Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (One-Day Tour)
This tour can be combined with Baltimore / Annapolis, Lancaster County,
New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC travel packages
Tour package includes educational Step-On-Guides

The Battle of Gettysburg was a turning point in the Civil War and the Union victory in the summer of 1863 that ended General Robert E. Lee's second and most ambitious invasion of the North – often referred to as the ‘High Water Mark of the Confederacy.’  The two armies began to collide at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863.  Low ridges to the northwest of town were defended initially by a Union cavalry division which was soon reinforced with two corps of Union infantry.  However, two large Confederate corps assaulted them from the northwest and north, collapsing the hastily developed Union lines, sending the defenders retreating through the streets of town to the hills just to the south.

On the second day of battle, most of both armies had assembled.  The Union line was laid out resembling a fishhook.  Lee launched a heavy assault on the Union left flank and fierce fighting raged at Little Round Top.  On the Union right, demonstrations escalated into full-scale assaults on Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill.  Across the battlefield, despite significant losses, the Union defenders held their lines.

On the third day of battle fighting resumed on Culp's Hill and cavalry battles raged to the east and south but the main event was a dramatic infantry assault by 12,500 Confederates against the center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge.  Pickett's Charge was repulsed by Union rifle and artillery fire at great losses to the Confederate army.  Between 46,000 and 51,000 Americans were casualties in the three day battle.  That November, President Lincoln used the dedication ceremony for the Gettysburg National Cemetery to honor the Union dead in his historic Gettysburg Address.

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR MUSEUM

Come to the museum seen by more than 10 million visitors since opening in 1992.  Voices from history blend with scenes and words to recreate the past.  Jennie Wade bakes bread before being fatally shot in her sister's kitchen.   John Brown, bound in ropes, walks to the gallows.  Slaves using the Underground Railroad try to escape to freedom.  Abraham Lincoln sits in the theatre on that fateful day.  Through five hallways of scenes, the American Civil War Museum brings the past ‘back to life’ with life-sized dioramas of the Civil War.  From there, students enter the internationally acclaimed Battleroom Auditorium where a re-creation of the Battle of Gettysburg is performed before their eyes.  Finally, an animated Abraham Lincoln concludes the presentation with his delivery of the immortal Gettysburg Address.

EISENHOWER NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

The Eisenhower National Historic Site is the home and farm of American General and President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Mamie Doud Eisenhower.  Located adjacent to the Gettysburg battlefield, the farm served as a weekend retreat for the President and a meeting place for world leaders and was the Eisenhowers' home after they left the White House in 1961.  Some of the more notable of Eisenhower's guests were Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, President Charles de Gaulle, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Governor Ronald Reagan.  Tour the President's home, enjoy a self-guided walk around the farm, or join a park ranger for an exploration of 1950s Secret Service operations or a look back at World War II and Ike's problems as Supreme Commander.

‘FIELDS OF FREEDOM’ (GATEWAY GETTYSBURG THEATRES)

Experience the greatest battle of the Civil War as never before.  This groundbreaking film, ‘Fields of Freedom,’ will transport students into the Battle of Gettysburg with all its sound and fury.  Based on the actual diaries of soldiers from both sides, ‘Fields of Freedom’ immerses you in the lives of two young men as they prepare for the onslaught.  Students will be alongside them for the ferocity of the battle and the anguish of the aftermath.  This 30-minute experience is a triumph of filmmaking with cutting edge technology.  It is playing exclusively at Gateway Gettysburg in the new giant-screen theaters adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park.  The two, three-story high, digital screened theatres – America’s largest – have seating capacities of 300 and 400 each.

GETTYSBURG NATIONAL MILITARY PARK

Your tour begins at the main Visitor Center which also houses a vast museum of Civil War relics and items.  Close by is the Soldiers' National Cemetery dedicated by President Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863.  Your guided tour includes discussions and hands-on activities that focus on the three days of battle, the National Cemetery, the Gettysburg Address, soldier life, Civil War medicine and living history demonstrations.  Walking tours and campfire programs are also available.  Finally, a licensed battlefield guide will narrate your driving tour (which includes several stops) through the park.

The goal of the education programs at Gettysburg National Military Park is to educate and involve students in different human aspects of the Civil War experience.  Students are given an opportunity to see first-hand what the Civil War meant to the people who lived it and what it means to our national heritage today.  Educational goals are not to instruct students in tactics and strategy, but to delve into the human aspects and tragic consequences of the war that not only tore America apart but also put it back together again.

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