One of my first times to the Gettysburg Battlefield was during the 150th Anniversary of the battle. Any anniversary is significant on the battlefield and around town because it was a turning point of the Union turning the tide against the Confederacy. In the past, the two big anniversaries that soldiers celebrated and returned to Gettysburg was the 25th anniversary (1888) and the 50th anniversary in 1938. Most, if not all, of the soldiers that fought in the battle of Gettysburg died in the 1940s. Their families stories were passed on to their children and their ancestors.
Anniversaries today are significant and television stations monitor and tell the story of the battle of Gettysburg first hand with visitors and re-enactors that keep the battle alive. Some of the years bring in television stations to film Pickett’s Charge or to have live streaming video of the ranger walks that are presented for the anniversaries. The busiest times around town are during late June and early July. Usually anniversaries that end in a zero or a five are busier than the others.
During the 150th Anniversary, the original reason that many visitors arrived was that the National Park Service allowed hundreds of re-enactors to walk across Pickett’s Charge with hundreds of onlookers. Here are some of my pictures that I was able to take back in 2013.
Union regiments doing a firing re-enactment with Confederate skirmishers on the lawns of the Lutheran Seminary on the morning of July 1st. There was also a few cannons here that were used in the re-enactment.
