Day Three: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

This was the actually the very first Confederate flag.
It was too close to the original. Not sure when they changed.

This of course was the Union Flag.
With all the stars representing all the states.

There was no flash photography in the Museum.
I love how this photo turned out with all the cool shadows.

A sitting room dedicated to Old Abe.

What is left of the what we now know as the Confederate flage.

Brent in front of the Visitor Center

Canons placed just so.

A beautiful picture taken by Brent.
I'm sure this is one of the many fields that the battle took place.

This is one of the beginning points of the battle.
Pike's something.
I am not a good historian. I remember recipes better.

Virginia Memorial mostly dedicated to General Lee.

I think this is the Mississippi Memorial.

One of the many battlefields.

I think this is Little Round Top.

Looking down into Devil's Den.

Asher having fun on the cannon.

Asher with Aunt Amberlyn.

A view from the Pennsylvania Memorial

The Pennsylvania Memorial.
It by far was the biggest one.
You could actually climb this little winding stair case to the top.
Asher and I were the only ones to venture to the top.

Candid photo of Brent taken by Jamie.

Brent and I after 13 years of marriage.

On the third of our trip, which was Thursday, we all hoped in the car and headed to Gettysburg. It's only a 90 minute drive. Jessica and I sat in the back and the trip was over lickety split. Again, my visions of Gettysburg was so much different then what it actually was. I thought we were going to drive up to a field, walk around for a little bit and hop back in the car. Boy was I wrong. The battle took place over a 25 square mile radius. We actually bought a cd which took us on a self guided tour. Before we took off on the tour Brent and I watched a short movie about the civil war. It was, again, overwhelming. About 645,000 men lost their lives. That number is just to incredible to even think about. Another fact that overwhelmed me was about the last day of the battle which took place on July 3. General Lee's army was a MILE wide!!! A mile wide, that is just outrageous.
During our trip back we talked a little bit about how these famous men are immortalized. Like Lincoln, he was really for slavery. But felt stronger about a United Country. No one really talks about that. The discussion even moved towards Joseph Smith and how he wasn't the best husband at times to Emma. As I thought more about this and how we immortalize famous men, and women. It's like a funeral. At funerals you never talk about all the bad or uncomfortable things about the person. You simply talk about the good. And thus you remember, for the most part, the good in that person. Which is as it should be. But I think we also need to remember that these men were human, and made mistakes just like the next person.