Nice shots,it's been over 20 years since  we went definitely need to plan another trip,thanks for posting.

I like Killer Angels,it's written like a novel,really good. 

Well having spent quite a bit of time there(Living only 3 hours from there that is easy to do) Gettysburg is a place everyone should go atleast once. I go there for the history, the houses,, thats mostly my wife, and I admit it I am a gohst hunter so the evening walks are really interesting to both my wife and I. As for books there are a lot of them. The best would probably be a book called They Met At Gettysburg. By Edward Stackpole. That was a easy read and covered the entire battle. Now if you want to go into great depth the best books are by Harry Pfanz. He has written 3 books. One covering the First Day, and 2 covering the 2nd day. One covering the south part of the Battle and the other on the North part. These Books cover the battle down to Regimental Level. Now there are other books but those are my favorites. Hope this helps.

feldgrau23

Well having spent quite a bit of time there(Living only 3 hours from there that is easy to do) Gettysburg is a place everyone should go atleast once. I go there for the history, the houses,, thats mostly my wife, and I admit it I am a gohst hunter so the evening walks are really interesting to both my wife and I. As for books there are a lot of them. The best would probably be a book called They Met At Gettysburg. By Edward Stackpole. That was a easy read and covered the entire battle. Now if you want to go into great depth the best books are by Harry Pfanz. He has written 3 books. One covering the First Day, and 2 covering the 2nd day. One covering the south part of the Battle and the other on the North part. These Books cover the battle down to Regimental Level. Now there are other books but those are my favorites. Hope this helps.

 

I loved Pfanz "The First Day" !! very deep ,gives you a feel for what was happening.

Tojo72

 

 

feldgrau23

Well having spent quite a bit of time there(Living only 3 hours from there that is easy to do) Gettysburg is a place everyone should go atleast once. I go there for the history, the houses,, thats mostly my wife, and I admit it I am a gohst hunter so the evening walks are really interesting to both my wife and I. As for books there are a lot of them. The best would probably be a book called They Met At Gettysburg. By Edward Stackpole. That was a easy read and covered the entire battle. Now if you want to go into great depth the best books are by Harry Pfanz. He has written 3 books. One covering the First Day, and 2 covering the 2nd day. One covering the south part of the Battle and the other on the North part. These Books cover the battle down to Regimental Level. Now there are other books but those are my favorites. Hope this helps.

 

 

 

 

 

I loved Pfanz "The First Day" !! very deep ,gives you a feel for what was happening.

 

His books are great. I read the first one when it first came out. The next time I went to Gettysburg I used it to trace the steps of some of the regiments I have read about.

feldgrau23

 

 

Tojo72

 

 

feldgrau23

Well having spent quite a bit of time there(Living only 3 hours from there that is easy to do) Gettysburg is a place everyone should go atleast once. I go there for the history, the houses,, thats mostly my wife, and I admit it I am a gohst hunter so the evening walks are really interesting to both my wife and I. As for books there are a lot of them. The best would probably be a book called They Met At Gettysburg. By Edward Stackpole. That was a easy read and covered the entire battle. Now if you want to go into great depth the best books are by Harry Pfanz. He has written 3 books. One covering the First Day, and 2 covering the 2nd day. One covering the south part of the Battle and the other on the North part. These Books cover the battle down to Regimental Level. Now there are other books but those are my favorites. Hope this helps.

 

 

 

 

 

I loved Pfanz "The First Day" !! very deep ,gives you a feel for what was happening.

 

 

 

 

His books are great. I read the first one when it first came out. The next time I went to Gettysburg I used it to trace the steps of some of the regiments I have read about.

 

thanks guys I'll definitely check those books out. I like the sound of the books that take it day by day. 

it does make it more personal when you can follow in their footprints feldgrau23. i wish I had known more about the battle before the visit but I know I'll be going back.

I'm close to Shiloh. I've been there a few times; the last one was guided which I recommend. He gave a very chilling story of what the union troops encountered on the opening of the battle, as a small patrol sees the entire confederate force breaking out of a tree line on the other side of a rolling field after some small skirmishing. I've also been downriver to Fort Donelson which set the stage for Shiloh, and Corinth, MS where the aftermath of Shiloh played out.

I recommend "Company Aytch " by Sam Watkins who was a confederate private in the western theater.

Hey that's pretty awesome! I've been a couple of times and need to get back up there. Did you get a chance to go by President Eisenhower's farm? And a bit over an hour's drive north is Hersey which is well worth visiting- the whole friggin' town smells like chocolate! 

You might also want to check out the movies, 'Gods and Generals' and 'Gettysburg'. I've had friends complain that they're a little slow and dull in spots and there's some grognards who complain about inaccurate points but I still picked both up on DVD. 

And for a more bizarre treatment look up Harry Turtledove's 'The Guns of the South'. In the last days of the war with the Army of Northern Virginia backed up against the wall a group of mysterious strangers show up with crates of an amazing repeating rifle they claims to have brought in from Russia tehy call an 'AK-47'. And even more useful is their uncanny knowledge of exactly what is going to happen, almost like they read it in a history book... Funny thing is despite being a SF/fantasy novel Turtledove does a lot of research into the time periods doing a knockout job getting the little stuff right so that like most good SF even with the crazy stuff it seems very much real. 

Exit 49 on 81 in Carlisle Pa has a US Army Museum,I saw it from the road and wanted to stop,checked out online when I got home and that looks pretty cool also.

http://www.carlisle.army.mil/ahec/trail/aht.cfm

Tojo72

Exit 49 on 81 in Carlisle Pa has a US Army Museum,I saw it from the road and wanted to stop,checked out online when I got home and that looks pretty cool also.

 

http://www.carlisle.army.mil/ahec/trail/aht.cfm

 

That does look interesting Tojo. I'll have to check it out when I get down there again.

Gamera - We didn't get a chance to visit Eisenhower's farm. I saw it on one of the maps but it was around 100deg heat index and we had been outside all day, so everyone was wiped out by then. So instead we went and got some ice cream! They had a frozen lemonade drink there that was pretty good I must say lol.

Tojo72

Exit 49 on 81 in Carlisle Pa has a US Army Museum,I saw it from the road and wanted to stop,checked out online when I got home and that looks pretty cool also.

 

http://www.carlisle.army.mil/ahec/trail/aht.cfm

 

This museum is worth the trip as well. Went there before they built it up to were its at now and was very impressed. Have drivin past a couple times since and while I haven't stopped it looks like they have added quite a bit since I was there. 

I started to read the turtledove book and was getting into it when life kicked in and had to set it aside for a while. How ever the premiss of the book can lead to a pretty good discussion thats for sure.

I'm thinking I've been to that museum, not sure though, I've visited so many by now they kinda blur together. 

The Turtledove book is interesting, it really gets moving over a third in where Lee and company start putting together the pieces that their mysterious benefactors don't have the best interest of the CSA at heart. Or the USA or pretty much anyone in that time period.  

Gamera

 

The Turtledove book is interesting, it really gets moving over a third in where Lee and company start putting together the pieces that their mysterious benefactors don't have the best interest of the CSA at heart. Or the USA or pretty much anyone in that time period.  

 

I love the what if aspect. He has another series that follows into the World Wars and how different everything might have been had the south suceeded.

IamRaider

 

 

Gamera

 

The Turtledove book is interesting, it really gets moving over a third in where Lee and company start putting together the pieces that their mysterious benefactors don't have the best interest of the CSA at heart. Or the USA or pretty much anyone in that time period.  

 

 

 

 

I love the what if aspect. He has another series that follows into the World Wars and how different everything might have been had the south suceeded.

 

At the risk of veering off subject here I have those novels but haven't gotten to reading them yet. I did read his series where these aliens invade Earth right in the middle of the Second World War. We end up with Germans and Soviets in Europe and Americans and Japanese in the Pacific having to work together to fight the aliens. 

And then the sequel trilogy set in the '60s. Due to there never being a real ending to the war the Imperials still rule Japan and the Third Reich still rules most of Europe. And now the US, UK, USSR, Japan, and Germany are all armed with atomic weapons. Even worse the aliens were on a one-way trip with no way to get home so the peace treaty gave them large areas of Australia, South America, and Africa for homes where they rule over the native humans. Now some of the captive aliens warn of a second fleet full of alien colonists on it's way. 

If you're going, double down and take a run to Antietam, 50 miles south. Less comercial and more personal.

Gamera

 

IamRaider

 

 

Gamera

 

The Turtledove book is interesting, it really gets moving over a third in where Lee and company start putting together the pieces that their mysterious benefactors don't have the best interest of the CSA at heart. Or the USA or pretty much anyone in that time period.  

 

 

 

 

I love the what if aspect. He has another series that follows into the World Wars and how different everything might have been had the south suceeded.

 

 

 

 

At the risk of veering off subject here I have those novels but haven't gotten to reading them yet. I did read his series where these aliens invade Earth right in the middle of the Second World War. We end up with Germans and Soviets in Europe and Americans and Japanese in the Pacific having to work together to fight the aliens. 

And then the sequel trilogy set in the '60s. Due to there never being a real ending to the war the Imperials still rule Japan and the Third Reich still rules most of Europe. And now the US, UK, USSR, Japan, and Germany are all armed with atomic weapons. Even worse the aliens were on a one-way trip with no way to get home so the peace treaty gave them large areas of Australia, South America, and Africa for homes where they rule over the native humans. Now some of the captive aliens warn of a second fleet full of alien colonists on it's way. 

 

I read some of the early Turtledove Novels,set in the Civil War,they were okay,Sonewall Jackson surviving,Britian and France backing the south.I think I read up to WWI where Germany was backing the north I think ?

They were making my head spin,getting way out there,that's when I stopped.

I did enjoy the alternate Civil War books by Gingrich+Fortschen

templar1099

If you're going, double down and take a run to Antietam, 50 miles south. Less comercial and more personal.

 

I'm keep that in mind templar. I definitely want to visit there as well. Thanks for the feedback! 

Tojo72

 

 

Gamera

 

IamRaider

 

 

Gamera

 

The Turtledove book is interesting, it really gets moving over a third in where Lee and company start putting together the pieces that their mysterious benefactors don't have the best interest of the CSA at heart. Or the USA or pretty much anyone in that time period.  

 

 

 

 

I love the what if aspect. He has another series that follows into the World Wars and how different everything might have been had the south suceeded.

 

 

 

 

At the risk of veering off subject here I have those novels but haven't gotten to reading them yet. I did read his series where these aliens invade Earth right in the middle of the Second World War. We end up with Germans and Soviets in Europe and Americans and Japanese in the Pacific having to work together to fight the aliens. 

And then the sequel trilogy set in the '60s. Due to there never being a real ending to the war the Imperials still rule Japan and the Third Reich still rules most of Europe. And now the US, UK, USSR, Japan, and Germany are all armed with atomic weapons. Even worse the aliens were on a one-way trip with no way to get home so the peace treaty gave them large areas of Australia, South America, and Africa for homes where they rule over the native humans. Now some of the captive aliens warn of a second fleet full of alien colonists on it's way. 

 

 

 

 

I read some of the early Turtledove Novels,set in the Civil War,they were okay,Sonewall Jackson surviving,Britian and France backing the south.I think I read up to WWI where Germany was backing the north I think ?

They were making my head spin,getting way out there,that's when I stopped.

I did enjoy the alternate Civil War books by Gingrich+Fortschen

 

Yeap, I think that's the same series that IamRaider was refering to. I'll read 'em someday, just that I went though all six of the Second World War with aliens series one after the other and yeah my head ended up spinning too and I had to take a break... 

I've heard about those by Gingrich and Fortschen, I need to look them up. I did read one very scary one by them about an EMP burst knocking out pretty much everything in the US/Canada. 

"To Try Men's Souls" & "Valley Forge" are also good books by Gingrich & Fortschen.

Hey Rooster, sorry about going off track on your tread here. 

To get back on subject it's a bit south of the Gettysburg and Sharpsburg area but the battlefield at New Market is pretty cool. It's not that big but the area where it happened has been preserved complete with a replica of the house and barn that stood in the middle (they both burned down since the battle). There's a small museum nearby that operates in conjuction with the Virginia Military Institute and is dedicated to a group of VMI cadets who were detailed with protecting the supply wagons during the battle. But they ended up being used to plug a hole in the line and several didn't come back. There's several photos you can see of the 'field of lost shoes' where several of the kids lost their shoes in a muddy cornfield and the next day there they were lying with the owner's gone... 

This is way outta the way but while I'm on the subject the Mariner's Museum at Newport News is pretty darn cool. It's not far from Hampton Roads- the first battle of ironclad warships. They have the turret of the USS Monitor in preservation, you can't see much of it in the special tank but they also have two replicas that you can walk around in showing it as it was back in the day and what it looked like after a hundred years on the ocean floor. There's also a full size replica of the Monitor you can walk around on though it was closed for renovation last time I was there (about a year ago). And a partial replica of the CSS Virginia and artifacts from both. And a cool movie theater with flashing lights, big speakers etc to give at least some of the impression of what it must have been like to serve on an ironclad. Plus lots of other stuff as well... 

Did any of you ever read the Crazy William Fortschen series " The Lost Regiment" ?

about the Maine regiment modeled after the 20th that ended up in another world with cannibals and aliens and everything else.That one kept me going for awhile.

I also think the Gingrich Gettysburg was the best of his series

Tojo72

Did any of you ever read the Crazy William Fortschen series " The Lost Regiment" ?

about the Maine regiment modeled after the 20th that ended up in another world with cannibals and aliens and everything else.That one kept me going for awhile.

I also think the Gingrich Gettysburg was the best of his series

 

Oh wow Tojo, I'm going to have to look that one up! 

So... Did you get any experiences of Civil War ghosts whispering in your ear?

BlackSheepTwoOneFour

So... Did you get any experiences of Civil War ghosts whispering in your ear?

 

We did do a Ghost Walk but didn't have any "experiences" ourselves