Gettysburg

The Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863 was the largest battlefield ever fought in North America and deadliest of the Civil War with over 50,000 casualties. The Union victory, repelling the Confederate Army’s attempts to march on Washington DC, was the turning point of the war.

The original 6,000-acre battlefield of slopes and ridges remains as a memorial to the fallen, lined with more than 1,300 monuments and plaques, as well as 400 cannon dating from the Civil War era.

The best introduction to the battle is at the Military Park Museum, which has as its centrepiece the famous 360-degree Gettysburg Cyclorama painting. Adjacent to the battlefield, the Eisenhower National Historic Site is the former retreat of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The Gettysburg National Cemetery is where Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address months after the battle. The final resting place for over 6,000 soldiers and veterans, this cemetery has many landmarks, notably the Soldiers’ National Monument.

The town of Gettysburg has original pre-Civil War buildings on Lincoln Square and several interesting museums, including Gettysburg Beyond the Battle telling stories of the local townsfolk, and Seminary Ridge Museum, which charts the religious and medical history of the Civil War.