While the syllabus said the first battlefield visit was Harper's Ferry, we could not resist the temptation to take a school funded trip to the Union League in Philadelphia. Dr. Guelzo was hosting a fundraiser for Civil War Era Studies at the League, and Ashley, Anna, Bethany, and I volunteered to represent the Gettysburg Semester, along with six students from the Civil War Era Studies department. Cramming ten Civil War buffs into a van seemed like a good decision at the time, but after three hours on the road, we were not so sure. Thankfully, Anna didn't put on her hoop skirt until we got there. |
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| The Union League is situated in downtown Philadelphia, where it is dwarfed in size by its neighboring buildings. However, the architecture of the place trumped everything else around. Our jaws collectively hit the floor when we saw some of the decorations on the wall. Sadly, our many plans to bring General Webb's headquarters flag from the Battle of Gettysburg back to the Appleford with us proved to be unyielding. The fundraiser was held in the League's Lincoln Room, featuring a massive statue of the man himself. It was quite a sight to behold. The statue would have never fit in the van, so there was no discussion of bringing that home with us. The archivist of the League brought out several pieces from their collection, including one of twenty two copies of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Abraham Lincoln. I had no choice but to get my picture taken with that one (and I'm still bragging about it). A few of the guys got to see the Archive's collection, including a rough draft of Lee's Final Orders and a bullet from Colonel Mulholland's body. However, I passed up the chance to go for fear of not being there for my speech. |
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300 North Washington Street · Gettysburg, PA 17325