Le Randonneur: Gettysburg, PA, to Waynesboro, VA

12 January 2016: Today was all that a road trip should be.

I explored the Gettysburg battlefield for several hours in the morning. I drove around the marked route, stopping frequently at places where the most important fighting took place during the second and third days of the battle (2 & 3 July 1863). I was practically alone on the battlefield.

Around midday, I drove for a couple of hours from Gettysburg, crossing Maryland and West Virginia, to Front Royal, Virginia. There, at the entrance to Shenandoah National Park, I bought a Senior Pass (for $10), which entitles me to unlimited free entry for life into National Parks in the United States -- a good deal!

I then drove the length of the spectacular Skyline Drive. Winter is a good time to do this drive: The trees without their leaves are starkly beautiful and allow light to pass through their bare branches. All of the commercial infrastructure along the Drive (hotels, shops, restaurants, etc.) is closed, and there are few cars on the road. There are numerous "lookout" points along the Drive where one can park the car and admire the spectacular views, both east and west.

I covered the 105 miles of the Skyline Drive in about three hours (including stops at several lookout points). By 5:00, the sun was setting directly in my line of vision, making the drive difficult, and light snow flurries were developing. I was ready to settle in for the evening. I found a motel in Waynesboro, VA, the first town that I passed after leaving the Shenandoah National Park.

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A quiet day at the Gettysburg battlefield:

On the second day of the battle, Union General Sickles -- acting without orders -- moved his troops forward to what became known as the Peach Orchard, the Wheat Field and the Devil's Den. The troops were badly exposed in those positions and were decimated by the Confederates. Seeing the terrain, I understood more clearly why Sickles' action is generally considered to be a huge blunder that nearly led to the defeat of the Union army. Here is the view of that area from an observation tower on the Confederate side. Little Round Top and Big Round Top are visible on the horizon.

Union forces managed to occupy and hold the strategic Little Round Top at the southern end of their line in the late afternoon of the second day. This prevented the Confederates from exploiting their success against Sickles' troops on the ground below Little Round Top. When one observes Little Round Top looming over the battlefield, one is surprised that Union forces did not occupy it sooner.

Here's the view from Little Round Top:

Here are views from Seminary Ridge, occupied by the Confederates, of Cemetary Ridge to the east, held by the Union army. It was from here, following an intense artillery bombardment, that some 12,000 Confederate soldiers attacked the Union army in "Pickett's Charge" in the afternoon of the third day.

This is the ground that the soldiers of Pickett's Charge crossed to attack Cemetery Ridge:

A big monument, dedicated to Virginian soldiers, stands where Confederate General Lee observed Pickett's Charge. That's Lee on top.

The inscription on this monument dedicated to Mississippian soldiers refers to them fighting for a "righteous cause". That's not how I would describe the defense of slavery!

Many monuments mark the area where the Confederates reached the Union lines on Cemetery Ridge -- and were beaten back...

This is the view from Cemetary Ridge across to Seminary Ridge; these are the fields crossed by the soldiers of Pickett's Charge. The big monument dedicated to the Virginians, crowned by a statue of Lee, is visible in front of the tree line in the background. It is noteworthy that Cemetery Ridge is not very high; it did not give the Union soldiers much protection, apart from the stone walls on its crest.