Author Topic: A short sojourn at Gettysburg.  (Read 5326 times)

Offline R9SCarry

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A short sojourn at Gettysburg.
« on: September 07, 2004, 06:05:06 PM »
I am going to post this on THR when it's back up but ... on reflection thought you guys might find it of some interest.  I'm not sure how many images per post this software is set up for so - will do it in bite size chunks!

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Last week, my wife and I took off on the bike for a trip over to Gettysburg .... something we wanted to do all this summer but also choosing good and reliable weather (and, avoiding Labor Day weekend!!).  We lucked out on that score, with perfect conditions.  Arrived latish Wednesday and stopped over, with all of Thursday free for exploration and then returned home late Friday morning.

I daresay some here have visited but equally many have not ... for most I expect, way too far from home.  It is tho one of those ''must visit'' places if at all possible ...... three days (July 1st, 2nd and 3rd in 1863) ..... within which timeframe thousands of lives were lost, in what was reckoned to be the most pivotal battle of the war, despite that dragging on a further two years more.  Forget here the politics and ''the cause'' ...... remember instead all the young blood that was spilled, countryman fighting countryman.

Let me share some of this visit .... primarily from a weapons standpoint, having taken a considerable number of photo's in the Visitor Center as well as touring the battlefields.  The displays are superb, exemplifying the amazing diversity of both rifles and handguns, many of which were bought from European sources as well as home produced.

It was also fascinating to see just how advanced was the artillery, with not only skillfully engineered cannon but also, a vast variety of shells, many fuzed.  It is not difficult to imagine the horrors on the battlefields - the carnage and losses.  It is estimated that some seven million bullets were fired in those three days!

Now - some pic's which I hope might be of interest to some.  One of the problems with items on display behind glass was reflections .. both of other lighting and - making things difficult for using flash too.  So, some pic's are far from ideal but still hopefully convey a flavor... I also will have to post in limited numbers due to posting restrictions on images per post.


This picture is one display of pistols and revolvers ..... everything from old single shot front stuffers to the more exotic cap and ball revo's.


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Just one cased display of long arms .. it included the not over popular Colt repeating carbine, the one using a revo cylinder.


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First of a few pic's showing some examples of revo's dug up .... unfortunately in pretty corroded condition.


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More of same tho, somewhat less damaged.


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The caption card says it all .....


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Chris - R9S
Guns don't kill people - people kill people.
R9 FAQ Site
NRA Life member and Certified Instructor.

Offline R9SCarry

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Re: A short sojourn at Gettysburg.
« Reply #1 on: September 07, 2004, 06:06:54 PM »
A nice Colt ... sorry focus not ideal.  Had to place camera against glass to cut out flash burn-out.


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Here is a fascinating piece ...... probably very collectible and worth a lot.


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A very personalized revo here ..... and with its provinence also I am sure, very valuable.


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A nice example of what many guys must have had in their equipment.


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Just one of many cannon muzzles ..... but interesting because of the stampings and thus manufacture info.  This one I guess was brought in later if the date anything to go by.  It has what appears to be the ''trigonal'' rifling.


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Chris - R9S
Guns don't kill people - people kill people.
R9 FAQ Site
NRA Life member and Certified Instructor.

Offline R9SCarry

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Re: A short sojourn at Gettysburg.
« Reply #2 on: September 07, 2004, 06:09:03 PM »
And finally for now .....

Here is a bronze example ... I find the quality of rifling quite remarkable.


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A rather beat-up selction of lead sabots ....


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Supposedly a very unusual event .. but here this bronze piece has blown .... quite close the muzzle.  I wonder if it had suffered from some form of obstruction.  The wall thickness as far as can be seen, looks quite thin.


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Just a few of the many patterns of shell that were on display.


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Finally in this selection .... a photograph of the PA Monument .  A superb piece of construction which was put together almost a century ago.


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I have a large selection of other pic's taken whilst touring the battlefields ... I will perhaps post one or two later on.

Did I happen to ever say - I am passionate about firearms!! :P
Chris - R9S
Guns don't kill people - people kill people.
R9 FAQ Site
NRA Life member and Certified Instructor.

Offline Brenden

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Re: A short sojourn at Gettysburg.
« Reply #3 on: September 07, 2004, 08:15:01 PM »
VERY NICE...Thank you for the great pics..

I want to make it to Gettysburg sometimne soon-have to let the kids get just a bit older..
Went to the Chickamagua (Not spelled right,I know) A very nice collection of arms there...
I respect all involved with these engagements...

Once again---Thanks for the pictures...
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Offline shelb

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Re: A short sojourn at Gettysburg.
« Reply #4 on: September 07, 2004, 09:01:49 PM »
Thank you for the pics.  I went there as a kid, a very hallowing experience.

Offline BillinPittsburgh

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Re: A short sojourn at Gettysburg.
« Reply #5 on: September 07, 2004, 10:36:34 PM »
The weapons of the Civil War was the basis for my 8th grade (1984) history fair project.  Hard for this 33 year old to imagine how much of an uproar such a project would cause 20 years later.

It was an absolutely fascinating time combining extremely rapid small arms development and the usually slowly evolving military doctrines.  16 shot lever action repeaters were developed during the same war when generals said that they'd put every man who could be proved to have fired more than 20 rounds in a battle in the guardhouse.

A common Union tactic early in the war was to form a "square" of standing men a few rows deep.  The outside row fired, then got out of the way (kneeling or going to the inside) for the next row to shoot while they reloaded.  By the time it was their turn to shoot again, they were already reloaded.  Imagine the effectiveness of fire that could have been maintained if repeaters were issued, and time spent reloading was instead spent aiming.

The Colt revolving rifle was never popular for a reason that would be obvious to today's shooters"  gas discharge from the barrel/cyinder gap too close to the shooter's face.

Machine guns were developed when small arms had actually advanced to the point where their range was, for a brief period of time, superior to that of artillery.  While only one machine gun achieved significant fame, there were actually four different machine guns put to use during that war.

The variety of ammunition used in both small arms and artillery is absolutely staggering.  At one point, even exploding bullets were used in small arms.  Union troops that had dumped their ammo because they were carrying uncomfortable amounts of weight sometimes heard the bullets exploding around them as the Confederate soldiers shot at them with the ammo the Union soldiers had dumped.

Union soldiers were required to polish their muskets to make them shiny.  In the fog, when Confederate soldiers couldn't see the Union soldiers, they would shoot at the light reflecting off the barrels.

The Civil War was also the war that finally - despite the lessons learned from our effective use of guerrila warfare during the Revolution - put to rest the idea that it was cowardly to fight from behind cover.
Gentleness can only be expected from the strong.  Ancient Chinese proverb.

Offline R9SCarry

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Re: A short sojourn at Gettysburg.
« Reply #6 on: September 07, 2004, 10:51:15 PM »
Bill ... thx for more fascinating info .... that trip has fired my enthusiasm to read up more now on all aspects.
Chris - R9S
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Offline RJ HEDLEY

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Re: A short sojourn at Gettysburg.
« Reply #7 on: September 08, 2004, 08:23:46 AM »
Thanks for a very good thread..  I worked in York,Pa for three years and grew very fond of that State and its people.[lots of them anyway  :D]
RJ=


 
 

Offline Richard S

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Re: A short sojourn at Gettysburg.
« Reply #8 on: September 08, 2004, 08:47:41 PM »
Chris:

Thank you for the wonderful photographs.  I am an unapologetic Civil War "Buff" and always attempt to make time to visit every battlefield I pass.  One of the most moving, after Gettysburg, is Antietam in western Maryland.  If you have not seen it, I urge you to do so.  The museum is not as extensive as that at Gettysburg, but to walk the battlefield knowing what happened there is a humbling experience.  It would be a good three-day bike trip through beautiful country.

Your posting about your trip to the Gettysburg battlefield caused me to read once again what I consider to be one of the finest speeches and most sublime works of literature in the English language -- Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.  Here it is:


"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."


(1963-1967) "GO ARMY!"

Offline R9SCarry

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Re: A short sojourn at Gettysburg.
« Reply #9 on: September 08, 2004, 08:54:04 PM »
Richard .. I am even more ''hooked'' now and yes ... Antietam (Sharpsburg IIRC) is on the agenda for another trip.  This has inspired me to want to do a lot more reading.

My most humbling moment last week was perhaps in the Wheatfield ... a small place ... but so drenched in blood .. humbling is a good word.

The address ... well .... it is a famous and moving piece for sure ... part of which I captured from one of the monuments.


Chris - R9S
Guns don't kill people - people kill people.
R9 FAQ Site
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Offline Richard S

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Re: A short sojourn at Gettysburg.
« Reply #10 on: September 08, 2004, 09:23:04 PM »
Chris:

You and that digital camera of yours could well change the world for the better.

(It is always inspiring to read Lincoln 's words  -- especially when they are engraved in stone.)

RS
(1963-1967) "GO ARMY!"