Since we returned from Gettysburg late last week people have been asking me what I most enjoyed about the trip. The answer, hands down, was the excursion we made one morning to Evergreen Cemetery. I had of course been to the National Cemetery several times, but until this June I had never been to the town resting place lying adjacent to it. Now that I have, I feel I understand the town and the battle in a way I had not previously. Here are a few photos. Note that all contemporary images were taken in June 2012. A frustrating snafu on my part caused me to program the wrong year in my digital camera. The Hayfoot can attest to how frustrated I was when I discovered my error.

One would have to start with James Gettys, founder of Gettysburg.

John Burns is one of the Battle of Gettysburg’s genuine characters. A veteran of the War of 1812, the aging Burns grabbed his musket and headed toward McPherson’s Ridge when he heard the sound of the guns.

Here he is looking west toward the Chambersburg Pike.

The battle becomes more immediate when one sees the headstones of individuals whose names gave their designations to some of the battle’s most important events. There is no substitute for getting out and seeing where history was made.

Above is another example.

Many of the families are still very much a part of the community. There were numerous plots of easily recognizable family names considerably more recent than these.

The Evergreen Cemetery Gateway

Gettin’ our sesquicentennial on…