Addressing Gettysburg

This is the first installment of the Gettysburg National Military Park's 2020 Winter Lecture Series. Ranger Matt Atkinson kicks off the season with a lecture entitled "Free Masonry At Gettysburg: Fraternal Bonds Tested by Battle". It was an enthusiastic packed house and a very interesting talk.  While I urge you to get to as many of these as possible, I know it's not realistic. Thanks to my Patron...

Jim Pangburn is a 20-year veteran of the Licensed Battlefield Guide force here in Gettysburg. Some of you may recognize his voice as the narrator during the reenactments over the last dozen-or-so years. Last week he sat down with Matt and Bob to discuss Lee's invasion, or, "The March North".  To hear more of this episode while supporting the show, please go to www.patreon.com/addressinggettysburg...

Today we welcomed a new Licensed Battlefield Guide to the list of regulars to the show. His name is Lewis Trott. He's a three-year veteran of the guide force, a US Army veteran of the Desert Storm and the recent Iraq War and currently works as a librarian. Lewis has also been a consultant during the writing of the upcoming narrative episode, "INVASION! June, 1863". In the last few weeks, Lewis has...

Licensed Battlefield Guide Lewis Trott joins Matt and Bob for the first time on this Ask A Gettysburg Guide. Some of the topics discussed on this episode are: - Kemper's Brigade during Pickett's Charge -Brooke's advance through the Wheatfield - The U.S. Regulars at Gettysburg - Relatives who fought on opposite sides of the battle - Francis Barlow and his relationship with his "Flying Dutchmen" And...

Have you ever had the chance to talk with Dr Peter S Carmichael? Well, here's your chance. Matt and Bob discuss The War For The Common Soldier... with Dr Carmichael. If you think this is just another book about eating hardtack and what soldiers carried in their knapsacks, you're gravely mistaken. How did Civil War soldiers endure the brutal and unpredictable existence of army life during the confl...

Merry Christmas! It's time for the final Ask A Gettysburg Guide of 2019. Bob Steenstra and Tim Smith continue with the questions that we couldn't fit into the previous Ask A Gettysburg Guide.    Instagrammers who answered the call for questions in this episode are: @Soldier_Up_ @SJcolmus @Mrsmaestas2 @civil_war_Nerd @Cwhitt @Tylerfashistory   Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and if you want to...

It's time for another Ask A Gettysburg Guide! This time we received so many questions that we had to make this into two episodes. That means next week there will be another just in time for Christmas!   In this episode we take questions from Instagrammers: The Great Tronetti @HistorywithBrad @GrantHarvey15 @NCHistoryNerd @CWhitt @Veronica Brestensky @Civil_War_Footsteps @darthetzkorn   If you woul...

Dr Ashley Whitehead Luskey is the assistant director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College and heads up an ambitious project called "Killed at Gettysburg". KAG sets students on a journey back into the lives of the men killed during the battle. After their research is complete, the students create profiles on the project's website . Dr Luskey sat down with Bob and I to discuss the projec...

Yianni Barakos was told by his doctor that he might as well get on disability because he'll never be able to work again. Yianni said, "Yes, I will", became his own advocate and found a doctor who said "i can help". Now, Yianni is the proud owner of the successfully delicious Mason Dixon Distillery in Gettysburg. What does this have to do with the battle? Only the fact that Mason Dixon grows much o...

When thinking about the Civil War or the Gettysburg Campaign in particular, some people might not consider Pittsburgh, Pa to have anything more to do with it than manufacturing for the war effort. But that's not true. Did you know there are fortifications around the city from the Civil War? There are. Did you know that Pittsburgh isn't so far from West Virginia, which was still Virginia for a good...

What a treat I have for fans of the movie Gettysburg ! In October, 2018, the cast of the 1993 movie Gettysburg came to town for a reunion and screening of the director's cut of the film. I arranged to have Patrick Gorman, who played Major General John Bell Hood , and Bo Brinkman, who played Lee's aide, Major Walter Taylor ,  sit down with me and my buddy Pete at my friend Tami's farm. We set up in...

75 years after the Battle of Gettysburg, just under 2000 Civil War veterans, who wore both blue and gray, gathered together on Gettysburg's hallowed fields one last time before passing on into history. This was also the year that 450,000 Americans descended on the place to see President Franklin Delano Roosevelt dedicate the Eternal Peace Light Memorial on the third day of the reunion. As you will...

One great thing about Ken as a guest is that I, as the interviewer, and hardly needed. He can go on and on and I rarely find myself getting bored. I hope you will enjoy learning about the town in this epic three-parter.  Ken Rich is owner of Reluctant Witnesses Historic Tours and was one of the historical consultants on Addressing Gettysburg Episode 2 "INVASION! June 1863"

Author Christopher Loperfido sat down with me on July 3, 2018, in the shade of a small grove of trees across Hancock Ave from the monument of the 111th NY and in front of the Brian Farmhouse. We chose this spot because the subject of Christopher's book, Dr James D. Benton, who was the assistant  surgeon of the regiment here at Gettysburg. Chris and I discuss Benton and what a wounded soldier might...

Lieutenant General James Longstreet is one of the more controversial figures of the war and, especially, the Battle of Gettysburg. But does the blame for the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg really rest on his shoulders? Author Cory M Pfarr has had enough of Longstreet getting a bad rap, so he set out to set the record straight in his new book " Longstreet at Gettysburg: A Critical Reassessment"....

Matt and Bob are joined by Licensed Battlefield Guide and author Tim Smith for this edition of Ask A Guide. We asked our social media followers to submit questions for the guides and they came through, once again.  This episode's questions come from: Instagram Users @jneale1777 @JDsw20 The Great Tronetti @Anna_storm @quinn2477 @Centralvirginiahistorian @scott_b_5.11.4 @Makeitclique @dannymusclehed...

Licensed Battlefield Guide Bob Steenstra is back and, this time, he's joined by fellow LBG Jessie Wheedleton for her debut on Addressing Gettysburg. Together, they ask YOUR questions pertaining to the Battle of Gettysburg in this inaugural episode of Ask A Gettysburg Guide. From time-to-time we will solicit questions from out social media followers that we will ask guides to answer.    We'd like t...

Licensed Battlefield Guide Bob Steenstra sits down with Matt to give an overview of the Gettysburg Campaign. This is done with the newbie in mind, but should be just as interesting to the veteran student of the battle. The narrative episodes of Addressing Gettysburg (like " Antietam to Chancellorsville " and the upcoming " June 1863- INVASION! ") go into more detail on everything covered in this u...

This BONUS episode was originally intended to be part of our premium content. But we felt that, due to the subject matter, it would better serve you if we made it available for free. Also, since this was recorded, the scope and style of the premium content has changed.  The novel, "The Killer Angels" and the movie based on it, "Gettysburg", are great works of historical fiction. Millions love them...

Learning about the civil war can be difficult for someone new to the game, especially when it comes to military terminology. While many have casual familiarity with such terms as "regiment", "brigade", "division" and "corps", they often use them interchangeably, seemingly choosing whichever word sounds "cool" to them in the moment, or, to give the novice a little more credit than that, simply conf...

  The Battle of Gettysburg can trace its origins back to September of 1862 when Robert E Lee audaciously lead his Army of Northern Virginia on an invasion of the North. Since taking command in June of 1862, Lee had beaten back Major General George B McClellan's Army of the Potomac and secured the Confederate capital of Richmond during the peninsula campaign. He then moved to Northern Virginia wher...