High water mark of the confederacy..where? (1 Viewer)

[Rob]

Ok guys,heres a question for you thats arisen with my discovery of the ACW.

Do you all think the 'High water mark' at Gettysburg is the Angle as has been accepted for many years or do any of you agree with Mr Jeff Shaara that it is at the monument near the Bryan house where the 11th Mississippi regt colours were found.

Wondered what your thoughts were on this

Rob

 

[Scott]

How about St. Albans Vermont?

 

[lancer]

I have always understood the "high water mark" to be a phrase in relation to the focus of the charge, ie., the copse of trees, aka, the angle. Never heard any other definition of it as relates to the battle itself. -- Al

 

[jazzeum]

I have always understood the "high water mark" to be a phrase in relation to the focus of the charge, ie., the copse of trees, aka, the angle. Never heard any other definition of it as relates to the battle itself. -- Al

The Angle for me.

 

[Combat]

I walked the path of Pickett's charge once. It took me 20 minutes at a steady pace from the jumping off point to the angle walking at a steady pace. Hard to imagine what it would have been like under fire. The field is not flat but has gentle hills like waves on the ocean. At many points you disappear entirely from the Union line of sight. I suspect many Rebs hunkered down in those areas. "Unsolved History" made a good case that happened based on computer recreations.

 

[DCN1898]

I would also say that the Angle is the High Water Mark.To me it is more of a symbolic event than who wound up where. General Armistead falling at the angle IMHO is the symbol of the High Water Mark.

 

[DCN1898]

Another place that is well worth a couple of minutes, is to stand in the open land between Seminary Ridge and Cemetery Ridge and imagine the Union 1st Corps retreat across that wide expanse of land with the Confederates pressuring from the from and hearing that the the 11th corps broke on your flank. It is amazing to me that they got across the open ground in relatively good order.

 

[Rob]

Can anyone tell me if you can you actually walk on the battlefield or are you kept to strict paths,I was reading Wikipedia and it seemed to suggest you couldn't walk on the field itself but only on a path that follows it?.

Rob

 

[Rob]

Come on Bob!.Where are you?!!

This thread is my 'Trafalgar'.You see,you are the French and Spanish fleet bottled up in Cadiz,drinking dodgy wine and refusing to take my bait with the Dispatches thread and come out to do battle.But heres my masterstroke,this thread is designed to lure you out into open sea,you can't resist much longer,you know you will have set sail again to come and give me a history lesson....so come on Bob...you know you want to!

Rob

 

[lancer]

Can anyone tell me if you can you actually walk on the battlefield or are you kept to strict paths,I was reading Wikipedia and it seemed to suggest you couldn't walk on the field itself but only on a path that follows it?.

Rob

Hi Rob. You can pretty much walk where ever you want as long as you use common sense. Some of the fields are private property or under cultivation but generally you can get just about anywhere you want. I have never been stopped on the field. There are, of course, many well marked paths and tour routes for the walker, biker, or automobile. Your choice and they are all quite interesting. -- Al

 

[Rob]

Hi Rob. You can pretty much walk where ever you want as long as you use common sense. Some of the fields are private property or under cultivation but generally you can get just about anywhere you want. I have never been stopped on the field. There are, of course, many well marked paths and tour routes for the walker, biker, or automobile. Your choice and they are all quite interesting. -- Al

Excellent thanks Al.You see as long as I'm not damaging crops or causing offence I'd like to come home and be able to say I'd actually walked on Picketts field as I have with the other battlefields I've visited.There is nothing like walking in the footsteps of History.Can't wait to get there,thanks again.

Rob

 

[jazzeum]

This may be a perfect excuse for several of us to get together with Rob to go see Gettysburg again. I have not been there for many years.

 

[Combat]

Can anyone tell me if you can you actually walk on the battlefield or are you kept to strict paths,I was reading Wikipedia and it seemed to suggest you couldn't walk on the field itself but only on a path that follows it?.

Rob

They don't allow reenactments on the field to avoid damage, but most areas are accessible. The public tends to stay on the roads and paths to avoid getting muddy or breaking their necks. A few places on Little Round Top are dangerous and they prohibit people from standing on the rocks. In the summer, Pickett's field can grow up and be a tangled mess to walk. The best thing to do at Gettysburg is go to the new vistor's center and hire a guide. They will go with you around the battlefield and tell you anything you ever want to know. If there is one area of the battle that you are most interested in they can focus on that. Much of the area has changed since the battle. Oddly enough there are more trees here now than in 1863. They have even been cutting many down recently to restore the appearance. It's hard to get a sense of the battle in some locations due to those changes. So the guide is extremely helpful. Almost better than going to the battlefield itself are the DVD wallking tours taped by the local PA cable station. They are given by experts and provide amazing on-site details that no one gets by going on their own: http://www.amazon.com/PCN-Tours-Gettysburg-Battlewalks-Wounded/dp/B000GGO56S

 

[Rob]

They don't allow reenactments on the field to avoid damage, but most areas are accessible. The public tends to stay on the roads and paths to avoid getting muddy or breaking their necks. A few places on Little Round Top are dangerous and they prohibit people from standing on the rocks. In the summer, Pickett's field can grow up and be a tangled mess to walk. The best thing to do at Gettysburg is go to the new vistor's center and hire a guide. They will go with you around the battlefield and tell you anything you ever want to know. If there is one area of the battle that you are most interested in they can focus on that. Much of the area has changed since the battle. Oddly enough there are more trees here now than in 1863. They have even been cutting many down recently to restore the appearance. It's hard to get a sense of the battle in some locations due to those changes. So the guide is extremely helpful. Almost better than going to the battlefield itself are the DVD wallking tours taped by the local PA cable station. They are given by experts and provide amazing on-site details that no one gets by going on their own: http://www.amazon.com/PCN-Tours-Gettysburg-Battlewalks-Wounded/dp/B000GGO56S

Thanks Doug,very helpful and much appreciated.

Rob

 

[Stryker II]

I walked the path of Pickett's charge once. It took me 20 minutes at a steady pace from the jumping off point to the angle walking at a steady pace. Hard to imagine what it would have been like under fire. The field is not flat but has gentle hills like waves on the ocean. At many points you disappear entirely from the Union line of sight. I suspect many Rebs hunkered down in those areas. "Unsolved History" made a good case that happened based on computer recreations.

Combat: a friend of mine and myself walked it last October, from Rebel positions to the union line and back. You are right, there are several places wher you completely disappear from the horizon line. You can't see these depressions from the stonewall, and I was amazed to find a small stream of water running there. What was even more amazing is the guide told us that they used to keep german POW's in an enclosure right out in the middle of the ORIGINAL battlefield...................Stryker

P.S. we also climbed up and found the original line held by Chamberlin documented in the movie. I really wanted to see that section, and you MUST get off the local paths and climb to find it..................

 

[Dragoon]

A good book you might want to try is ''Pickett's Charge'' by George Stewart. As the subtitle states ; ''A mircohistory of the final attack at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863''. Very in-depth coverage of both Confederate & Federal actions involved with the Pickett & Pettigrew assault on the third day of the battle.

 

[UKReb]

Rob

As far as your specific question goes I cannot add much to what the guys have already posted but DCN nailed it perfectly as being more of a symbolic statement for every soldier who fought and died there.

When you get there you'll be surprised at the amount of statues and monuments even markers that pepper the area with the majority being magnificent and I stand to be corrected but the 11th Mississippi monument I considered to be one of the ugliest. Here's a picture judge for yourself.

I was also not impressed with Longstreet's statue situated at Pitzer's Woods-Now you don't see many statues of mounted generals without being on at least a plinth. But Old Pete is right down at dirt level no doubt to mark the controversy that still surrounds his actions and conduct on the second and third day and it took 135 years before they finally erected it to his memory

I'll bring you some literature to read when I catch you at the June show.

Bob

 

[jazzeum]

Bob,

What would you recommend for good general histories of Gettyburg. I have to profess to be lacking in this regard and was wondering what you thought of the books by Sears and Trudeau.

 

[UKReb]

Brad

The Sears tome has to be the very best one volume panoramic overview of the whole of this very complex battle-it's definitely the best read before visiting the battlefield. The reseach he must have undertaken before putting pen to paper is simply mind-boggling-I have read my dog-eared copy twice and tonight could quite easily start again from page one's preface which I hope gives you an indication of my thoughts on the book.

Trudeau's "A Testing of Courage" is equally a sharply focused study of the campaign and battle with just as gripping narrative as Sears-but if I was wanting my first book on Gettysburg I would plumb for Sears.

And shame on you Brad for the gap in your knowledge of such a milestone in the history of your splendid country-Promise me you will rectify this soonest

Bob

 

[jazzeum]

Sears it is he shamefully says . I have read some brief chapters from general histories of the Civil War but never a full length book so here we go (and of course I have visited a couple of times). I probably know more about the Gettyburg Address than the battle itself.

Thanks.