The following teaser is from an interesting AP article about the preparations at Gettysburg for the 150th anniversary of that epic civil was battle.
GETTYSBURG, Pa. (AP) — The commemoration of this year’s milestone anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg will include amenities that soldiers would have relished 150 years ago.
A groomed path to the top of Little Round Top. Expanded cellphone coverage. Dozens of portable toilets.
The National Park Service and a cadre of community organizers are busily putting the finishing touches on preparations for the commemoration of the pivotal battle of the American Civil War that cemented this small Pennsylvania town’s place in U.S history. Tens of thousands of visitors are expected for a 10-day schedule of events that begin June 29.
“I think we’re ready,” Bob Kirby, superintendent of Gettysburg National Military Park, said in a recent interview . “We’re ready for what the world would like to see.”
But that doesn’t necessarily mean just flooding the historical 6,000-acre battlefield, and surrounding town, with the modern comforts of home. To help visitors better understand what happened at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 1-3, 1863, the National Park Service first decided to look back.
There were about 51,000 casualties — historical estimates put the total dead around 7,500 — at Gettysburg, considered a major turning point of the war after Northern forces turned away a Confederate advance.
