The battle scars of Gettysburg are still visible

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Before Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, visitors can reach Cemetery Ridge or Devil’s Den, the scars of the greatest battle on American soil are everywhere in this red brick town.

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Homes dating back to July 1-4, 1863, when more than 50,000 Union and Confederate soldiers are believed to have died, are dotted with old cannonballs lodged in ceilings and bedrooms, with bullet holes in the masonry large enough to , to stick a finger in.

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Many are seen in and around Shriver House with the faded bloodstains of Confederate snipers on the roof who died in the street fighting that raged as part of the wider conflict. The tour of the two-story home, where unwanted guests from the South wrote taunting letters to the ostracized Shriver family, includes the basement lounge. The entire property has been restored to its chaotic appearance during the battle.

Gettysburg from Washington, DC can be driven in two hours or less by car, crossing three different states. Strolling through the pleasant towns and rolling countryside of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania is a meaningful way to enhance a trip to America’s capital once you’ve covered its major sites and museums.

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The Shriver House and surrounding homes reveal the costly civilian side of the conflict when Robert E. Lee’s forces surprised the Union by attacking from the north to threaten Washington. There are several restaurants where you can rest before heading to the Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center, including General Pickett’s, named for the brave Confederate who led a futile infantry charge to capture Cemetery Ridge on the last day of the battle.

Navigating the center, which requires entry, is a must for perspective on what led to this pivotal part of the war and the many stories of bravery that unfolded across 4,600 hectares of fields, hills and rocky outcrops. It features introductory films and a multimedia cyclorama, a 360-degree look at the ebb and flow of the battle, originally painted in 1884, updated with 21st-century sound and lighting.

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Interactive background stories featuring participants from both sides, surviving shattered furniture and a tree trunk embedded with musket balls are displayed with weaponry and battle flags from a war that claimed 620,000 lives between 1861-65 in a country that was not yet 100 years old.

The carnage at Gettysburg is hard to quantify. In addition to human casualties, it is estimated that thousands of horses died in artillery exchanges, gunfire, or other accidents. As late as 2018, remains of soldiers are still being found in the surrounding agricultural fields.

Although you can drive to many key points around the site, a guided tour of the battlefield is recommended. Although there are many Civil War buffs (our tour included eager Brits and Europeans), these local guides really know their stuff, from strategy to identifying the exact spot in the massive field where the state regiments of both sides were stationed.

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Oxidized guns remain (most of the wooden carriages of the time had to be replaced over time), as well as solemn monuments at key junctions to individual officers or units, erected by comrades who returned years later.

Many bodies were exhumed and reburied in the National Military Park Cemetery. Modern provenance research with new military records has led to more accurate identification of headstones. Not far from the cemetery is where most believe President Abraham Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address four and a half months after the battle.

Open year-round except for Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s, Gettysburg tours can be self-guided by car, group van, horseback, ghost hike, or walking around town. Little Round Top, site of a key Union defensive stand, closed in July for an 18-month rehabilitation project.

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