Um, I went to a Catholic all-girls’ high school and here’s what I remember about the Civil War: Somebody fired on Fort Sumter in 1861, Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address in 1863 and he was shot in 1865. Oh, and the slaves got freed. And our summer vacations never included a painful trip WITH PARENTS in a station wagon to battlegrounds that were so BORING. If I was going to take an SAT, surely I would've had to learn more than that.
I still haven’t told you about Antietam and today I got the firehose lesson of the first day of Gettysburg. How do I synopsize all that? Maybe you’ll have to read your own Civil War books. No, I promise I’ll do my reporterly duty. I think I have free time tomorrow afternoon. We’re supposed to do Day 2 and walk the two miles of Pickett’s Charge, but it’s supposed to rain and rain and rain, so we’ll see how skippy everyone’s feeling.
One of our group at dinner tonight, happy in her Martiniland, was distraught at hearing our schedule, “But I’m on vacation!” she wailed. Here’s how the day goes: Breakfast at 7:00, historian lecture at 8:00, hop on the bus at 9:30, walk and drive battlefield with running historian commentary while I take notes like we're going to have a pop quiz tomorrow, lunch at noon, walk and drive battlefield or see museum and gift shop, return to hotel at 5:30, dinner at 7:00, enjoy the people in Martiniland, and collapse in bed at 9:30. Lots to absorb.
Are we related to Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock who fought at Gettysburg, taking over on the first day when his friend Gen. John Reynolds was shot and killed in the woods? (Confederate sharpshooter? Friendly fire? Historians argue.) He does more on days 2 and 3, so stay tuned. But could we actually have in our family tree someone who followed orders and loved the military?
Maybe I’ll just claim it while I’m here. The nice thing about being older is truth and memory keep drifting farther apart.
So, tomorrow you’ll hear about Gettysburg and the Shriver house and the earlier things as well.
Snore.
We related? Huzzah! I never thought we were but let me know when I have to stop claiming the relationship. I'll stop when you stop.
ReplyDeleteOn vacation in Martiniland? Yes: No wool uniforms in July. No "rotten meat and weevilly bread." No solid shot at one mile. No aimed rifle fire at 400 yards. No grapeshot and ever more effective rifle fire from there on in to contact. The absence of all of that is a vacation. And they had no martinis after it was all over.
Eager for the next after class session,
oxox
John