Results tagged “Gettysburg battlefield” from Cannonball

The York Civil War Round Table will feature James A. Hessler at its monthly meeting on October 21, 2009. The topic of the evening will be "Sickles At Gettysburg: The Controversial Civil War General Who Committed Murder, Abandoned Little Round Top, and Declared Himself the Hero of Gettysburg."

No individual who fought at Gettysburg was more controversial, both personally and professionally, than Major General Daniel E. Sickles. By 1863, Sickles was notorious as a disgraced former Congressman who murdered his wife's lover on the streets of Washington and used America's first temporary insanity defense to escape justice. With his political career in ruins, Sickles used his connections with President Lincoln to obtain a prominent command in the Army of the Potomac's Third Corps despite having no military experience. At Gettysburg, he disobeyed orders in one of the most controversial decisions in military history.

Licensed Battlefield Guide James Hessler has written the first balanced, deeply researched, and eminently readable biography of this colorful and wholly unique American icon. Civil War enthusiasts who want to understand General Sickles' tarnished life, Gettysburg's battlefield strategies, the in-fighting within the Army of the Potomac, and the development of today's National Park will find " Sickles at Gettysburg" a must read.

James A. Hessler works in financial services for Bill Me Later, Inc., is a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg National Military Park, and has taught Sickles and Gettysburg-related courses at college level. He has published Civil War-related articles, and speaks regularly at Civil War Round Tables. A native of Buffalo, NY, Jim resides in Gettysburg with his wife and children.

The meeting will be held at 7:00 PM on Wednesday evening in the auditorium of the York County Heritage Trust at 250 E. Market Street in downtown York, Pennsylvania. There is no charge for admission and the public is welcome ! Parking is also free.

Dr. Charlie Fennell of Harrisburg Area Community College is an adjunct faculty member at the Gettysburg Campus, as well as a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg National Military Park. An entertaining and knowledgeable speaker and tour guide, Charlie led a couple dozen members of the York (Pa.) Civil War Round Table on a detailed battle walk of the positions held by Iverson's Brigade during the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Here are some photos taken by Jackie Bailey of the York CWRT.

Charlie Fennell poses by a monument on Culp's Hill at Gettysburg National Military Park. A professor at Harrisburg Area Community College in Gettysburg, Dr. Fennell is one of the recognized experts on that portion of the Battle of Gettysburg. A long-time friend of the York Civil War Round Table, he will lead a battle walk / field study on September 19.

Photo from Gettysburg Daily, the most informative Gettysburg blog currently on the Internet.

The York CWRT has scheduled a battlefield walk at Gettysburg National Military Park with Dr. Charles C. Fennell, Jr. for Saturday, September 19, 2009, at 1 p.m. The walk will be approximately 2 hours and it will cover the movements of Iverson's Brigade on Oak Ridge on July 1, 1863. The cost is $10.00 and is due the day of the walk.

Meet at the Eternal Light Peace Memorial at 12:45 p.m. Please dress for the weather as we will go rain or shine ( unless it is a deluge) and wear long pants or spray for ticks.

The York CWRT welcomes members of other round tables to join them for this battlefield walk.

There are more than 1,000 books that have been written on the Battle of Gettysburg, the majority (including my three) in the past 20-30 years. Yet, there remains a strong market for new material on the battle and campaign, or for fresh, creative approaches to present and interpret well known, time honored material. Pennsylvania Civil War authors J. David Petruzzi and Steven Stanley have succeeded on both counts with their excellent new book, The Complete Gettysburg Guide.

Blending some of the best maps and color graphics ever seen in a Gettysburg battlefield guidebook with crisp, concise and enjoyable text, Stanley and Petruzzi have generated what will surely come to be regarded as the ultimate Gettysburg overview and guide. Already scores of battlefield trampers have used this book to help them interpret what happened on the hallowed grounds of the Gettysburg National Military Park, as well as some obscure sites outside the park limits that the authors include in their well crafted series of automobile tours of the area.

Here is the schedule for the upcoming series of anniversary battlewalks at Gettysburg, which are led by park rangers and generally attract large crowds. Past walks are often shown on Pennsylvania Cable Network, which also sells videos of selected tours. My sons and I have taken advantage of many of these FREE guided tours over the past eight years.

July 1, 2009 at 10:00 a.m.
The Attack and Defense of Oak Ridge
After the initial Confederate thrust toward Gettysburg was repulsed on the late morning of July 1, the battle escalated as both armies brought more troops onto the field, lengthening their respective battle lines. Sometime around noon Maj. Gen. Robert Rodes's Confederate Division arrived from the north and quickly occupied Oak Hill, a strategic height northwest of town. Rodes deployed his troops and soon after launched them against the right flank of the Union First Corps located on Oak Ridge. The resulting action was confused and bloody, as the outnumbered Union defenders tenaciously held their ground against repeated Confederate attacks from the north, northwest and west. Join Park Ranger Eric Campbell as he examines this chaotic struggle from the perspective of both the advancing Confederates and the Union defenders.
Meet at the Eternal Light Peace Memorial, Auto Tour Stop 2. Additional parking is available along the right side of North Confederate Avenue, beyond the Eternal Light Peace Memorial parking lot, or along Buford Avenue, south of the Mummasburg Road. Note: Please park your vehicle on the right side of the road, but with all wheels on the pavement.

The old Gettysburg Visitors Center / Rosensteel Museum has been demolished and clean up efforts are now underway. Here are a couple of photographs I took today when my grandson and I drove past the site after visiting the annual History Meets the Arts festival.

During the early 1950s, Curvin Heiss and his family lived on East Philadelphia Street in downtown York, Pennsylvania. He and his young son Curvin, Hr. spent hours creating and painting thousands of 54mm toy soldiers, which, after they moved to Gettysburg and purchased the historic Dobbin House, became part of a tourist attraction that remained popular in the late 50s through the early 1970s. Heiss sold the building and the diorama a decade after opening it to the public.

Today, the old Dobbin House is one of my favorite restaurants in Gettysburg.

Here is a link to a couple posts on my Charge! wargaming and diorama blog that I maintain in parallel to this Cannonball blog.