Greetings Family and Friends,
The bloodiest war that the United States has been involved in was the American Civil War with an estimated 750,000 deaths. During that war was also the bloodiest battle that the United States has been involved in – the Battle of Gettysburg with some 51,000 deaths over three days of battle. Staying in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, I had the opportunity to visit the National Civil War Museum. Roughly 45 minutes southwest of Harrisburg is Gettysburg, which in addition to the actual battlefield, hosts the Gettysburg Diorama.
The National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg is an absolutely beautiful facility both in appearance and exhibit presentation. Divided into 17 sections, the museum covers events and conditions leading up to the war, the war itself in chronology as well as other aspects of the war, and some post-war perspectives.
There are exhibits which do a phenomenal job of showing the uniforms and equipment of the various military branches of both the Union and Confederate forces: infantry, cavalry, artillery, and navy. Also, exemplary, in my opinion, are the exhibits presenting the state of medical care during the war. Lastly, there are a couple of photos towards the end of the gallery showing informational placards on the “War of Firsts”. Some of these I captured in photos of exhibits, but not all, so read through the placards in these two photos. They are extremely interesting – as in I didn’t know that!
The Gettysburg Diorama in Gettysburg is a huge diorama depicting the Battle of Gettysburg. The room that the diorama is housed in has bleachers where the audience sits for a showing. The pre-recorded presentation is 40 minutes in length and provides information and commentary as well as good use of spotlighting to move you around the diorama to see the flow of the battle as it unfolded.
Time is also provided both before and after the presentation to examine the diorama in detail. After the presentation and the handful of other attendees departed, I shot the video below showing the diorama in roughly the same direction as the battle took place. The gallery below has photos showing some smaller separate dioramas followed by photos of sections of the main diorama.
Also, went to downtown Harrisburg to grab a few pics of the state capitol and other buildings nearby. The bronze figures mark the area known as Tanner’s Allery which was connected with the Underground Railway for helping runaway slaves. The bridge behind the capital with the twin pylons is the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Bridge. And some impressive churches are close by – Roman Catholic, United Methodist, and Presbyterian, respectively. You know where to find the photos.
That’s it for now. As always, feel free to share this link with anyone who expresses an interest. Next stop will be in a panhandle.
Until later,
Papi