A Christmas Poem

In 1864 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was a widower with six children.  He had and would see the grief of Civil War.  This man's way of coping has brought us the beautiful Christmas Carol "I heard The Bells On Christmas Day".

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's oldest son Charley [this is what he was called by the family] enlisted to fight for the Union in March 1863.  He would become a Second Lieutenant in Company G of the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry.  Charley missed the battle of Gettysburg do to an outbreak of typhoid.

However on 1 Dec 1863 Henry Wadsworth learned that his son had been  critically wounded during some skirmishing as part of the Mine Run Campaign.  Charley was moved to New Hope Church, where his father found him on 5 Dec 1863.Wadsworth was told that his son might not survive, and if he, he could be paralyzed.

Wadsworth wrote the word to the poem that would become our song, while waiting for his son to recuperate.  He was inspired after hearing church bells tolling Luke 2:14 "Peace on Earth" on Christmas morning.

I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
   And wild and sweet
   The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
   Had rolled along
   The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
   A voice, a chime,
   A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
   And with the sound
   The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
   And made forlorn
   The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth," I said;
   “For hate is strong,
   And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
   The Wrong shall fail,
   The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”

Just A School

This house on the southeast corner of Washington and High Street, was built as the Gettysburg Academy in 1814.  It went onto to be the home of several other schools, before the Civil War came to its door steps.

The Gettysburg Academy opened in 1814, under headmaster Samuel Ramsay.  There were 3 dorms, a library and a gymnasium [at this time gymnasium referred to a preparatory school].  Samuel Schmucker turned the building and the school into the Lutheran Theological Seminary in 1826.  When the first Seminary building was completed, the school then became the Pennsylvania College [now Gettysburg College].

William Eyster

In 1856 the Reverend David and Mrs Rebecca Reynolds Eyster bought the building.  They opened the Gettysburg Female Institute.  When the Reverend died in 1861, his wife continued to run the school with one of their sons William Reynolds Eyster; a new graduate of the Pennsylvania College, teaching math and latin.

The Eyster school served young ladies from "the best" local families.  One of the pupils was Tillie Pierce, who wrote about the first day the Confederate's arrived in Gettysburg.  On 26 June 1863 the class was dismissed by Mrs Eyster as Confederate Major General Jubal Early's troops marched into town by simply saying, “Children, run home as quickly as you can."  The building was used for a hospital after the battle, as most buildings in Gettysburg were.  Rebecca Eyster closed the school in 1871.

View from back along Washington St

It has been a private residence since.  During WWI it was used as Officer Quarters.  You can see an artillery shell in the side of the building today.  It is a Reed shell from a 10 pound Parrott gun.

The Great Test

View from near Peace Light, morning of test

So it's been almost a week since 97 hearty souls sat for the test to become a Licensed Battlefield Guide at the Gettysburg National Military Park.  December 2nd dawned bright and clear, with a bit of frost and a glorious sunrise.  Some few of the would be guides made the trip up Little Round Top, to rub old Colonel Patrick O'Rourke's nose for luck.  I chose to spend a little time in reflection at the Eternal Light Peace Memorial.

The parking lot at HACC [Harrisburg Area Community College ] quickly filled up.  Each of in our own nervous way, we filtered up to the door, where we stood in the cold waiting to be invited into the lobby.  We talked about those last few minutes of panicked studying that morning.  Those of us who had been through this before, we're offering up our tidbits of test wisdom. Not really believing any of that wisdom.

Finally the doors opened and we pushed inside.  We received instructions about the check in process.  Make sure you have your government id [yes just like getting on a plane], no cell phones, no study aids.  They are good enough to let us bring coffee or water.  We got into lines, checked in and received our number [from this point forward we are known as that number].  Each of us off to our assigned room.  Some final instructions.  Those last burst of nerves, and it's 9am.  For the next three hours you are just trying to pull answers from the deep recesses of your brain.

After a short break for lunch, we all mostly return for another three hours of essay writing.  If you didn't return, your morning part of the testing was to be thrown out.  We had; I believe, two in our room who apparently found the morning to much for them and didn't return.  Six essays to write longhand, isn't just taxing on the brain, but it is physically hard on your hand too.

At 4:30 the torture stopped.  We all drifted slowly and perhaps a bit dazed into the parking lot.  Most taking the first big deep breath we had taken in weeks.  After a few last words we all drifted off, some to spend much need time with family, some for a drink with friends, myself I went for a moonlit walk with my thoughts across Pickett's Charge [what can I say, it's my happy place].

I would like to take a minute to thank another group of people who gave up their Saturday.  Guides already carrying that licenses, that we are hoping to earn. You all arrived early, stayed late, and throughout where encouraging to each and everyone of us.  I hope to someday to able to say I am a member of such a wonderful group of people.

And so to wrap this up, the 97 of us now wait.  Sometime in late December [I'm assuming here, based on past years], we will get letters let us know if we move forward to the next tier of testing.  Good luck to all. [By the way, I must give credit for the last 2 photos to Fred Hawthorne. I stole them off his FaceBook page].

The McPherson Farm

This view taken from Stone's Ave

The stone barn in this photo is all that remains of the Edward McPherson farm.  This is land located along the Chambersburg Pike, about a ½ mile west of Gettysburg.  It was fought over heavily on 1 July 1863.

Edward McPherson was a lawyer and had been a member of the US House of Representatives.  President Abraham Lincoln appointed McPherson Deputy Commissioner of the Internal Revenue.  At the time of the Battle he was in Washington, DC.

The John Slentz family was renting the 66.5 acre farm at the time of the Battle.  The farm included the barn that is in the photo, a house and a wagon shed.  They had some pasture and a field of corn and one of wheat.  The barn was used during and after the Battle by the wounded.  It would be 3 months before the Slentz family could live in the house again.

The depression in the forward of photo is an unused quarry.  You will also notice several monuments in the photo, including the 150th PA and the Reynolds Equestrian Monument.

A view taken today.  Looking from Reynolds Ave.

A Typical Park Road

This photo shows the beginning of the building of Meredith Avenue. A typical park road built using the Telford style.

If you look to the back of the photo, over the trees and to the left of the road, you will see the tower of the Katalysine Springs Hotel.  The Hotel grew up around the use of the medicinal water of the Springs.  Many of the Veteran Officers returning to the field in 1882 for John Batchelder's survey of the field, stayed at the Springs Hotel.

The road as it looks today

The Hotel went bankrupt in 1901.  Land located to the east of the Springs Hotel was transferred to the Gettysburg Park Commission in 1904.  This allowed for Meredith Ave to be completed, linking it to Stone and Reynolds Avenues.  The old hotel burnt down in 1917.

Meredith Ave was built using the Telford process.  It was supposed to be built 16 feet wide, with a base dug down 12 inches.  The base was to be packed down with a steam roller, then a hand placed 7 inch layer of stones put onto the base.  This was covered with a 6 inch layer of screened gravel, no bigger than 1 inch and with no more than ¼ part sand.   This was than to be compacted with the steamroller.  At the time, the Park was thought to have some of the best roads in the country.

The Other Part of the Artillery

Tonight we cover the parts of the often overlooked and forgotten Limber.

#1 The Axle - this is the wooden part in which the axle tree is placed.

#2 The Hounds - these are piece of wood which connect the body of the axle to the splinter bar, and the ammunition chest sit on.

#3 The Fork - this is for hitching the wheel horses, which is done by means of a pole yoke.

#4 The Pole - serves for hitching the wheel horses with a pole yoke.

#5 The Splinter Bar - this serves for the hitching of wheel horses with trace hooks.

#6 The Foot Boards - these are screwed to hounds and forks and are used by the cannoneers when on the limber.

#7 The Pintle Hook - placed on the back of the limber axletree.  This is what unites the limber to the carriage.

#8 The Pole Prop - is used to support the limber when the horses are not hitched.