Most Civil War students who live in the Eastern United States will have visited the museum at the Gettysburg National Military Park at some point in their lives. This is where an outstanding collection of Civil War artifacts are displayed, as is the famous Gettysburg Cyclorama. I first visited the museum in 1969 and have been back to it a half-dozen times. The building was demolished in 2008 and a new, and expanded, museum and visitors center was built. Now, more than ten years after it opened, in June I went to tour the museum.
The old museum had the stodginess of a century-old building, but when I visited it as a child my father told me that men who had fought in the battle had themselves walked down the same hallways I was walking down. We saw the electric map at the museum and we went into Cyclorama Building, designed by Richard Neutra. Back then, it was free to go to the museum, but we had to pay to see the electric map and the Cyclorama. Neutra’s building looked like it was from the future back in 1969!
The “new museum”, as the National Park Service staff refer to it even though it is more than a decade old, is a big improvement over the site I had visited in the past. The electric map has been removed, unfortunately, but the hallmark collection of artifacts is well-presented and the Cyclorama has been restored and placed in a new special exhibiting center. I will post later about the painting in another post.
The Visitors Center has several areas that are free, including several exhibits, a National Park Service help desk, a bookstore, and a cafeteria. For most of the attractions here, though, you will have to pay a fee. Here are the fees for the museum: Adults (over 13 years of age) is $14.75 and Youths (ages 6-12) is $12.75. Under six is free. Since you may want to see the movie or visit the Cyclorama you may want to buy the Museum, Film and Cyclorama Experience and see all three.
That is what I did and I enjoyed all three.
The museum is at 1195 Baltimore Pike in Gettysburg, PA 17325. There is adequate free parking near the museum. It is open from 8AM to 5PM during the tourist season. Here is where you can find out all the details of the schedule.
Some parts of the new museum continue the experience I had in the 1960s-huge amounts of weapons displays located in rows upon rows of cases. Artillery pieces with there specs displayed next to them, and there are musical instruments!
Muskets and carbines mounted inside reflective glass cases.
Instruments from the musicians who accompanied the troops to Gettysburg.
Dozens of different kinds of buttons. I wonder if any war has generated so much interest in buttons?
And more muskets.
Pistols, most of which look like private purchases.
While these displays held my attention, very few other visitors seemed to pay much attention to them. Which means that when the new museum was constructed, it had to be different from the old displays of military technology.
As a kid, I really like the 3-D dioramas and maps that the old museum had. I found two of them, and with 21st Century eyes I was not impressed. These things figured much larger in my mind than they were in person! This plots out the battle for Culp’s Hill.
And then at the paid entrance to the museum are two soldiers dressed in Union and Confederate uniforms.
After entering the paid area, I was confronted with a jail door. This was the door to John Brown’s cell. He was held in Charles Town, Virginia after he was captured for his 1859 uprising in Harpers Ferry. He was trying to free slaves and he was executed for “Treason” against the State of Virginia, a state he was never a citizen of. Two years later, some of the same men involved in his execution would launch a war against the United States but they would never be tried for treason.
The entrance places the question of slavey as the first question for the visitor. When I visited the predecessor museum back in 1969 there was not mention of slavery or even of African Americans at the site. While slavery is not dealt with in most of the exhibits in the new museum, there are several where it is examined more closely.
The museum next turns to the outbreak of the war and the “First Flag of the Confederacy.”
Two cannon balls fired by Confederate artillerymen at Fort Sumter in April of 1861.
Then to the recruitment and outfitting of the two armies.
The displays of the equipment of the newly recruited soldiers is probably the cleanest set of uniforms these soldiers would ever see during the war. Of course, we know that many of the uniforms issued in 1861 were wildly divergent from these standards.
The recruiting posters include one trying to raise German regiments. Nearly a quarter of Union troops were foreign born, a major resource for the United States. The poster not only uses German words, it also uses German type. Strange to think of those trying to discourage the use of any language other than English today. A century and a half ago the use of other languages was commonplace.
By the time Gettysburg took place, Black troops were already being deployed by Abraham Lincoln and just a few weeks after Gettysburg the 54th Massachusetts Regiment would make its famous charge. While there were not Black units at Gettysburg, the museum does a commendable job at showing the impact of the United States Colored Troops on the Union war effort.
Tied in with the recruiting of Black troops was the emancipation of slaves living under Confederate control.
Next the museum tells the story of how soldiers lived. First there was a display of Robert E, Lee’s equipment inside his tent.
Next there was the tent of an officer.
Below is the tent of two soldiers.
The food and cooking equipment of soldiers on the march was in the next display.
The museum also looks at how the armies tried to keep up morale. While music was important, the exhibit really does not deal with keeping the men in the ranks through four long years of war in which a quarter of Confederate soldiers died and more than 400,000 Union men also perished. It had to be more than some lively tunes.
Next, the cavalry was looked at.
There was a good display of the role that cavalry played in the battle. I saw a fair amount of children studying the horse soldier.
Finally, there was the artillery.
While the artillery exhibit was impeccable, I saw very little viewer interest in it. I wonder if the lack of human interaction with the artillery piece was responsible.
Then the museum told the story of the Battle of Gettysburg, from the First Shot.
A Confederate regimental flag. This flag belonged to the Sixth North Carolina, which captured two cannons on July 1, 1863.
One of the Union units fighting against the Confederate advance was the Iron Brigade with their Hardee Hats.
The First Corps Flag that accompanied John Reynolds is on display.
A private’s mess kit is displayed, Its owner would arrive on July 2.
The Orange Blossoms, from New York’s Orange County, took the brunt of John Bell Hood’s assault on July 2.
Anyone familiar with the actions on July 2 knows the impact of the Sharpshooters that day.
The cartridge box of a German-born Jew in the XI Corps recalls the heroic fight by these immigrants for Culp’s Hill on July Second.
The museum uses artifacts from Meade’s headquarters on the night of July 2 to tell the story of his meeting with his Corps commanders to plan for the final day of battle.
It looks like an ordinary bedroom, but it was the command center of a 100,000 man army.
Simple home goods that witnessed the most momentous Council of War of the conflict.
The are several displays covering “Pickett’s Charge.” One focuses on the Union troops at the Angle and on the Flank Marker of the 106th Pennsylvania.
Confederate generals Pickett. Pettigrew, and Trimble commanded men who would have to march out against a well-entrenched Union line. To soften it up, 150 Confederate cannons were trained on Cemetery Ridge.
Waiting to receive them were the men of the Philadelphia Brigade with the 69th Pennsylvania at the apex of the Confederate assault. The 69th was an Irish immigrant regiment. Below is the frock coat of Michael Duffy, a captain of the 69th. He was shot on July 2 and would die.
A Confederate left a Valentine for the owner of the home he took shelter in Gettysburg.
There is also an exhibit on Civil War medicine.
The museum shows several different flags that Confederates flew at different times during the war like this “Second Confederate Flag.”
The museum also tells the story of soldiers voting in elections held while they were on campaign.
A Brigade Flag from the II Corps.
The pen used by Ulysses S. Grant to accept the surrender of General Robert E. Lee.
After the Confederate surrender, a group of Confederate secret agents assassinated Lincoln.
After touring the museum, I went to Patty O’Rorke’s tavern in town. It is at 44 Steinwehr Ave, Gettysburg, PA 17325. O’Rorke was the first Irish immigrant to graduate from West Point and he was a colonel at Gettysburg. His bravery helped save Little Round Top for the Union, but he lost his life on its slope. The food here is reasonably priced and it appeals both to the adult and child alike.
Most meals were between fifteen and twenty-five dollars with reasonably priced drinks. Many parents brough their children into the pub, so don’t think this is an “adults only” bar.
The new museum is a welcome addition to learning about the history of the Battle of Gettysburg. It has priceless original artifacts that are on display and it does a good job of teaching visitors about the history of the Civil War. I was sorry to see that the kidnapping of Blacks during the Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania was not given more attention, not was the refugee flow out of the area by local Blacks escaping enslavement in June and July of 1863 adequately dealt with, but otherwise the museum is a big improvement over the old museum.
I did see visitors touring the museum and seemingly lost in the details of the exhibits. Visitors looked at each exhibit for a few seconds and moved on.
All color photos taken by Pat Young.
Photo Tour of Elizabeth Thorn Statue Gettysburg
Photo Tour of Gettysburg Cyclorama
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