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Feeling the Past at GettysburgBy Glenn W. LaFantasie | Civil War Times | 22 comments | Print This Post | Email This Post Or perhaps he was drawn back to that place because he realized that Gettysburg had come to mean something to me, that it had captured my imagination, despite my youth and the fact that the only thing I had ever read about the battle was a Landmark series book on Gettysburg by MacKinlay Kantor, the first chapter of which, by the way, was provocatively—and rather weirdly—titled, “Ja, the Rebels Eat Babies!” Subscribe Today
In any event, my father kept taking the family back to Gettysburg—I’d guess at least a half dozen times during my childhood. We could make the trip in about 10 hours from our home in Rhode Island, thanks to “superhighways” like the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut and the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Often we stayed overnight in one of the many motels that still line Steinwehr Avenue, which connects the battlefield with the town. The next day we’d take the Park Service’s self-guided tour. Other times, when we were just passing through on our way to some other destination, my father would ritualistically pull the car over in front of the High Water Mark and stare at the small grove of trees. Then, without saying a word, he would drive on. Almost at once Sarah and I hit an obstacle that Oates and his Alabamians didn’t encounter—a modern wire fence (since removed by the National Park Service), too high to easily climb, so we had to follow it until we reached a gate we could manage. But while we had a fence to clamber over, Oates had considerably more to worry about when his men rushed down the slopes from Warfield Ridge. For one thing, Union artillery at Devil’s Den pounded the Alabama brigade to bits as it rushed toward the Round Tops. For another thing, Oates had just sent off a detail of men, carrying the 15th Alabama’s canteens, to find water. The order to advance came before the water detail could return, so Oates and his Alabamians began their attack with a prodigious thirst that would only get worse as the afternoon wore on. “It would have been infinitely better to have waited five minutes for those twenty-two men and the canteens of water,” Oates mused after the war, “but generals never ask a colonel if his regiment is ready to move.” As if that were not bad enough, Oates had his younger brother, John, to worry about as well. The senior Oates knew that his brother was suffering terribly from rheumatism—which had laid John low the previous spring and gotten worse over the past few months. The march to Gettysburg didn’t help, and William had told him to report to the rear on sick call. But John refused to stay behind while his regiment went into battle. “I am an officer and will never disgrace the uniform I wear,” he declared. “I shall go through, unless I am killed, which I think is quite likely.”  Plum Run Despite the historical maps I carried, we actually had only a general idea of where we were headed. Oates and his men must have experienced the same feeling. We could no longer see the Round Tops in front of us, nor could we see Warfield Ridge behind us. All we could see were the tops of trees. We came through a woodlot and emerged into a large, marshy field. It was here, before the 15th Alabama reached Plum Run at the base of Big Round Top, that Brig. Gen. Evander M. Law galloped up to Oates and told him to “hug the base of Great Round Top and go up the valley between the two mountains.” When Oates found the Union left flank, Law said, his Alabamians were to turn the flank and “do all the damage” they could. If the 15th Alabama and the 47th Alabama to its left became separated from the rest of the brigade, Law told Oates to assume command over both regiments. Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to
            Tags: Civil War, Civil War Times, Gettysburg
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22 Comments to “Feeling the Past at Gettysburg”
What a truly wonderful article. One of my favorites. Made me laugh and even made me tear up a bit.
By Eric Weider on Jun 14, 2008 at 10:44 am
one of the very best cival war stories iever read out standing.
By bobbybartram on Jun 14, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Artfully, and captivatingly written. My first visit to Gettysburg was in april of this year. I don’t believe anyone who has visited has not felt – something.
As I approached the 20th Maine Monument, a tour group of high school students from Minnesota was leaving. They had left roses and small American flag at the base. I was deeply proud of, grateful to, and moved by these students; so much younger than I, and whom I would never know.
I know, or, rather, understand what Sarah Felt. I felt the same something at Little Round Top.
By Greg Schaaf on Jun 17, 2008 at 1:21 pm
One time while walking Devils Den in the fog my daughter felt a “sense” that scared her and she just backed away from the rocks facing the Round Tops. I myself had a feeling of something stepping heavily on my foot on the paved road where Gen. Farnsworth made his cavalry charge. The battlefield will always remain alive in its own way.
By Ed Mignone on Jun 17, 2008 at 2:48 pm
I also felt something at the Devil’s Den. As I stepped up on the rocks there, I slipped, fell and took a bit of a gash on my leg.
My girlfriend was with me that day and asked if I was going to be O.K., to which I could only chuckle and tell her that another Texan bleeding at the Devil’s Den seemed somehow appropriate and that I was much lukier than most of those who had done it before.
By Craig Deaton on Jun 17, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Gettysburg-A place where people hush and the ghosts speak lodly!
By Fred Mossbrucker on Jun 17, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Sorry. That’s loudly.
By Fred Mossbrucker on Jun 17, 2008 at 8:54 pm
A Truly wonderful read. Having stood at the base of Little Round Top, Awe Struck by a sense of history, your piece sums it up so much better than I ever could. Thank you for writing it.
By John C on Jun 18, 2008 at 8:36 pm
I visited Gettysburg about two years ago. I was alone my wife was at a meeting, so I drove to the battlefield. It was more than I had imagined. I was so moved with emotions, that I had to share it with someone,so I called our oldest daughter. She was as excited as I was at the time.I was sad,happy,upset,overwhelmed,shaken,changed by it all as I stood there and prayed.I long to return and feel overpowered once again.
By Rev. David L. Hopkins on Jun 20, 2008 at 10:11 am
I have followed the same path led by a gentleman I met by chance who later became a battlefield guide. Thank you for leading me over the same never-forgotten ground.
By Fred Boyle on Jun 20, 2008 at 11:18 pm
I once rode my bike to Little Round Top at dawn…the feeling was transcendental…it was a truly overwhelming feeling to ride past the monuments in the breaking daylight,culminating with the view of Devil’s Den,where I did not feel alone,despite no man being near me….
By Joe Messore on Jun 22, 2008 at 10:17 pm
When I received my August issue I was expecting another story about Joshua L. Chamberlian. When I opened up and began reading I was surprised and impressed with the article about William Oates Alabamians. The struggles they went through even before they were engaged in battle brings their story closer to home, for historians as well as the casual observer. I only wish that William Oates was featured on the cover instead of Chamberlain.
By Scott J Payne on Jun 23, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Many of us have had this same experience, apparently. Geetysburg was the first place I ever truly felt a presence, and I have felt it at every other battlefield I have visited since. However, somehow, there was a different quality to it at Gettysburg–more intense and a storng mixture of pride and tragedy. A very touching article.
By Bob on Jun 25, 2008 at 9:10 am
Three years ago myself and other reenactors walked Pickett’s Charge in our uniforms and with battle flags flying. That whole walk I had chills and the hair was standing up on my arms. I felt like the men of Pickett’s Division were walking with us that day. Gettysburg is a very sad place because of all the lives that were lost there, but the sacrifices that were made by the men of both sides, helped make this country a better place.
By Brian Logan on Jul 10, 2008 at 2:52 pm
What a wonderful article. As a very young man I have always had a desire to visit the Gettysburg Battlefield. May of this year I was able to go and spend four wonderful days there. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the experience of walking this hollowed ground is an experience that I will never forget. The emotions ran high at the thought I had family that fought both sides of this war. I too felt a presence as I walked the Wheatfield and climbed the rocks of Devils Den. The evening view from Little Round Top was an emotional one for me as I looked down and across where many a man died for a cause they truly believed in.
By Wesley C. Norris on Jul 13, 2008 at 7:12 pm
It is not possible to be a student of the Civil War without a visit to Gettysburg. As so many before me and likely after as well, I walked as much of the battle field as possible to try to get some perspective of the events of those days. It is overwhelming. There are so many things to experience. Try lying in the ditch, imagining defilade fire all around you. Screams of those unlucky enough to be in a spot the shot fell upon.
God, it is humbling, even for a career soldier with some combat experience.
By CSM (Ret) Lee Ingram on Jul 22, 2008 at 10:41 pm
What a truly amazing article. I had the pleasure of taking my first trip to Gettysburg two years ago and remember the emotions that overwhelmed me as I stood looking out of Little Round Top. Can’t wait to go back and spend some serious time exploring a part of history that captivates me.
By Stephen Creech on Jul 29, 2008 at 1:59 pm
i also felt something at the Devil’s Den. I don’t beleive that.
sorry……..
By parvez akhtar on Sep 16, 2008 at 11:30 am
I visited Gettysburg as part of my research for a novel (Hiram’s Honor: Reliving Private Terman’s Civil War which was just made available on Amazon). My ancestor was captured July 1 as the 82nd Ohio was overrun. Standing on the very spot north of Gettysburg stirred my DNA and helped me write as could no other experience. Makes one appreciate the preservation of such sites.
By Max Terman on May 27, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Great story I have been to Gettysburg A lot you are right you can still smell the smoke.
By Bob Baronti on Jun 19, 2009 at 4:17 pm
i was never a civil war buff, but years ago a girlfriend and i, out visiting friends at blue ridge summit, stopped to check out the battlefield. i didnt expect much, but i experienced much of what people have described here. holy cow. it wasnt even that long ago was it
By dave on Jul 27, 2009 at 4:39 pm
yup
By jonathan on Sep 14, 2009 at 5:38 pm