Like last week, our field trip today was in our own backyard; I knew we would be in for a busy day because the second day of battle at Gettysburg was chock full of surprises!  Our tour guide for today was John Archer, a Licensed Battlefield Guide, as well as the descendent of Brigadier General James Archer, the first officer to be captured from Lee's Army of Northern Virginia (sorry John!).  Despite that background, I knew John would not lead us astray, though it seems our good luck with the weather was about to run out.  Though unusually warm for October, it was an incredibly cloudy day, and we were followed by a misty drizzle throughout our trip.  Despite the rain cloud that followed us, we still managed to have a heck of a time!

Once again, the most important aspect of our field trips was understanding the land and how it was used during the battle.  We spent a lot of time discussing how the outcome of the battle was affected by the land in Gettysburg, especially at East Cemetery Hill.  However, the battle is also affected by the crazy generals who fight for the land, aka Dan Sickles.  We have heard a lot about Major General Daniel Sickles since the very first week of the semester, and it has finally become time to talk about his story.  What makes Sickles so infamous was his decision to defy orders and move his line of battle to a different place on Day 2; the result of this move caused the bloody fighting of the Wheatfield and Peach Orchard.  If this were not bad enough, our good friend Sickles basically lost his leg by an artillery shot, and left the field on a stretcher with a jauntily cocked hat, a nice big cigar, and a hearty wave to his men; he had his leg removed from the field, and brought it home with him, as well as his skewed version of the battle (obviously, the Gettysburg Semester is attracted to characters!).  We could not resist a tribute to Sickles and his infamous leg.
After lunch, we continued our tour of the points of interest for Day 2.  One of those places was Little Round Top and Devil's Den.  The fighting here was brutal, but valiant, and it was impossible to talk about the fighting without our resident Maine-er, Jessie, waving her flags in triumph for her state and statesmen who fought here (especially the man, the myth, the legend- Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain).  We moved from Little Round Top back to East Cemetery Hill, and ended our tour on the steps of the US Regulars Monument.  Despite the weather, we had a great time understanding Day 2 at Gettysburg; hopefully we'll be back to sunshine and clear skies for our last day studying the battle of Gettysburg next week.

2007 Battlefield Blog Home | Orientation | Harpers Ferry | Valley Campaign | Manassas | Antietam
Gettysburg Day One | Gettysburg Day Two | Gettysburg Day Three | Cold Harbor, Petersburg & Five Forks
Wilderness & Spotsylvania | Appomattox | Washington