Ladynomad on the Road to Nowhere: Hanover and Gettysburg

I stayed in Hanover, PA, when visiting Gettysburg and found out Hanover had its own part in the battle at Gettysburg.

St. Matthews Lutheran Church was organized in 1743, but the current church, dated from 1922, is the 5th on this site. It has an Austin Organ, which was placed in 1925, and is the 8th largest pipe organ in America and is valued at $1.5 million.

Don't know anything about this building, except it seems to be getting some restoration.

The big thing in this area seems to be the 'weiner hot lunch'. What gives? It seemed as if every other corner had a 'weiner hot lunch' diner.

The battle of Hanover occured on June 30, just prior to action in Gettysburg. Confederate General Stuart and his calvary attacked the rear of the Union calvary here in the morning and controlled the town throughout much of the day. But by the evening, Union Brig. Gen. Kilpatrick had taken back the town.

Soldiers National Cemetary at Gettysburg. It was in this cemetary that President Lincoln gave his famous "Gettysburg Address". I heard a ranger talk about where the President actually stood while giving the speech, and he showed us, but it is located on the civilian side of the cemetary. There are multiple signs indicating President Lincoln was 'here' when he gave the speech, but the ranger said some of these signs have been moved by construction crews over the years and some were wrong when they were placed. There are no signs to indicate where he actually stood, so you need to listen to the ranger talk at the cemetary to get the 'real scoop'.

The field behind the cars was the site of the first day of battle, July 1, 1863. The confederate's were considered to be the winners of the day.

Just south of the previous battlefield was the location of Gen. Lee's headquarters. It is now a visitor center and gift shop.

Part of the battle was on Seminary Ridge. Since 1832 this has been the site of a Lutheran Seminary.

Much of the second day's battle took place here at Little Round Top and Devils Den. The Union held the high ground on Little Round Top, but the Confederate's were creeping up on them from below at Devils Den. They almost made it since the Union didn't have many scouts watching down below. But one man, Gen. Gouverneur Warren, spotted the Confederate's and rallied the Union troops. Even though Union troops held the hill and many consider this a Union victory, the Union troops had more casualties and they lost much ground, so others consider this battle of the 2nd day a draw.

This farm was standing in this same location during the Civil War. There are 3 separate farms, all of which were there during the Civil War, that have some of the buildings still standing.

This is considered the 'high water mark'. The field out front was the bloodiest and occurred on the third day. The Union troops were dug in behind the rock wall for almost a mile long. The Confederates were coming out from the trees on the other side, attempting to overrun the Union troops. For hours both sides shot cannon on each other and the Confederates made it to the rock wall (hence the 'high water mark'), but they could not take the wall. At the end of the battle, the Confederates had lost and many saw this as a major turning point in the Civil War.

We watched these people take a Gettysburg Segway tour. Looks like fun.

You could also rent these little 3 wheel electric cars too.

In town on the square was the Gettysburg Hotel. Pres. Eisenhower stayed here many times, bringing his staff and entertaining dignataries during his two terms and in August 1959, during a working vacation, the hotel became his office.