GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Sweat soaking their wool uniforms, the Union and Confederate soldiers met near the stone wall to exchange handshakes, pleasantries and even a few jokes.
On this warm, sticky Sunday afternoon, both North and South went home happy after the Battle of Gettysburg.
Thousands of history buffs recreated the Confederate Army’s ill-fated Pickett’s Charge to end the first of two massive re-enactments held in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War’s pivotal conflict.
But the events to remember the battle that took place July 1-3, 1863 are far from over. The National Park Service took the spotlight Sunday night with its commemoration ceremony, just about 100 yards from the actual point in the battlefield where Pickett’s Charge was rebuffed.
“Tonight, we’re here to honor the dead; to recognize their courage and heroism; and to mark this major event in American history,” Park Service director Jonathan Jarvis told a crowd of several thousand that assembled at dusk, facing a stage set against the picturesque backdrop of the fields and hills where the fierce fighting took place.
“But I would suggest we’re also here to reaffirm the principles that demanded such terrible sacrifices in the summer of 1863,” Jarvis said. “The ‘new birth of freedom’ President Lincoln spoke of was not a finite event .... It was part of a process that continued long after the Civil War and which, today, requires our constant vigilance.”
Up to 10,000 Union and Confederate soldiers died at Gettysburg, considered the war’s turning point.
Earlier Sunday, Union re-enactor William Hincks was awed by the chance to take part in the re-creation of the crucial battle.
“This has been unbelievable. The scale of it and the intensity those men must have gone through,” Hincks, 40, of East Hampton, Conn., said. “It’s intense without flying lead.”
More than 200,000 visitors were expected to swarm the south-central Pennsylvania town of about 7,500 residents over the 10-day milestone anniversary period ending July 7. Organizers said things were going smoothly so far.
A different group is holding a second re-enactment, described by local organizers as even larger in scale, set to begin on Independence Day. Re-enactments are held on private properties, miles from the actual battlefield.
In between, the Park Service hosts most of the spotlight events on the actual anniversary days of the encounter, including popular battlefield historical tours led by rangers.
“We expect to be ramping up as we head into July,” said Carl Whitehill, spokesman for the Gettysburg Convention and Visitors Bureau. “The re-enactment at the end of the week is expected to be the big, big event.”
