A tour through America’s most hallowed ground – the Gettysburg National Military Park. Draw the Sword is a Gettysburg monument project. The focus isn’t on telling the story of the battle as it is on the monuments and memorials, though I certainly hope you could learn a lot about the battle through this site. Where should I start? If you’re new to the site, you may want to check out the about page — it is the site “FAQ” and it explains the scope of the project as well as provides further resources on the battle. Another great place to start is Monument 101 which, as the name suggests, is an introduction to the monuments on the battlefield and the organization of a Civil War army. Or, of course, you can just jump right in and start looking at monuments. You’ll find them organized by type, state, “order of battle,” or by the nearest road. Just select from the drop
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Gettysburg buffs will be happy to know that the “Cannoneer” on top of Smith’s 4th New York Independent Artillery monument has been repaired by the National Park Service and is finally back in place at Devil’s Den where it belongs. This monument was severely vandalized in February 2006. On this same day, two monuments on the Emmitsburg Road, the monument to the 11th Massachusetts and the monument to the 114th Pennsylvania in front of the Sherfy Farm at the Peach Orchard were also vandalized. The damage to the 114th Pennsylvania has been repaired, but the damage to the 11th Massachusetts monument still remains unrepaired. Sadly this is not the first time this monument, located in a very prominent location on Houck’s Ridge, has been vandalized. Vandals tore down the statue in 1995, but the NPS that time was able to simply remount it on the pedestal. (Vandalism has been an on-going problem since the beginning of the battlefield; the Smithsonian
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The Gettysburg National Military Park is currently home to 371 cannons, displayed in various locations around the park. (At the turn of the century there were over four hundred cannons on display, and at one time or another, the park owned approximately 800 pieces.) Many cannons (approximately 270, mostly of the howitzer variety) were melted down, and their bronze used by the War Department to fashion the various brigade markers around the field, as well as to supply the bronze for the park’s many large equestrian monuments, including that to General Meade. Each cannon on the field represents a battery of artillery present at Gettysburg. Most (301) are authentic, but some are replicas. I am far, far, far from an expert on Civil War artillery, but this post is intended to serve as an introduction to some of the cannons and artillery pieces on display in the park. (The best reference for learning about artillery at the Gettysburg National Military
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