This album has 2064 photos in total.
Album was created 8/5/09 8:57 PM.
The Battle of Gettysburg, fought on July 1–3, 1863, was the battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War and is often consideredas the war's turning point. Fought in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the Battle of Gettysburg saw 165,000 Union and Confederate soldiers clash in a three day battle that resulted in more than 51,000 casualties. On the third day of the battle, Confederate soldiers in an attack called Pickett's Charge reached the copse of trees near The Angle (a corner in a low stone wall) on Cemetery Ridge; this represented the farthest point north that Robert E. Lee's forces reached during the Civil War. For this reason the copse of trees is often referred to as the High Water Mark of the Confederacy.
Pickett's Charge was a disaster for the Confederate forces and ended Robert E. Lee's plan to move his forces north to Harrisburg Pennsylvania and on to Washington DC. While the Civil War continued on for two more years, the Battle of Gettysburg changed the dynamics of the war and General Lee was never truly on the offensive again.
The Miniature Gettysburg Battlefield Diorama at Artillery Ridge Campground features 20,000 hand-painted soldiers, horses, cannon and wagons, trees, fences, roads, bridges and streams, models of the buildings including the entire town of Gettysburg, and an incredible contoured landscape of the battlefield. The quality of work is so good you can easily pick out the various places on the landscape. There is nothing tacky or goofy about this diorama at all; it's a very serious and remarkable recreation of the Gettysburg battlefield.
Several times a day they run a 35-minute show that uses lights and sound effects to trace the battle around the diorama . . . what a great way to see how the battle unfolded! It costs only $4.50 for adults, less for kids, so you can take the family to watch it without spending a fortune. If you don't want to stay for the show, there is no charge to go in and ogle the diorama. Pictures are allowed too.
My understanding is that this diorama is moving to another location in the town very soon. I will follow up with the folks at the campground and post that information as it becomes available to me.
