Battle of Gettysburg FAQ’s
August 20, 2014When you are dealing with such rich historical series of events like the Battle of Gettysburg, there may be some questions that pop up as you learn more about this fascinating junction in our nation’s history. Our tour guides go through a rigorous testing process that allows them to answer just about anything you might want to know. In speaking with them and talking with people who are planning on a visit, we’ve put together a list of some of the most common questions we get each day shed some light on this famous battleground.
- Where is the Gettysburg Battlefield?
- The Gettysburg Battlefield is located in Adams County, Pennsylvania, and covers areas around and throughout the borough of Gettysburg.
- How large is the National Park at Gettysburg?
- The National Park at Gettysburg covers roughly 6000 acres!
- How many monuments are on the Gettysburg Battlefield?
- There are a wide range of monuments on the Gettysburg Battlefield and we encourage you to see them all! Offering around 1328 monuments to see, you may need more than a one day trip to see them all.
- Who put the monuments on the Gettysburg Battlefield?
- Many of the monuments were placed by the vet
erans themselves or the states from which they came. The National Park Service and Gettysburg National Military Park maintains them all.
- Many of the monuments were placed by the vet
- Was there fighting in the town of Gettysburg?
- There was some fighting in the streets of Gettysburg. Fortunately there was only one civilian casualty during the three days of battle. Unfortunately it was a young girl who was killed when a stray bullet came through two doors and struck her in the back killing her instantly. You can learn more about Jennie Wade and the Jennie Wade house on its history page here.
- Are there any homes or buildings that were here during the time of the battle?
- There are numerous homes and buildings that were here during the battle, and some still bear the scars from the fierce fighting that occurred. You can identify these homes or buildings by locating the small plaque between the doors and windows of the building that all say, “Civil War Building 1863.”
We hope this list covers one or more of the questions you may have had about the Battle of Gettysburg, but also understand you may have many more. If you’d like to see them covered in a future blog or want to reach out and find out for yourself, feel free to use our contact page and we’ll be happy to answer them for you!
Where Are The Gettysburg Battlefield Soldiers Buried?
July 16, 2014Are you curious, as many of our guests have been here at Gettysburg Battlefield Bus Tours, where the soldiers who fought in the Battle of Gettysburg are buried? Fortunately you won’t have to search any further, as today’s blog will tell you exactly where you can find both the Union and Confederate soldiers burial sites, and then all you’ll have to do is book a visit here to Gettysburg to see them!
Union Soldiers –
Most of the Union dead are buried in the Soldiers’ National Cemetery, which is located between Baltimore Street and Taneytown Road here in Gettysburg. It is right beside the local town cemetery and features the Soldiers National Monument in the center of it all. The Veteran’s Administration actually offers a database of burials that you can search by gravesite location, as well as name, date of birth, and date of death.
Confederate Soldiers –
The southern soldiers were actually removed from the battlefield roughly nine years after the battle and taken to southern cemeteries with specific locales set aside for the Gettysburg campaign casualties.
If you have a specific question you’d like answered, be sure to let us know in the comments, or leave us a message on our social media channels that you can find at the bottom of this page. We’re more than happy to help, and look forward to your visit!
Union Brig. General Alexander Schimmelfennig
July 15, 2014
History is to be found everywhere in the town of Gettysburg. In addition to the monuments, plaques & cannons, useful tools called “Wayside Markers” are also available for the serious or casual student of the battle. A great deal of valuable insight may be obtained by paying careful attention to these markers as you visit the area.
On such marker can be found at the former home of Henry & Catherine Garlach – the address being 319 Baltimore Street.
This marker relates the story of Union Brig. General Alexander Schimmelfennig who, on July 1, 1863, found himself wounded & riding through the town desperately trying to avoid capture (or worse) by the advancing Confederates.
With his horse shot from underneath him, General Schimmelfennig realized that he would not make it back to the Union lines. He quickly sought shelter under a drainage ditch cover behind the Garlach home.
Under cover of darkness the General moved out from the cover & squeezed himself between a wood pile & a hog swill barrel. Mrs. Garlach discovered him while feeding the hogs & managed to discreetly supply him with food & water during his concealment.
General Schimmelfennig was not able to return to his men until the last of the Confederate sharpshooters left the town on July 4th.
The George Spangler Farm Civil War Hospital Site
July 9, 2014Friday, June 06, 2014 to Sunday, August 10, 2014
Time: 10:00am-2:00pm
Educational Event
The George Spangler Farm Civil War Hospital Site is one of the most intact Civil War field hospitals used during the battle of Gettysburg. During and after the battle, the Spangler family’s homestead was occupied by the Union army’s Eleventh Corps who used the buildings and fields as a hospital for some 1,900 wounded Union and Confederate soldiers.
Free admission and shuttle tickets are available at the Ticketing Counter inside Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitor Center. The site is accessible by shuttle only. Tickets may only be obtained the day of your visit to the Spangler Farm.
Program Schedule
An Army Field Hospital: The George Spangler Farm
11am-Noon
Join a National Park Service Ranger at the George Spangler Farm and discover the field hospital where over 1,900 soldiers wounded in the battle of Gettysburg were cared for.
Arts and Trades of the Past
10:15-10:45am
12:15-12:45pm
Join living historians demonstrating trades of the period and get a glimpse at civilian life at the farm.
History Comes to Life: War Reaches the Homefront
1-1:30pm
View a dramatic ensemble cast of soldiers and civilians who witnessed the battle of Gettysburg and the George Spangler Farm’s transformation from home to hospital.
Interactive History Encampments
10am-2pm
Mingle with living historians in authentic camps portraying the civilian experience, civilian aide societies, Civil War field medicine and Union artillery.
Penelope
June 23, 2014
Located on Baltimore Street in front of what was once the office of “The Gettysburg Compiler” the Democratic town newspaper, is a half buried cannon affectionately known as “Penelope”.
A relic from the War of 1812 & prior to 1855 this gun stood upright & ready for action.
Henry Stahle the outspoken publisher of the “Compiler” would have this cannon fired in celebration after every Democratic election victory.
In 1855, however, the gun was overloaded with powder & the barrel exploded upon firing. Rather than toss poor old “Penelope” on the trash pile, Mr. Stahle elected to have her buried in front of his office for all the world to see.
She was there during the Battle of Gettysburg & soldiers on both sides had to run around this strange sight. It makes you wonder what possibly could have gone through their minds as they tried to figure out the story behind this unique piece of town history.
Who is Jennie Wade?
May 28, 2014Born Mary Virginia “Jennie” Wade, Jennie Wade worked as a seamstress with her mother during the Civil War era. Because of the pending war, Jennie, along with her brother and neighbor boy left their home on Breckenridge Street to go to her sisters as she felt it would be safer, and her mother was already there helping with her sister Georgia’s newborn.
Unfortunately this turned out to be a horrible mistake, as the Confederate forces moved into Gettysburg on July 1, 1863. Jennie’s family helped the Union soldiers by providing bread and water, and on a fateful July 3rd morning Jennie had just begun kneading a new batch of dough when she was hit by a Confederate soldier’s bullet which had pierced the house. The round traveled through Jennie’s shoulder and heart, and came to rest in her corset.
At just 20 years old, Jennie Wade became the only civilian casualty killed during the Battle of Gettysburg.
Learn more about Jennie Wade and the Jennie Wade House via the button at the top of the page, or in our “Quick Links” section to the left.
Peggy Noel
April 25, 2014Traveling a few miles out of Gettysburg to the West on Fairfield Road you cross a small bridge over Marsh Creek. The slow moving water winds slowly off to the left along Gettysburg Campground creating a rather picturesque scene. This quiet area, however, holds a rather tragic tale… the tale of Peggy Noel, that has been told and retold for many years, going back to the days before the Civil War.
According to the story, a young Gettysburg woman was traveling the road on a dark, snowy night. Peggy Noel was returning home from a trip to Fairfield and was running late. To make up for lost time, the coachman was going too fast for the poor conditions that evening. As they approached the bridge, the horses tripped and fell to the muddy roadway. The driver was thrown to the side of the road. He looked back in horror to see the coach topple and the doors spring open. Peggy Noel was thrown from her coach. She became entangled in the large spoked rear wheel and to the driver’s horror he saw her decapitated. The head of the young woman rolled across the bridge eventually falling into the water below.
For days they searched the banks of the creek to no avail. Eventually Peggy went to the grave headless. Rumor tells us that the family did not mark the grave. They couldn’t bear the thought of visiting a site of such horror, a grave with a headless corpse. There is a rock out on the battlefield just north of Devil’s Den with the letters P. Noel carved into it. To this day no one knows when it was put there or who did it. Could it be the final resting-place of Peggy Noel?
Along the banks of Marsh Creek, South of Fairfield Road, stories persist of a headless woman wading through the waters. She appears to be searching for something. Could Peggy still be searching for her head, hoping to be again complete!
I had read this story years ago in a local ghost storybook and filed it away in my mind. Imagine my surprise in the summer of 2002, when a family of 4 (Mom, Dad, son of about 17 and daughter, maybe 13), approached me after a Baltimore Street ghost tour. The son acted as the spokesman for the group. He said that he had a silly question for me about a ghost story. I told him that the only silly questions are those that don’t get asked and I’d be happy to hear his. That is when he surprised me by saying that the family had arrived in Gettysburg a few days earlier and had taken some historical tours but my tour was their first adventure into the spirit world. As he spoke, I could see that the mother was very uncomfortable with the whole situation. I then found out why. He went on to ask if I knew stories concerning a headless woman in the vicinity of Gettysburg Campground out on Fairfield Road. As I started to search the recesses in my mind, I asked out of curiosity, Why?
It seems on that very morning, his mother had awakened just before dawn. They were staying at a campsite along Marsh Creek just off Fairfield Road. The mother decided to go out in the fresh morning air and walk to the restrooms. Rather than return directly to the camper, she took a longer way back, walking along the edge of the creek in the morning air.
It wasn’t long after that, the mother awakened the rest of the family as she came screaming and crying into the camper. It took them 15-20 minutes to calm her down to the point that she could tell her tale.
(To be Continued)
Regimental Flank Markers
March 13, 2014
Located throughout the battlefield and often mistaken for graves, these small, rectangular stones are known as regimental flank markers. They are placed on either side of monuments or cannons and note the extreme ends of particular regiments or batteries. Engraved with the regimental/battery name and number and bearing the letter R or L (or sometimes RF or LF), these markers will assist the visitor to visualize the line that was formed by that unit. Fighting, in lines, shoulder to shoulder these stones tell you how far the line stretched and which direction the men were facing. Quite frequently the stones for different units will be found right next to each other on the field. For example, the right flank marker for one unit will stand directly next to the left flank marker of its neighbor in line helping one better grasp the infantry and artillery tactics of the 19th Century.
Castle at Little Round Top
September 10, 2013
The “castle” on Little Round Top is always a favorite of visitors to the battlefield. Dedicated on July 3, 1893 at a cost of almost $11,000.00 it is without question the largest & most expensive regimental monument on the field.
The memorial represents the 44th New York & (2) companies from the 12th New York Infantry Regiments & as is the case with most of the monuments the castle has a story to tell – the dimensions of the monument were purposely designed to reflect the numeric designations of the units it represents. The tower is 44 feet high & the interior chamber is 12 feet square.
There is an observation deck which can be reached by climbing a circular staircase inside.
Bronze plaques found inside the chamber contain a complete muster roll for each company of the regiment.
This memorial was designed by Union General Daniel Butterfield who also adapted the music for “Taps” for his Brigade (the Third), First Division, Fifth Army Corps, Army of the Potomac in July, 1862.
The 44th New York was raised as a memorial to Ephraim Elmer Ellsworth who was the first Union officer killed during the war.
1st Delaware Monument
August 16, 2013
The State of Delaware supplied two regiments for the Union at the Battle of Gettysburg. One of these, the 1st Delaware, had the opportunity to spearhead a counter-charge on July 3rd as the the attack of General Pickett faltered at the wall these men were defending. This counter-assault by the men from Delaware resulted in the capture of several Confederate battle flags & many prisoners. The Battle of Gettysburg was to cost this unit 77 casualties & at battle’s end they were led by a lieutenant who was the highest ranking officer left. Their memorial was dedicated on June 10, 1886 & may be found on Hancock Avenue at the wall over which they charged that July day 150 years ago.