Gettysburg National Military Park
Site of the turning point of the Civil War and battle with the highest number casualties of that war
Site Details
Pin location is approximate.
1195 Baltimore Pike
Gettysburg, PA 17325
Family Friendly?
Yes
Visitors Per Year
742,000
Gettysburg has many access points to all different levels of learners and experience, and the battlefield can be walked, biked, or driven through.
Gettysburg tour guides are among the highest regarded and tested individuals in the historical tour guide world. Prospective tour guides spend years studying and learning and take part in a historical test to receive licensing and accreditation. Most fail, some succeed. These guides are present throughout the battlefield and provide in-depth information about the battle.
- Tour guides describe the movements of the troops during the three-day conflict. Guests learn that the Union’s ultimate success at Gettysburg was due to the risks taken by Union commanding officers and to their outmaneuvering of the Confederate forces.
- The words of the historic Gettysburg Address are enshrined at the “Gettysburg Address Memorial.” They are displayed in two sections on a wall to either side of a bronze bust of President Abraham Lincoln.
- The free National Park Service app can easily be downloaded and provides a free version of the Gettysburg Audio Tour (or video series). The audio clips are about 1 hour and 30 minutes in total, but the full tour can take two to three hours to complete with stops. Visitors who take advantage of this free resource will learn about the exact troop movements and other important information about the battlefield.
- Gettysburg National Military Park is the most documented site of the entire Civil War. The majority of the signs and monuments date back to the 1800s. While most of the sites have been surveyed, artifacts are still being discovered to this day. However, visitors are not allowed to use metal detectors or do digging of any kind.
- Guests can start or end their day at the Visitors’ Center, which contains exhibits and a patriotic gift shop. The exhibits include various artifacts that were taken directly from the battlefield sites, a 360-degree painting called a “cyclorama,” as well as a short film that re-enforces and provides a visual representation of the information about troop movements shared in the audio tour.
Gettysburg National Military Park is one of the best and most comprehensive historic sites in the country. Guides are extremely knowledgeable, relying strictly on primary sources, the cyclorama and movie in the Visitors’ Center are informative and balanced, and the battlefield itself is well-maintained and monumented. Abraham Lincoln’s deft statesmanship and the immortal words of the Gettysburg Address are given their due.
The park is strictly historical. The site’s signs and the accompanying audio tour do not display or relate information with an ideological bias. Most of the 1,300 monuments and signs were put in place during the mid 1800s. They include standard biographical information, such as names of soldiers, their states of origin, and the units in which they served. There are memorials for both Union and Confederate troops to show the exact places where certain gains or losses were made throughout the battlefield.
The site is technically family friendly; however, Gettysburg was the bloodiest conflict of the Civil War. The signs outline the number of missing soldiers at each site. In all, 1,200 to 1,500 bodies of unaccounted-for soldiers are believed to be buried close to where they died during the battle. A total of 51,000 soldiers were either killed, missing, or wounded. Parents should be prepared to appropriately talk with their children about difficult issues such as war and death.
Touring Gettysburg can also be a long day with a lot of walking, so parents with young children should be prepared with water, snacks, and potentially strollers.
As for accessibility of information for young learners, the online audio tour is easy to follow and understand, particularly for kids ages eight and up. The experience of driving through the park and seeing the various statues is suited for all ages, as is the museum, which has fun experiences and interactive exhibits.
Additionally, official tour guides provide extremely in-depth information that may only benefit children with longer attention spans.
Gettysburg is the site of the bloodiest, but most consequential, moment in the American Civil War. It served as the turning point of the Civil War (along with the victory at Vicksburg on the same day). At the Battle of Gettysburg, the Union gained the upper hand and began to drive back the Confederacy. This improved morale in the North and deeply eroded the legitimacy of the Confederacy—both within their own ranks and in the eyes of foreign powers.
Visiting Gettysburg encourages American citizens to reflect on the number of casualties suffered in the fields. The Civil War left an unimaginable wound in the fabric of our American identity. Families, friends, and neighbors were pitted against one another, and the nation almost did not survive. Without the victory at Gettysburg, the United States of America might not exist today.
Before, during, and after a tour of the battlefield, the words of the Gettysburg Address set the tone of the experience. Per the National Park Service audio tour, the Gettysburg Address was short in comparison to the two-hour long speech given by Edward Everett at the dedication of the battlefield just months after the Union defeated the Confederates there. Lincoln was able to convey, in just two minutes, that the events that took place at Gettysburg were not in vain, saying, “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.”
President Lincoln could have antagonized, and touted a staggering victory against, the Confederacy. But he did not. His speech honored all of those who fought and said their lives were exemplary of the full measure of devotion to the cause of the shaping of our nation. Most importantly, he recognized that a “new birth of freedom” was possible. Gaining an understanding of the importance of Lincoln’s leadership throughout this battle is integral to the experience at Gettysburg.
The National Park Service and Gettysburg Foundation partner to enhance the preservation and understanding of the heritage and lasting significance of Gettysburg through the Foundation’s public outreach and private financial support. Gettysburg Foundation is the official non-profit partner of Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site.
Owned By: National Park ServiceThe Museum and Visitor Center is privately owned and operated by the Gettysburg Foundation, in partnership with the National Park Service.
Operated By: National Park Service
Government Funded: Yes
Did you know?
Abraham Lincoln wrote portions of the Gettysburg Address before he left Washington, DC, and put the finishing touches on the address in the home of David Wills, who hosted Lincoln while he stayed in Gettysburg.
Recommended Reading
- Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address by Mark Levin
- The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
- A Land of Hope by Wilfred M. McClay
- Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen
Reviewed By
Speaker Newt Gingrich
Chairman of Gingrich 360
Adrian Avila
Intern at Gingrich 360
Andrew Smith
Intern at Gingrich 360
The opinions expressed above are those of the Reviewer who is providing a good-faith historical assessment to educate the public. Reasonable opinions can vary, and the Reviewer’s opinion is not necessarily the opinion of The Heritage Foundation or its affiliates.