Today marks the opening of the three-day Battle of Gettysburg. Before Lee's troops retreated south, the fields were covered with many thousands of dead soldiers and horses. This is the day General John Reynolds was killed early in the fighting. There is a small monument that marks the place where he fell. The heaviest fighting on this day centered around McPherson's Ridge, the Railroad Cut, and 11th Corps Line. By late afternoon on July 1, Union positions formed a line (fishhook) along Cemetery Hill and Ridge, Culp's Hill, and continued to the base of Little Round Top. The town itself was held by Lee's Army on this day and they were setting themselves up to start chipping away at the Union position. This led to the huge and deadly clashes that occurred on the 2nd (Devil's Den, Little Round Top, Peach Orchard, Wheatfield, etc.)
Well, it *would* be a pain to need a passport to drive to Florida. In the General's defense (yes, ol' Kate is fair if she's anything!) many believe that Lee suffered a heart attack earlier in '63 and it may have influenced the outcome at Gettysburg. It's what the government's NCBI believes as well. It's what I tell myself when giving myself a headache trying to figure out why Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble happened.
