Museums in Adams County, Pennsylvania - Gettysburg Battlefield (Paperback)

Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Gettysburg Battlefield was the site of the Battle of Gettysburg, fought July 13, 1863, in and around the borough of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the county seat of Adams County, which had approximately 2,400 residents at the time. It is now the site of two Federally owned and administered areas: Gettysburg National Military Park and the Gettysburg National Cemetery. The Gettysburg Battlefield Historic District partially overlaps and partially protects other privately held properties. This 1863 oval-shaped map depicts Gettysburg Battlefield during July 1-3, 1863, showing troop and artillery positions and movements, relief by hachures, drainage, roads, railroads, and houses with the names of residents at the time of the Battle of Gettysburg.The town was the center of a road network that connected ten nearby Pennsylvania and Maryland towns, including well-maintained turnpikes to Chambersburg, York, and Baltimore, so was a natural concentration point for the large armies that descended upon it. To the northwest, a series of low, parallel ridges lead to the towns of Cashtown and Chambersburg. Seminary Ridge, closest to Gettysburg, is named for the Lutheran Theological Seminary on its crest. Farther out are McPherson's Ridge, Herr's Ridge, and eventually South Mountain. Oak Ridge, a northward extension of Seminary Ridge, is capped by Oak Hill, a site for artillery that commanded a good area north of the town. Directly south of the town is Cemetery Hill, at 503 feet (153 m) above sea level, a gentle 80 foot (24 m) slope above downtown. The hill is named for the Evergreen (civilian) cemetery on its crest; the famous military cemetery dedicated by Abraham Lincoln now shares the hill. Adjacent, due east, is Culp's Hill, of similar height, divided by a... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=422674