Gettysburg, Day 2

Back in our little home after a day of battle stories.  The wind is still blowing -- it's been windy since we left Colorado over a week ago.  We had a brief reprieve today during a ranger talk about Pickett's Charge. It took place on the third day and ended the battle of Gettysburg.  Lee insisted on charging toward the Union soldiers, against the advice of one of his generals.  General Meade and his Union soldiers had interviewed all the captured soldiers and anticipated from where the attack would come and the result was 5,000 casualties for the Confederate army in the hour long battle.

There was a camp set up by volunteers for the US Sanitary Commission.  When I saw the name I wondered what the heck the connection was.  The Sanitary Commission was begun by concerned women in the north who wanted to improve life for soldiers.  They helped them, or their families, collect pensions.  They also worked to improve life in the field, encouraging the army to avoid setting up camp in boggy areas (malaria) and to allow the commission to provide fruits and vegetables for the men -- just a few of the ways they helped.  The camp was a replica of ones set up for traveling soldiers who might need medical care, food, or a night's sleep.

Supplies on hand to share with soldiers.  Below is on of the volunteers showing us a block of tea they would give to the men.  It has raised artwork on it, and a wealthy family would have an entire illustrated tea square on display in their home.  These blocks traveled well; when tea was needed, they scraped some off with a knife.

This table below shows some of the other items provided for the soldiers.  In the lower left-hand corner is a basket with packets of hot chocolate mix, coffee, and lemonade, which they encouraged to avoid scurvy. The tea block is next to the basket.  Above the packets is a basket of sponges for wounds and washing.  To the right are ginger cookies (they traveled well) wrapped in wax paper, which could be later used to start a fire, and then wrapped in material scraps which could be used to patch clothes.  The little basket in the upper right corner has sewing kits.  They were called 'housewives' and soldiers left home with ones made by their wives, daughters . . . and usually out of cloth from a special dress. Volunteer women made new ones to replace those lost during battle.  Behind that is a yoke for carrying water buckets at the camp.   The basket in front on the right has bandage rolls, and a bandage roller is to the right of the basket.  In the center is an example of a letter which might have accompanied some of the supplies.  

I'm having technical difficulties downloading the photos of volunteers in soldier garb, so I'll save that for later.  The talks we heard today were excellent, and sobering.  As Craig said, it's just sad.  So many lives lost.  And in the case of the Confederate side, many were lost due to poor communication, misinformation, bad decisions, and faulty weaponry.