Comments on: Feeling the Past at Gettysburg

By: jonathan

jonathan — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 21:38:19 +0000

yup

By: dave

dave — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:39:12 +0000

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: Bob Baronti

Bob Baronti — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:17:42 +0000

Great story I have been to Gettysburg A lot you are right you can still smell the smoke.

By: Max Terman

Max Terman — Wed, 27 May 2009 20:24:49 +0000

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: parvez akhtar

parvez akhtar — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:30:41 +0000

i also felt something at the Devil’s Den. I don’t beleive that.
sorry……..

By: Stephen Creech

Stephen Creech — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:59:13 +0000

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: CSM (Ret) Lee Ingram

CSM (Ret) Lee Ingram — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:41:32 +0000

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: Wesley C. Norris

Wesley C. Norris — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 23:12:45 +0000

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: Brian Logan

Brian Logan — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:52:36 +0000

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: Bob

Bob — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:10:20 +0000

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.