Well me boyos, I'm returned from Gettysburg/Sharpsburg and on the mend. According to the doc it looks like I tore my right adductor, sprained/strained my meniscus and pulled the tensor fasciae. (I don't know, it's all Latin to me....) Made my trip sporty and painful but memorable nonetheless. Finally off the cane, much reduced on the meds and getting around with a knee brace now. Should be handling a full load of yardwork this week.
The reason for the trip was two-fold. I had been to both Gettysburg and Antietam years ago with the family but didn't really get to survey the ground at that time. This time, accompanied by some fellow LEO retiree friends and fellow Civil War buffs, we wanted to address two questions: first, why did General Lee pick that particular ground along Antietam Creek for battle? What was the march route like for A.P. Hill when he was driving his Light Division to Lee's rescue on September 17, 1862? The second question we wanted to examine was one of the most controversial of the entire War Between the States. Was Union General Dan Sickles right to move his III Corps off Cemetery Ridge on July 2, 1863? Sickles claimed that he was taking a better position, forward of Cemetery Ridge, but which left him unsupported and subsequently led to his losing a leg in the fighting, and his III Corps being crushed by the sledgehammer attack of the Confederate I Corps under General James Longstreet.
Well after taking this trip, I have my answers, or at least a better understanding of the decision-making process that these men went through given the time and circumstances. I definitely plan on returning to those fields when fully mobile again. You can feel the history in your soul as you survey the terrain, read the markers and breathe air.
The reason for the trip was two-fold. I had been to both Gettysburg and Antietam years ago with the family but didn't really get to survey the ground at that time. This time, accompanied by some fellow LEO retiree friends and fellow Civil War buffs, we wanted to address two questions: first, why did General Lee pick that particular ground along Antietam Creek for battle? What was the march route like for A.P. Hill when he was driving his Light Division to Lee's rescue on September 17, 1862? The second question we wanted to examine was one of the most controversial of the entire War Between the States. Was Union General Dan Sickles right to move his III Corps off Cemetery Ridge on July 2, 1863? Sickles claimed that he was taking a better position, forward of Cemetery Ridge, but which left him unsupported and subsequently led to his losing a leg in the fighting, and his III Corps being crushed by the sledgehammer attack of the Confederate I Corps under General James Longstreet.
Well after taking this trip, I have my answers, or at least a better understanding of the decision-making process that these men went through given the time and circumstances. I definitely plan on returning to those fields when fully mobile again. You can feel the history in your soul as you survey the terrain, read the markers and breathe air.