We visited the Gettysburg National Military Park in late October 2025 while staying at the nearby Thousand Trails Hershey RV Park in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
We decided to follow the auto audio tour which includes sixteen stops that provide a comprehensive overview of the three-day battle at Gettysburg during the American Civil War. We started our visit at the Museum and Visitor Center which gave a lot of information on the background to the battle as well as the battle itself and the aftermath. The battle took place between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, won by the Union, is widely considered the Civil War’s turning point, leading to an ultimate victory of the Union and the preservation of the nation. The Battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of both the Civil War and of any battle in American military history, claiming over 50,000 combined casualties.
The auto tour took us around many of the key locations around the battlefield, with informational displays at each stop that generally followed the chronological order of key battle elements. Some of the most noticeable features as we drove around the battlefield were the 1,320 monuments and markers that came in various shapes and sizes and have been constructed in some cases in fairly recent times.
As part of the auto tour we drove through the small town of Gettysburg as we visited the various battle sites that surrounded the town. The auto tour ended as the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. On November 19, President Abraham Lincoln traveled to Gettysburg to take part in the dedication ceremonies for the new Cemetery. His brief speech, the Gettysburg Address still lives across place and time, and gave meaning to the sacrifices of the men who had struggled here, and stated his belief that the war would lead to a “new birth of freedom” for the nation.
Our visit to Gettysburg was very interesting and we gained a greater understanding of the history of the American Civil War in general as well as the specific Battle of Gettysburg.
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