your name, phone number and number attending to srihn@lititzlibrary.org or call the library at 626-2255. For more information, contact Micky Kraft at 392-4976, email lancastercivilwarroundtable@gmail.com.