Remembrance Day

Tomorrow is probably the biggest holiday in Gettysburg. It Remembrance Day 2009. This is purely a Gettysburg holiday, but its HUGE. There is so much going on and so little time to do everything. Here are just a few of the things that you can see and do in and around the battlefield:

1) At 8am there is a ceremony in the National Cemetery. A bunch of reenactors get together and they place flags at the graves of the Civil War burials. They move from state to state placing American and/or state flags. At the end of this ceremony, the reenactors stand on the lower path through the cemetery and one lone bugler steps out. All the men stand at attention while the bugler plays "Taps". A very solemn ceremony and one that I never miss.

2) Individual wreath-laying ceremonies at monuments. It seems that every regiment that has a monument here at Gettysburg has a wreath-laying ceremony at some point throughout the weekend. They aren't on any schedule, but you accidentally stumble across them. These little ceremonies can be very emotional. The one that I attend most every year is at the Hancock Equestrian statue. The W. S. Hancock Society holds this ceremony every year. But there are literally hundreds of these ceremonies taking place over the course of the weekend.

3) The big draw: THE parade. Imagine thousands of reenactors marching down the streets of Gettysburg. It always starts off with the Union reenactments groups then followed by the Confederate reenactment groups. Some of these are women following "their men". There are some children (although not many). But mostly its men in their regiments. You can see most every general: Lee, Longstreet, Grant, Hancock....the list goes on and on. One year I saw 4 different General Lee's. Very exciting! But this parade is a must see for anyone who ever had an interest in the Civil War.

4) The Lincoln Cemetery. There is a ceremony at the Lincoln Cemetery on Long Lane. I've gone to this several times. The Lincoln Cemetery is the colored cemetery. Years ago, back during the days of the Civil War, blacks and whites could not be buried in the same cemetery. Segregation was alive and well in Gettysburg, along with most every other community throughout the United States. This is a shame....black, white, green, purple.....we all bleed the same color. When you peel off our skin, you see the same things. Yet these folks were forced to have their own cemetery. Thankfully, the cemetery is well maintained and every year, a colored troop regiment comes and they have a beautiful ceremony in this little cemetery. Frederick Douglas is usually at this.

5) Another BIG draw: The Luminaries in the Cemetery. They place one bag (filled with sand and a candle) for each Civil War burial in the cemetery. Imagine: It's dark outside, you walk up to the National Cemetery, every half hour you can hear a bugler playing Taps. At the Baltimore Street entrance, a little stand is set up and they read the names of each person buried. As you walk along the paths, there are just lines and lines of these luminaries. They outline the paths, they outline the burials. Its very, very dark in the cemetery...except for these little bags of candles. People are constantly walking, and talking, yet its very quiet. This is definitely a must-see on Remembrance Day.

This is a very special day. When walking the streets of Gettysburg, if you are dressed in today's clothes, you are most definitely a minority. I've often said that this is the one day of the year that you feel like you have hit a time warp and ended up in 1863. I love this day. It's my most favorite holiday!!!