Touring Gettysburg with Eric Campbell

In the first week of my internship during training, I had the opportunity to explore parts of the battlefield with park ranger and historian Eric Campbell and other rangers (more of which is to come). Eric was kind enough to allow me to post some video of his tours for you to view at home.

In our first of three posts, Eric discuses with us how the Union and Confederate lines took shape and points out some strategic points of the battle. He begins in video one by describing some monuments, including the North Carolina Monument in the background. He also speaks of Camp Colt of Gettysburg which Dwight Eisenhower commanded in WWI.

In video number two below, we continue at the North Carolina Monument on West Confederate Avenue. In it, Eric discuses how Union General George Meade took great advantage of Cemetery Ridge and had the luxury of waiting for a Confederate attack. Meanwhile, Robert E. Lee too was waiting for more of his troops to arrive on July 2. Finally, he stresses the high confidence the southerners were feeling at this time.

Here is a view looking down West Confederate Avenue on Seminary Ridge. The opposing rise in the foggy distance is Cemetery Ridge. Over 12,000 Confederate infantrymen marched across this field nearly a mile in distance on July 3, 1863.

Here is an older look back on the NC Monument when it was surrounded by shrubs. The monument was dedicated on July 3, 1929.

The sculptor of the North Carolina Monument was Gutzon Borglum, the man who is more famous today for creating Mount Rushmore. He also began the Confederate memorial carving on Stone Mountain, GA in 1923 but abandoned it to complete Rushmore. He also carved the equestrian statue of Gen. Philip Sheridan in Washington, D.C.