Gettysburg Battlefield trip: 'Like stepping back in time'

NPC members traveled back in time to three days of Civil War history on the Club's June 8 visit to Gettysburg National Park, in advance of the park's July 1 observation of the 150th anniversary of the epic battle.

Civil War historian Dave Richards expertly guided 46 NPC members and guests, pointing out heroes sung and unsung, including Col. Patrick O’Rourke of the 140th New York Infantry, Union Gen. George G. Meade, Gettysburg resident John Burns, Confederate infantrymen who participated in “Pickett’s Charge on Cemetery Ridge, and Confederate Brig. Gen. Lewis Armistead.

Under Richards' energetic tutelage, Club members and guests received snapshots of the key events on each day of the battle. They started with Union cavalry holding off the Confederate advance west of Gettysburg on July 1, moved to Little Round Top where Confederate forces were pushed back by the last-minute arrival of the 140th New York Infantry from Rochester on July 2, and finished by looking down from Cemetery Ridge across the fields where Confederate troops launched their last-ditch attack on July 3. They also stood on the spot where President Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address four and a half months later.

One NPC member described the experience as "stepping back in time.”

As in past years, the trip was hosted by the Civil War Trust, pursuant to its long-standing reciprocal arrangement with the Club. It was the third in the Club’s sesquicentennial visits to nearby Civil War battlefields, following trips to Manassas in 2011 and Antietam in 2012.