Harrisburg/Gettysburg: High Tide
What began as an ambitious undertaking in the wake of another crushing Confederate victory ended with Southern generals pondering what might have been.
The time seemed right—at least to General Robert E. Lee, commander of the vaunted Army of Northern Virginia. He and his trusted corps commanders had just engineered a stunning rout of Major General Joe Hooker’s Army of the Potomac in the Battle of Chancellorsville (May 1–4, 1863).
That Union Army was on its heels, Lee felt, and surely ill prepared for a massive counterthrust. Further, a strike into Pennsylvania might loosen Major General Ulysses S. Grant’s grip on Vicksburg, Mississippi, where Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton’s besieged Confederate Army was on it last legs.
The potentially spectacular possibilities did not end there. An invasion of the North, Lee believed, would secure badly needed recruits from Maryland; possibly frighten Northern leaders into peace talks; and, most of all, present an opportunity to crush a Yankee army on its turf, and win European recognition for the South. Lee’s indefatigable army was on a high, and eager to take the battle to the enemy. “Like the rest of the army generally, nothing gave me much concern so long as I knew Gen. Lee was in command,” Edward Porter Alexander, Lee’s fine artilleryman, wrote after the war. “I am sure there can never have been an army with more supreme confidence in its commander than that army had in Gen. Lee. We looked forward to victory under him as confidently as to successive sunrises.”
Lee would eventually find that all was not as he thought, beginning with his opponent. In spite of his lapse at Chancellorsville, “Fighting Joe” Hooker was not about to let Lee’s army waltz into the North unguarded.
The Battle of Chancellorsville
Major General Joseph Hooker
Since replacing Ambrose Burnside atop the Army of the Potomac, he had instituted a series of organizational changes that were already benefiting the army. Foremost among these changes was his restructuring of the Federal cavalry into one corps, under Major General Alfred Pleasanton. The Union Cavalry Corps, already brimming with talented young officers, would come of age during the upcoming campaign and help deal the South a terrible blow.
Lee launched his campaign on June 3, marching his Army of Northern Virginia north to Culpepper, then west into the Shenandoah Valley. Hooker sent cavalry to track him, and on June 9, Pleasanton’s Federals barreled into Major General J. E. B. Stuart’s camp at Brandy Station. The daylong engagement that followed left Stuart’s men with the battlefield, but their commander embarrassed. The Federal cavalry had surprised him and fought him generally on even terms. No longer could Union cavalrymen be laughed off as mere pickets or messengers; they were a fighting force that Stuart would now have to deal with.
Lee, meanwhile, continued north, capturing an unprepared Union garrison at Winchester and crossing the Potomac. Hooker followed, screening Washington and Baltimore even while engaged in a battle of wills with the War Department over a perceived lack of support. On June 28—with a potentially titanic confrontation between the two armies in the offing—a frustrated Hooker offered his resignation, which was promptly accepted. His replacement was the sleepy-eyed George Gordon Meade—yet another capable corps commander seemingly set up for a great fall. Hearing of the change, Robert E. Lee remarked that “Meade will commit no blunder in my front, and if I make one, he will make haste to take advantage of it.”
Lieutenant General Richard Ewell’s II Corps was perched on the doorstep of Harrisburg, ready to pounce on Pennsylvania’s capital when Lee received word of the Army of the Potomac’s presence north of the Potomac. Lee postponed the Harrisburg operation and consolidated his strung-out army west of Gettysburg, a small transportation hub with a population of about 2,400.
Still unsure of Meade’s exact position (Jeb Stuart’s cavalry, which was supposed to be screening on Lee’s right, had circled far to the east and lost touch with the army), Lee allowed Major General Henry Heth to take his division into Gettysburg after a cache of shoes rumored to be stored there, although the exact reason for taking this route has been disputed. Marching southeast down the Chambersburg Pike early on July 1, Heth’s men heard the popping sound of carbine fire: They had run into John Buford’s two brigades of dismounted Union cavalry, screening for Meade and stretched across the pike in a defensive position. First contact had been made.
The skirmish quickly exploded into a serious fight, as Confederate reinforcements flowed toward the town from the west and north. Buford’s outgunned horsemen held their ground until General John Reynolds’s I Corps arrived to bolster his position. The highly respected Reynolds, however, soon fell from his horse, killed by a Rebel bullet.
Gradually the Union lines north and west of town bent, then broke, sending regiments scrambling headlong back through town. Rebel infantry charged in pursuit, as Union officers tried desperately to rally their disorganized units on high ground south of town.
Joining Major General Oliver Otis Howard (XI Corps commander) on Cemetery Hill, Major General Winfield Scott Hancock (II Corps commander) led the effort to bring order out of disaster. Here—with advantages in numbers and initiative and plenty of daylight left—the Confederates lost a crucial opportunity to seize the hills (Culp’s and Cemetery) below town. “There was not an officer, not even a man, that did not expect that the war would be closed upon that hill that evening,” one Confederate later wrote. But “someone made a blunder that lost the battle of Gettysburg, and, humanly speaking, the Confederate cause.” Pressed to attack, Jubal Early deferred to his corps commander Richard Ewell, who was disinclined to undertake any further offensive without specific orders from Lee. But when he received a message shortly after 5 p.m. in which Lee “wished him to take the Cemetery Hill if it were possible,” he decided that it was not.
Map of the field of battle at Gettysburg
Meanwhile, newly minted army commander George Meade had been eyeing for his army an excellent defensive position to the south along Pipe Creek. Now, however, he sent word for the army to dig in where it was. Yankees spent the night felling trees, digging rifle pits, and maneuvering heavy cannon into firing positions. As the sun rose on July 2, the opposing armies had jostled into the positions from which they would fight for the next two days. Lee’s forces stretched south along Seminary Ridge; five of the seven corps of Meade’s Army of the Potomac were hunkered down in a classic and formidable defensive position, on high ground stretching in a fishhook shape from Culp’s and Cemetery Hills south along Cemetery Ridge to a pair of hills called the Little and Big Round Tops. Rolling farmland separated the armies.
Anchoring the left end of the Union lines was the III Corps of Major General Daniel Sickles, a hot-tempered New Yorker and military neophyte fresh out of the U.S. House of Representatives. Sickles had in 1859 played the lead in one of the nation’s most infamous and celebrated scandals. Catching his beautiful young wife in an elaborate tryst with the handsome U.S. Attorney Philip Barton Key—the son of Francis Scott Key, author of “The Star Spangled Banner”—the enraged Sickles chased Key down in Washington’s Lafayette Square and shot him to death. In the trial that followed, Sickles’s lawyer—future Secretary of War Edwin Stanton—got his client off with the first successful use of the insanity defense. Sickles then forfeited much of the public’s sympathy for him by reuniting with his adulteress wife.
At Gettysburg, Sickles decided to push his III Corps forward into an angular position onto higher ground along the Emmitsburg Road, which bisected the battlefield, a position that he felt offered his men a defensive advantage. It also opened a gaping hole between his men and Hancock’s II Corps to his right, an ominous fact that Meade himself pointed out to Sickles late that morning. By then it was too late to do much about it.
Lieutenant General James Longstreet
On Seminary Ridge, meanwhile, Lee had decided to try and capitalize on the success of July 1. If executed properly, he believed, a coordinated attack should rupture the Union lines. Lieutenant General James Longstreet—commander of I Corps and Lee’s most trusted subordinate (in the wake of Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s mortal wounding at Chancellorsville)—believed otherwise. He followed his orders, but—as many of his detractors would later argue—took too long in doing so. By the time Longstreet launched his July 2 attack on the Union left, up the Emmitsburg Road, Meade’s V Corps (under Major General George Sykes) had reached the area. As Sickles’s divisions tumbled back under the weight of Major General Lafayette McLaws’s onrushing Rebels, Sykes’s men—along with Federals sent over from the right—moved forward to plug the gap. Sickles fell with a shattered leg, which was later amputated. (Sickles later had his shattered leg bones preserved in a miniature coffin. They can still be seen today—with the cannonball that smashed them—in an exhibit in Washington, D.C.’s, National Museum of Health and Medicine.) Meanwhile, only heroic fighting from outgunned Maine and Pennsylvania infantrymen saved Little Round Top from falling to Texas and Alabama troops of John Hood’s Confederate division. It was here that a little-known Maine professor named Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain earned everlasting fame for ordering a decisive bayonet charge as each side reached exhaustion.
The struggle for Little Round Top nearly resulted in disastrous repercussions for Meade, who responded to that emergency by stripping Culp’s Hill of most of Major General Henry Slocum’s XII Corps and sending it south to support his softened left flank. But the Confederates were not yet through for the day: Jubal Early nearly overran Cemetery Hill before Yankee reinforcements finally stopped him. And as dusk deepened, Major General Edward Johnson sent his division crashing up the wooded hillside of Culp’s Hill—now defended by just 1,300 New Yorkers under Brigadier General George Sears Greene. Greene, an 1826 West Point graduate and renowned engineer, was a grandson of Revolutionary War hero Nathanael Greene, and a skilled fighter himself. Fighting tenaciously from behind formidable breastworks, his men held off Johnson’s 5,000 attackers until Slocum’s XII Corps returned in the middle of the night. The thickened Union lines shattered a follow-up assault ordered by Johnson before dawn.
As the sun rose on July 3, thousands of tired, hungry, and filthy soldiers stirred, wondering what the day would bring. Meade, after polling his corps commanders, had already decided to remain in position to receive an attack. Lee, meanwhile, was more determined than ever to break though the blue line facing him from across the fields south of town. Again overruling Longstreet’s request for a turning movement south of the Round Tops, Lee ordered an attack on Meade’s stretched-out center. Ordered to direct the assault, the I Corps commander told an officer: “I don’t want to make this attack. I believe it will fail—I do not see how it can succeed—I would not make it even now, but that Gen. Lee has ordered it and expects it.”
Nevertheless, at 1 p.m. on July 3, the hills of Adams County shook with the sound of Lee’s booming cannon, some 150 guns under the direction of Lee’s skilled young artillerist, Major Edward Porter Alexander. Union batteries responded for a time, then Major General Henry Hunt silenced them to conserve ammunition for a charge that now appeared inevitable. Alexander quieted his own guns some time later, passing word to Longstreet that he had barely enough shells left to support his advance. Reluctantly, Lee’s husky corps commander gave the order for the assault on Meade’s center—an attack soon to be dubbed Pickett’s Charge.
Dashing Major General George Pickett commanded one of the attacking force’s three divisions; Johnston Pettigrew and Isaac Trimble led the others. At 3 p.m., the roughly 13,000 men in gray and butternut set out to carry the heights ahead of them. It was a magnificent sight, even to the anxious Federals watching their approach. But for veterans of Fredericksburg, where hundreds of Yankees had fallen before Rebel rifles on Marye’s Heights, it also meant a chance to avenge fallen friends.
The advancing Confederate lines were in no-man’s-land now, too far from their target to charge, and far from the safety of the woods they had left. Now the quiet Yankee guns began to roar again—from every angle. Shells exploded above the attackers, shredding unit flags and soldiers alike. Dressing their lines in the midst of hell, the Confederates lurched forward. Now hundreds of Yankee muskets in the center of the blue lines went off at once—filling the air with smoke and the battlefield with more dead Confederates. Union artillerists switched to canister, and ripped huge gaps in the slowing, butternut ranks. Confederates surging within feet of the ridge watched in horror as hundreds of Pennsylvanians opened up on them—en masse—from behind a stone wall. “The slaughter was terrible,” one Federal recalled. Only at one point did the charging Rebels breach the Union line, led by General Lewis Armistead, who led his men forward yelling, “Boys, give them the cold steel! Who will follow me?” Within moments, Yankee reinforcements plugged the hole, and Armistead fell mortally wounded.
General Pickett receiving the order for the charge on day three at Gettysburg from General Longstreet
By 4 p.m., the sloping fields before Cemetery Ridge were filled with dead Confederate soldiers. At least two-thirds of the attacking force was a casualty. Survivors of the shattered charge were streaming back to the safety of the woods, to sporadic Union taunts of “Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!” Even Lee’s vaunted cavalry, which under J. E. B. Stuart had circled Meade’s army in an attempt to attack it from the rear, had been turned back, east of town, by Federal troopers under major generals David Gregg and George Custer. Robert E. Lee now turned to his subordinates to prepare for a Union counterattack. Pickett, for one, seemed too overwhelmed to move. “General Lee, I have no division now, Armistead is down, Garnett is down, and Kemper is mortally wounded.” Lee persevered: “Come now, General Pickett, this has been my fight and upon my shoulders rests the blame. The men and officers of your command have written the name of Virginia as high today as it has ever been written before.” The Battle of Gettysburg was over.
Three days of fighting had produced some 50,000 casualties, including 3,155 dead Federals and 4,427 dead Confederates. The losses were especially hard for Lee, with a much smaller army, to take; they proved doubly painful for the South the next day when word of Vicksburg’s surrender (to Grant) zipped over telegraph wires. Lee at least managed to preserve his remaining forces: With Meade slow to pursue, the Army of Northern Virginia slipped across the swollen Potomac River into Virginia on July 14, leaving Abraham Lincoln to fume over another lost opportunity.
Widely seen as the turning point of the Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg did not signal the end of the Confederacy. But with Union victories in the West and Grant’s ascension to command of all Union armies in March 1864, Lee would never again have the resources or freedom to strike into the North again.
American Civil War Museum
(formerly the National Civil War Wax Museum)
297 Steinwehr Ave.
(717) 334-6245
Opened in 1962, the museum lacks the depth and power of its counterpart in Harrisburg (see listing below), but it does a good job of re-creating scenes from the battlefield and the surrounding town with its lifelike dioramas. Visitors can immerse themselves in the battlefield action through the feature presentation in the Battleroom Auditorium, listening to battle cries and cannon fire. At the end of the presentation, you can even listen as Lincoln delivers his immortal address. The museum is open daily from Mar through Dec.
General Lee’s Headquarters
401 Buford Ave.
(717) 334-3141
Constructed in 1834, this stone house was located at the center and rear of Lee’s battle lines at the time of the battle, making it an ideal location for the Confederate officer’s headquarters. It’s now home to a small Civil War museum featuring artifacts and stories from the battle. The museum is open daily from Mar through Nov with extended hours in the summer.
Gettysburg National Cemetery
Baltimore Pike
Abraham Lincoln dedicated this haunting burial ground, now home to more than 7,000 soldiers and their loved ones, during his Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863.
Gettysburg National Military Park
1195 Baltimore Pike
(717) 334-1124, ext. 8023
No other Civil War battlefield is quite like the one that dominates Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The epic proportions and importance of the July 1–3, 1863, battle is reflected today in the number of individual and unit monuments (more than 1,300) that grace its 6,000 acres. Roads provide ready access to all the park’s crucial areas, from Little Round Top to Culp’s Hill. Visitors can sit among the boulders of the Devil’s Den, where Yankees and Rebels once stalked each other; trace the path taken by the legions of Pickett, Trimble, and Pettigrew during their fateful charge of July 3; visit the cramped home (the Lydia Leister house) in which George Meade and his corps commanders met on the night of July 2; and trace the opposing lines along Seminary and Cemetery Ridges.
Gettysburg’s visitor center remains among the best of any National Military Park, and features the Gettysburg Museum of the Civil War. The museum’s artifact-based displays practically burst with minié balls, cartridge boxes, bayonets, swords, uniforms, and other equipment left on the battlefield. Exhibits touch on everything from campaign life for soldiers and officers to the proper use of artillery, and they boast enough military arms to fill an arsenal. Here visitors will also find a 30-minute Electric Map program (for a small fee), a large bookstore and gift shop, and National Park Service rangers to answer questions and help arrange two-hour battlefield tours by licensed guides. The park also offers audiotapes (or CDs) for private driving tours, and private companies run bus tours.
Still one of the park’s feature attractions is the Cyclorama Center, whose interior is dominated by the 360-degree, 359-by-27-foot painting of Pickett’s Charge. The painting is currently undergoing restoration, and only a portion of the painting is on view. The center itself, which also offers exhibits of relics and artwork related to the Battle of Gettysburg and the Gettysburg Address, remains open. Visitors should also walk through the Soldiers’ (or Gettysburg) National Cemetery, the burial site of Union soldiers dedicated so movingly by President Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863. (Most Confederate victims of the battle were buried in Richmond’s Hollywood Cemetery.)
Today, Gettysburg National Military Park sports a new visitor center and museum—one designed to be less obtrusive by being built on ground that was not central to the battle. Meanwhile, the battlefield continues to fight off the ugly infringements of souvenir stands and convenience stores in an otherwise lovely town. Recent years have seen the removal of ugly obstructions like the 300-foot National Tower. Efforts to restore the battlefield to its original appearance (at the time of the battle) have included the removal of hundreds of acres of trees; the replanting of many more acres of trees, thickets, and orchards; and the addition of historic fencing that once divided local farms.
The park, visitor center, and Cyclorama Center are open daily.
Jennie Wade House Museum
548 Baltimore St.
(717) 334-4100
Gettysburg native Mary Virginia “Ginnie” Wade was baking bread for Union soldiers on July 3, 1863, when a stray bullet crashed through her home and killed her. Just 20 years old, Miss Wade was the only civilian killed in town during the Battle of Gettysburg. The home today looks practically—and eerily—as it did in July 1863 (with the exception of its gift shop). Admission is charged, or you can stop by the adjacent Battlefield Tour Center (778 Baltimore St.) to purchase a combo ticket including a battlefield tour and attractions admissions.
The National Civil War Museum
One Lincoln Circle at Reservoir Park
Harrisburg, PA
(717) 260-1861
www.nationalcivilwarmuseum.org
With so much to see 40 miles south at Gettysburg, building a Civil War museum in Harrisburg once seemed, to some observers, a bad idea. True, the state capital had once been home to Camp Curtin—a Union training depot that trained and sent 300,000 soldiers into Federal armies. But no serious fighting had taken place here: The outbreak of fighting at Gettysburg forestalled General Richard Ewell’s plan to attack the city, and it was never threatened again. But when it opened in 2001, this fabulous, 65,000-square-foot museum turned heads, and made Harrisburg the ideal jump-off point for an excursion to Gettysburg.
The brainchild of former mayor Stephen R. Reed—who started collecting for the museum during the mid-1990s—the National Civil War Museum boasts two floors of state-of-the-art exhibits, based on its 24,000-piece artifact collection, which dates from 1850 to 1876. (Highlights of the collection include the kepi worn by Confederate general George Pickett at Gettysburg; a Bible once carried by Robert E. Lee; one of the gauntlets Stonewall Jackson was wearing when he was shot at Chancellorsville; and Ulysses S. Grant’s sword belt.) The museum strives to tell the “complete” story of the Civil War. “We wanted to tell the story, not just of the battles,” Reed said, “but of the people who lived and worked, and fought and died, during the war years. And we wanted to take an unflinching look at slavery, the root cause of the conflict.”
Tours of the museum’s 17 exhibit galleries begin on the second floor, starting with “A House Divided.” They naturally describe the military campaigns of the conflict, while also exploring “The Peculiar Institution: American Slavery,” “Making of Armies,” “Civil War Music,” “Lincoln: War and Remembrance,” and other topics. Interactive battle maps and audio posts bring each exhibit to life, and a small theater offers the 16-minute, prize-winning film, A Nation Endures every 20 minutes.
The museum is wheelchair accessible.
The Rupp House
451 Baltimore St.
(717) 334-1243
This interactive museum re-creates the culture of 19th-century Gettysburg through interactive, hands-on exhibitions and activities led by guides and volunteers in period clothing. The Rupp House (in which the museum is located) was built in 1868 to replace a lavish house that sustained serious damage during the battle. Admission is free; donations go to support battlefield preservation efforts.
Shriver House Museum
309 Baltimore St.
(717) 337-2800
A welcome addition to Gettysburg and the museum community is the Shriver House Museum, a relatively new facility dedicated to telling the story of Gettysburg civilians who witnessed the epic 1863 battle. Built in 1860 by George Washington Shriver, the house was caught in the middle of the first day’s fighting. Evidence of Confederate sharpshooters firing from the attic included eyewitness reports of soldiers knocking portholes in the attic’s sides. Restoration efforts (which continue today) turned up bullets and stains that were recently proven to be blood. It appears certain that at least one Rebel was killed in the Shriver House attic.
The building today looks about as it did when George, his wife, Hettie, and their two small children lived there in 1861, shortly before George joined the Union cavalry. Between stops at Gettysburg’s military sites, visitors should tour the restored rooms of the Shriver House (along with the nearby Jennie Wade House) to get an inkling of how civilians lived in the midst of war. Museum hours vary by season, and it is closed in Jan (except for groups by appointment).
Soldier’s National Museum
777 Baltimore St.
(717) 334-4890
www.gettysburgbattlefieldtours.com
The building that now houses the Soldier’s National Museum was the headquarters for Union general Oliver O. Howard during the battle. It later became the Soldier’s National Orphanage and now houses a popular collection of Civil War battle dioramas and more than 5,000 artifacts. Admission is charged, or purchase a combo ticket at the Battlefield Tours depot across the street.
U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center
950 Soldiers Dr.
Carlisle, PA
(717) 245-3971
Long known simply as Carlisle Barracks, the home of the U.S. Army War College and Military History Institute and Museum is now part of the new U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center. Charged with “Telling the Army Story—One Soldier at a Time,” this one-of-a-kind complex is destined to become one of the nation’s most compelling historical attractions.
Founded by Englishman John Stanwix in 1757, Carlisle Barracks has since been home to a series of army schools, most notably the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, for American Indians. Here a young Jim Thorpe got his first taste of football, playing for the Carlisle Indians—once one of the nation’s great football powers. The site is best known, of course, for its research facilities: anchored by a massive collection of books (some 325,000), manuscripts (11,000,000, largely unofficial papers, unit histories, and private papers), photographs (1,700,000), and maps (19,500), the Military History Institute has long been the premier site for the study of army history.
The site has opened its new Army Heritage Trail—a unique, 1-mile, outdoor walk through American military history. Fantastic re-creations along the trail address every major American war, and include a Revolutionary War redoubt, a section of the Antietam battlefield, a Civil War winter encampment, and a portion of D-Day’s Omaha Beach. The trail alone makes a visit here a must. It is wheelchair accessible, and admission is free. Security is tight, however, so calling ahead is advised.
The Coster Avenue Mural and Amos Humiston Monument
Late on the afternoon of on July 1, 1863, two Confederate brigades slammed into Colonel Charles R. Coster’s thin line of 1,200 Yankees on the northeastern outskirts of Gettysburg. Coster’s left and right flanks collapsed, and his center regiment—the 154th New York Volunteers—was forced to follow its brother regiments in flight back through town.
One hundred twenty-five years later, a crucial moment of this struggle appeared in vivid color on the back of a warehouse at the end of a Gettysburg side street. The moving and detailed 80-foot mural was the work of Rhode Island artist and 154th New York Regimental historian Mark Dunkelman (with Johan Bjurman), who designed the image as an homage to the soldiers who fought in Kuhn’s brickyard. (A monument to the 154th New York also stands nearby.) Recently restored, the Coster Avenue mural remains one of Gettysburg’s neat, little-known treasures.
Eisenhower National Historic Site
250 Eisenhower Farm Dr.
(717) 338-9114, ext. 10
While there’s no direct link to the Civil War, American history buffs may be interested to tour the weekend retreat of the World War II leader and president, which is adjacent to the National Military Park. The Eisenhowers lived on this estate and farm from 1961 until the former president’s death in 1969. Guests must park at the National Military Park and ride a complimentary shuttle to the farm entrance.
Although no major battles were fought here, Chambersburg likely suffered more during the Civil War than any other Northern town. The residents of this small village were still caring for soldiers wounded in the Battle of Antietam when Major General “Jeb” Stuart’s cavalry looted and burned several of its buildings. Confederate raiders torched another portion of the town a year later during the Gettysburg Campaign. And on July 30, 1864, Chambersburg suffered the wrath of Lieutenant General Jubal Early, who—angered by Union devastation of parts of the Shenandoah Valley, and General David Hunter’s burning of the Virginia Military Institute—sent General John McCausland’s cavalry to extort reparations from the Pennsylvania town. When no money was forthcoming, McCausland evacuated the town and set it afire.
Today, visitors to the town should stop first at the Chambersburg Heritage Center, the hub of Franklin County tourism and a historic attraction in its own right. Housed in a beautifully renovated, wheelchair-accessible marble bank building built in 1915, the center is the place to go for information, travel brochures, and tips on local driving tours. It also offers a gift shop and restrooms.
Before venturing out into the town’s National Historic District, visitors should also peruse the Heritage Center’s extensive exhibits, which detail the town’s role in the Civil War and the Underground Railroad. Serious Civil War buffs will also want to ask about the Chambersburg Civil War Seminars—an annual series of talks sponsored by the Greater Chamber of Commerce and hosted by Ted Alexander, the Chief Historian at Antietam National Battlefield.
Between Memorial Day and Thanksgiving, the Chambersburg Heritage Center is open daily. During the off-season, the center closes early and is closed on Sun. For more information call (717) 264-7101, or visit the center’s Web site at www.chambersburg.org.
From ghost walks to double-decker buses to bicycles, there are dozens of ways to tour Gettysburg—and dozens of companies ready to show you around. If you’re not sure where to begin, start at the National Battlefield Park visitor center. You can arrange a private guided tour with a park ranger (two hours for up to six passengers; see www.gettysburgtourguides.org) or purchase a CD for an audio driving tour.
Companies specializing in general battlefield tours are listed below.
Gettysbike Bicycle Tours
523 Baltimore St.
(717) 752-7752
Gettysburg Battlefield Bus Tours
778 Baltimore St.
(717) 334-6296
(877) 680-TOUR
www.gettysburgbattlefieldtours.com
Historic Battlefield Bus Tours
55 Steinwehr Ave.
(717) 334-8000
With all of the suffering and tragedy that occurred in this historic town, it’s not surprising to hear talk of hauntings. More than 200 buildings that were standing at the time of the war remain intact today, setting the perfect scene for some truly spine-tingling tales. There are many companies providing ghost tours; there’s not much difference in the content, delivery, or price. If you’re visiting during the busy spring and summer season, however, you may want to bear in mind that street traffic on major thoroughfares like Baltimore Street and Steinwehr Avenue may leave you straining to hear the ghastly tales.
Civil War Hauntings Candlelight Ghost Walks
237 Steinwehr Ave.
(717) 752-5588
Gettysburg Convention and Visitors Bureau
571 W. Middle St.
(717) 334-6274
Ghostly Images of Gettysburg
548 Baltimore St.
(717) 334-6296
www.gettysburgbattlefieldtours.com
Ghosts of Gettysburg Candlelight Walking Tours
271 Baltimore St.
(717) 337-0445
Historic Farnsworth House Ghost Walks and Mourning Theater
401 Baltimore St.
(717) 334-8838
www.gettysburgshauntedaddress.com
| Battlefield Bed and Breakfast Inn | $$$$ |
2264 Emmitsburg Rd.
(717) 334-8804
(888) 766-3897
Five minutes from the Gettysburg Battlefield visitor center, this 1809 farmhouse has appeared in several “Best of” lists; it’s easy to see why. The inn caters to the Civil War “crowd,” and guests will feel almost as if they lived in town through the battle. The eight-guest-room (each named after a regiment that fought at Gettysburg) inn is situated on 30 acres of farmland, surrounded by original campaign ground. The innkeepers host daily Civil War history presentations while staff in period costumes serve a home-cooked breakfast each morning. Each room also offers a private bath and air-conditioning. Rates are a tad higher than other local inns, but for good reason. Reservations are highly recommended.
| Best Western Gettysburg Hotel | $$$ |
One Lincoln Square
(717) 337-2000
(866) 378-1797
We normally don’t include chain hotels in this guide, but you can’t stroll through downtown Gettysburg without noticing the Best Western. Established in 1797, the hotel saw its share of action in 1863, earning a listing on the National Register of Historic Places and Historic Hotels of America. At Willis House, located across the street, Abraham Lincoln penned the Gettysburg Address. The accommodations are roomy, outfitted with modern amenities like Wi-Fi and cable television.
| Blue Sky Motel | $–$$ |
2585 Biglerville Rd.
(717) 677-7736
(800) 745-8194
This no-frills, old-fashioned country motel won’t win any awards, but it’s clean, convenient, and unbeatably affordable. Even during peak season, you’ll pay less than $100 per night. The low price includes a pool, free coffee, and access to friendly, knowledgeable owners who are eager to help you plan your visit to Gettysburg’s attractions.
| Brafferton Inn | $$–$$$$ |
44 York St.
(717) 337-3423
(866) 337-3423
A bullet lodged in the mantel of one of the Brafferton’s rooms tells you all you need to know about this building’s history. Built in 1786, this unique residence was transformed into an inn two centuries later. Today it is one of three York Street structures that make up the Brafferton Inn. Amenities and rates vary, but all 18 rooms in the house and the adjoining carriage house reflect quiet, 19th-century comfort. Some have luxurious touches like whirlpool tubs and gas fireplaces.
| The Brickhouse Inn | $$–$$$$ |
452 Baltimore St.
(717) 338-9337
(800) 864-3464
Owners and Innkeepers Tessa Bardo and Brian Duncan stress cleanliness and convenience; their inn is within easy walking distance of Gettysburg’s shops, restaurants, and attractions, and it offers off-street parking. The Brickhouse is also known for comfort and relative tranquility—despite its central location—provided in part by the inn’s spacious gardens. “The Welty House—where we have five of our rooms—is a genuine historic house,” the owners say. “It was occupied by Confederate forces at the end of the battle’s first day and still bears bullet holes in its walls.” Each room is named for one of the states represented in the battle and furnished with antiques and family heirlooms. All rooms showcase the house’s original hardwood floors, and some even feature private porches with rocking chairs.
| The Gaslight Inn | $$$–$$$$ |
33 E. Middle St.
(717) 337-9100
(800) 914-5698
For another historic experience, check into this elegant nine-room inn, which dates to 1872. Each room comes with a private bath, most with Jacuzzi tubs, steam showers, and some with fireplaces. Eager to set the mood for a romantic escape, the inn will also help guests arrange special indulgences like an in-room massage, flowers, and chocolate-covered strawberries. Guests can also take advantage of personalized concierge service to help arrange sightseeing activities, dining and other diversions, and a tasty full-cooked breakfast each morning.
| Gettystown Inn/Dobbin House | $$–$$$$ |
89 Steinwehr Ave.
(717) 334-2100
Dating back to 1776, Gettysburg’s oldest and most historic building overlooks the Gettysburg National Cemetery, where Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. Prior to the Civil War, the house was a well-known “station” on the Underground Railroad, used to conceal runaway slaves. While many Gettysburg visitors stop here to dine at the Dobbin House, a popular colonial tavern-style restaurant, you can also spend the night at the nine-room Gettystown Inn. Rooms are comfortably furnished with antiques and old-fashioned beds. Breakfast at the adjacent restaurant is included. You can also arrange to stay at the Little Round Top Farm, a five-bedroom farmhouse set on 12 acres with a pond and a walking path to the spot where the 20th Maine infantry preserved the Union position on the hill.
| Inn at Herr Ridge | $$–$$$$ |
900 Chambersburg Rd.
(717) 334-4332
(800) 362-9849
The Inn at Herr Ridge, witnessed some of the first action of the battles of Gettysburg. On the morning of July 1, Confederate forces drove the Union cavalry back toward Gettysburg along the road that passed in front of the 1815 inn and tavern. Although the inn sustained damage during the battle and during a windstorm more than a century later, the original building has been painstakingly restored to its 19th-century appearance. Owner Steven Wolf has also added 11 more guest rooms to share the experience with more travelers. There’s a fine-dining restaurant, a casual tavern, and even a limited-service spa on-site as well.
| James Gettys Inn | $$$–$$$$ |
27 Chambersburg St.
(717) 337-1334
(888) 900-5275
Named for the town’s founder, the James Gettys Inn sits in the heart of downtown Gettysburg. During the Civil War, it was known as the Union Hotel and was used as a hospital. Twenty-five years later, it hosted 250 guests for the official battle commemoration. Each spacious guest room includes a well-stocked kitchenette, private bath, and separate living area. In lieu of breakfast service, fresh pastries, juice, and fruit are brought to each guest room the night before, and rooms are equipped with coffeemakers and supplies.
| Blue Parrot Bistro | $$ |
35 Chambersburg St.
(717) 337-3739
Housed in a Civil War–era building, this eclectic downtown bistro serves modern American and Mediterranean fare. Start with hummus or baba ghanoush, and then sample the grilled platter: a French pork chop, lamb chop, and venison steak, served with ratatouille and garlic mashed potatoes. Or, choose a flavorful pasta dish or a juicy hamburger. Wash it down with a Pennsylvania beer.
| Farnsworth House Inn | $$$ |
401 Baltimore St.
(717) 334-8838
The restored Farnsworth Dining Rooms—decorated in honor of Gettysburg commanders George G. Meade and Robert E. Lee—offer a menu filled with hearty Northern and Southern dishes, such as Virginia ham, Yankee pot roast, and Maryland-style crab cakes. Outdoor dining is also available. The Farnsworth House is also a bed-and-breakfast, and it boasts a real countrified tavern filled with memorabilia from the movie Gettsyburg. If you’re a fan of the macabre, you may also want to check out the house’s cellar stories. Ghost-seekers descend into the cellar and gather around a coffin to hear a scary litany of local ghost lore. The tavern features a number of Pennsylvania favorites.
| Gina’s Place | $$ |
16 E. Hanover St.
(717) 337-2697
If you’re in the mood for Italian, locals will tell you that Gina’s is the best in town. Don’t be surprised if Gina herself greets you when you walk in the door, and then sits down with you to take your order. She’s also the culinary genius behind the house-made pasta, fresh bread, and other tasty Italian creations. If you’re traveling with a large group, inquire about the bountiful all-you-can-eat family-style meals.
| Historic Cashtown Inn | $$$ |
1325 Old Rte. 30 Cashtown, PA
(717) 334-9722
(800) 367-1797
Also a bed-and-breakfast, and formerly a stagecoach stop—and the headquarters of Confederate General A. P. Hill—the circa-1797 building that now houses the popular Cashtown Inn still looks as if dusty riders should be tying their steeds up out front. But don’t be fooled; the inn’s lunch (melts, clubs, crab cakes, etc.), dinner (filet mignon, quail, seafood dishes), wine, and dessert menus are upscale and eclectic.
| Olivia’s | $$ |
3015 Baltimore Pike
(717) 359-9357
This family-owned eatery is located a few miles from Lincoln Square, but you’ll find it’s worth the trip. The menu blends Mediterranean classics like stuffed grape leaves, pastichio, spanakopita, and baked lasagna with innovative twists and fresh local ingredients. On a pleasant day, ask for a seat on the outdoor terrace.