Today was field trip day. We got to go to Gettysburg and reenact Pickett's Charge. I've been to Gettysburg many times in my life but never experienced it like this. Getting to hear about the men that were fighting while walking the path that they took. It was an awesome experience! The kids in our group were members of the 28th Virginia Regiment, each was assigned the name of an actual soldier and found out their fate at the end. Megan's soldier survived but Michael's was captured during the retreat.
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| Our General Robert E. Lee |
The Park Ranger that led our tour talked to us about our Regiment and the war. She explained that the soldiers had likely never left Virginia and that while they were fighting for what they believed they were mostly part of the war because of their strong loyalty to their state of Virginia. They had complete faith and confidence in General Lee who believed (to their detriment) that they were invincible.
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| In formation and ready to start our journey. |
We then went about 200 yards to the place where the soldiers met up with other Regiments and waited for their orders. They arrived to this point at 10am and had to lie on the ground until the orders finally came down at 1pm. Can you imagine how scary that must have been for those men to lay there waiting for 3 hours having no idea what they were going to have to do next and wondering if they were going to survive the battle ahead?
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| Rather than lying down on the ground she had the kids take a knee. |
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| Here we had turned the corner and were headed toward the enemy. Our Ranger was showing the kids the ammunition that the soldiers used. |
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| Getting ready to cross the street and make our charge. The one red tree off to the right in the distance is The Angle |
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| Getting ready to charge! |
I tried to upload video of them charging but it just wasn't working.
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| Our group at The Angle after the charge |
It was a great day and a wonderful trip! We are so lucky that we live close enough to experience it. Finally here are some pics we took on our trek back to the car. Enjoy! :)
Stopping by from the Hip Homeschool Hop! Looks like you guys had a great time! What a great experience!
ReplyDeleteFrom WTM, sounds like you had fun. We visited Gettysburg years ago and did a similar Junior Ranger program. If you go back when the kids are a little older, you might want to look for the historic trails program guide that one of the local scout councils puts out. There are several levels of trails to go on with historical info on each. When you're done, you send an order form and money to the council and get cool patches for each part that you completed. When we were there the Visitors' Center gift shop sold the guide with all the trail descriptions.
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome field trip!! Stopping by from the Hip Homeschool Hop!
ReplyDeleteWow! Really cool trip!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by Magical Mouse Schoolhouse. I am following you back & look forward to reading more of your posts!
We're watching a documentary called the "The Horses of Gettysburg" -- thanks for sharing about your day!
ReplyDeleteLee
Stopping by from Hip Homeschool- we really want to go here! Two summers ago it was Williamsburg/Jamestown/D.C.- this is our next historical trip.
ReplyDeleteI am now following your blog
Hands-on history really cements understanding of the past, which leads to better understanding of the present and future. (from WTM, btw)
ReplyDeleteLooks like a great field trip. I need to plan another one for us soon!
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