June 13-16, 2008 Gettysburg/Antietam/Harpers Ferry

After a couple years of "talking about it", Lee and his boyhood best friend Tom Palen finally got together for a trip. Tom is a recently retired high school government & history teacher from Michigan and a very knowledgeable Civil War buff. The itinerary included Gettysburg PA, Antietam MD and Harper's Ferry WV - about 270 mi full circle. Artillery Ridge Campground in Gettysburg is a good choice, being 1/2 mile from the new museum & visitor center. Other than supporting opposing presidential candidates and Tom's obsession with his carb intake, the trip was greatly enjoyed by both of them!

Tom at the entrance to the new museum & visitor center. So new, the grass hasn't come up yet!

The new Gettysburg Visitor's Center just opened in the spring of '08. It's an awesome building with great displays. Plan on about 4-5 hours to read & see all that it offers.

Here's how a major newspaper of the day described Lincoln's Gettysburg Address shortly after it was delivered.......Time has a way of changing things, doesn't it?

Lee with Gen. James Longstreet, CSA. One of Robert E. Lee's most valued leaders. Reluctant but loyal in carrying out Lee's orders for the ill-fated Pickett's Charge, giving the victory to the North.........The beginning of the end for the CSA, although the war would last two more years.

Antietam National Battlefield, Sharpsburg MD, about 60 miles from Gettysburg PA. Site of the highest single-day casualty count in the Civil War - after 12 hours of fighting, over 23,000 troops killed, wounded or missing. (Bloody Lane is in lower left corner)

The Sunken Road, in the middle of the battlefield, became a Confederate defensive position.

After being overtaken by Union troops, it became known as Bloody Lane.

Bloody Lane as it looked shortly after the battle. Books say "bodies stacked like cordwood".

Harper's Ferry WV......In the 1800's, a busy industrial town at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenendoah Rivers...Site of John Brown's raid on the U.S. Armory in hopes of starting a slave rebellion. Today, the whole town is a national monument. We camped at Brunswick MD, about 6 miles away and biked into Harper's Ferry on the C&O Canal towpath........