Phase III: La Jolla: Battlefield fatigue

I know quite a lot more about the Civil War tonight than I did yesterday morning, but I have to admit that I was starting from a pretty low base.

The events leading up to the civil war, the outbreak of the war, the consequences and after-math of the war, are things I can at least try to get my head around.

But learning about military strategy, hardware, which general took which regiment over which hill firing which kinds of weapons with what cost, is for me like learning about car mechanics. No matter how hard I try to remember what and who goes where and why, I just can't.

So, I will provide a few photos for anyone who is interested, but little detail of what our most enthusisatic battlefield tour guide, Dave, told us sunk in properly.

I can tell you that one of the reasons the site was so important was because of the number of roads that ran through Gettysburg, from the West and South across to Washington DC; whoever gained control of the roads had a huge advantage in terms of transporting their troops, supplies and horses around.

I can also tell you (although most already know) the battle took place over three days in early July 1863, that the North's victory at Gettysburg was a turning point in the civil war, and a decisive factor in Lincoln's re-election that year. Without his re-election it is entirely likely the Southern states would now be independent.

Today the site is a series of fields and low rocky outcrops. Farmers lease the fields to grow corn, and tour buses trail each other through the corn fields to deposit passengers at each important battlesite. Photos, photos, photos.

In the fields are dotted monuments to their war dead erected by each of the participating states. There is absolutely no sense that to the victor go the spoils in terms of monuments - indeed, at the civil war musuem we visited we were told that there had been a scrupulous attempt to be 'even-handed' and to honour both sides equally.

Over 50,000 people died in three days worth of fighting.

Little Round Top (the highest point above the fields, and thus the prize ground strategically). The Unionists got here ten minutes only before the Confederates, and on this fortunate occurance, the balance of the battle was decided.