Friday, December 12, 2008

Gettysburg Semester: Muster Out

We come now to the end of our Gettysburg Semester. Through the ups and downs, this has been a semester none of us will ever forget. We have formed new bonds, both with each other and with our passions for the subject that brought us together here. It seems like yesterday that we moved into the Appleford and began this journey. We have been flooded with knowledge, traveled the battlefields in the footsteps of history, and created memories that will never fade. We have performed the final act as a group and have been mustered out of active service. We now depart and go our separate ways to carry on the legacy of those who have gone before, with the hope that we may add our contributions to that legacy.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Gettysburg Semester: Washington, D.C.

Today was our last field experience trip…to Washington DC! We started out in front of the White House and Lafayette Square to talk about Lincoln’s wartime Washington. Then we went to Fort Stevens to talk about the attack on Washington in 1864 by Jubal Early. Fort Stevens was one on many forts in the defenses of the capital and it was the only fort that was really attacked in the war. We know that Lincoln went out to watch the battle and it is reported that he climbed on top of the parapet until he was yelled at by one of the officers. Our last stop before lunch was the Lincoln Cottage at the Old Soldiers’ Home. This was the Lincolns’ summer home during his presidency and it was an important place for President Lincoln to formulate his ideas about the war. We were led through the house by a former Gettysburg Semester student and were some of the first people to see the new statue that was just put in a few weeks ago.

After a lunch at the Hard Rock CafĂ©, we went to Ford’s Theatre where Lincoln was shot. We couldn’t go inside the theatre because it was still being renovated, but we stood outside while Dr. Guelzo described the night he was shot. Then we went inside the Petersen House where Lincoln died. We saw the parlor where Mary Todd Lincoln spent much of her time that night, the back parlor where national officials held meetings, and the bad bedroom where Lincoln was brought until he died. Our last stop was Lincoln Memorial, a fitting end to our field experience trips.


Next week we will be saying good-bye to each other and Gettysburg at our mustering-out party.