Civil War Medicine Intern Diaries: Running around and Remembrance Day at Gettysburg

Hi everyone! It feels like it has been awhile since I’ve written anything. Well, I’m glad to report that I’ve been staying busy at the museum. I took my docent test and now I can give tours so I’m really happy to be doing that finally! I really enjoy giving tours because I like talking with other people and enjoy teaching others as well as hearing their thoughts on the subject. I also went to Washington D.C. again but this time with our executive director George. We were looking for the original key-hole covers that would have been on the doors when Clara Barton was there from 1865-68. We thought it would take awhile of digging around in the basement but found them in about 10 minutes in a box by the door. Quite the stroke of luck! The drive back to the museum was interesting because we saw two very large Blackhawk helicopters. My coworkers have all seen them before and are quite jaded to it but I was surprised to see them much less the cargo they carried. I was told that they were equipped with missiles. That was a surprise to me! I did not expect on a peaceful day to see two helicopters holding missiles flying over the river. It was a sight to see for me.

What I really want to tell you all about is what I did this past Saturday. I drove to Gettysburg and saw the Remembrance Day parade and then walked all around talking to reenactors and seeing the stores. It was really exciting for me because I have never seen so many people in Civil War costumes before in my life. People in period garb were everywhere! I was taking photos (with their permission) left and right. I got there a bit before the parade so I wandered around where they were all hanging out, just talking and taking photographs. It was so fantastic! I saw people dressed as average soldiers, widows and as specific people. Such as Lincoln, Pope, Grant, Lee and other generals. The variety in uniforms was great too! Tall hats, average kepis, piping on sleeves, furs, overcoats and so much more. The women showed up too and the dresses were so colorful (excepting the widows in all black). They must have been very cold though since it was only about 40 degrees that day.

Getting ready to start the parade.

Found Grant and Lincoln.

Southern Zouaves.

I was like a kid in a candy shop. When they all went marching by I loved seeing them all in sync. The shoes made a great clacking noise as they stepped and the bands played great period music. Other groups sang or chanted as they went by and others hollered out in happiness. It was a great thing to watch. After the parade ended I went into a bunch of the shops to see what there was. Some were very touristy (of course), some geared toward reenactors, and some held very expensive replicas and actual items and some were in between. I eventually went to a restaurant where a reenactor band was playing music and hung out with a fun group from Delaware. It was fun to hear their stories about parades and reenacting on this side of the country and I told them a bit about the ones I had seen back home. They thought it was funny that we didn’t do a specific battle and that we had only about 100 reenactors but a horse drawn artillery. I really enjoyed socializing with the group and I hope I’ll see them again sometime soon.

A group of Southern generals.

Northern Zouaves.

It was a fantastic way to spend a Saturday with tons of people with a common interest. The weather was beautiful, with good music and food, the night was a blast as well. Maybe in a year I’ll be wearing a period outfit as well!