Greetings to all...

I’m writing this on the morning after our tour of the cannon shop. We had a great turnout, at least sixty folks, by my count. Surely everyone appreciated Lucas Flickinger’s presentation. Speaking of which: One of the cool things about serv-ing as Roundtable President is presenting the Certificate of Appreciation. These are truly handsome documents, prepared by Communication Directors Dave and Linda Joswick.

In May, Jeffrey D. Stoker’s offered a vivid portrait of the 153rd Pennsylvania – particularly stunning in his account of gruesome, life-altering wounds suffered by the rank-and-file. As many B Y B R U C E D A V I S of these were received at what’s remembered as Barlow’s Knoll, it’s worth remembering that Division Commander Francis Barlow had himself come to Gettysburg still not fully recovered from wounds to the face and groin at Antietam; then at the knoll that bears his name, the Harvard law grad was wounded yet again, this time left for dead. Francis Channing Barlow had more than done his duty, having every reason to go back to New York and resume his work on the legal staff of the New York Tribune. Instead, when Grant moved south in 1864, Barlow was newly returned to the army, lead-ing the First Division in Winfield Hancock’s Second Corps. For that matter, Oliver Otis Howard, who brought 11th Corps to Gettysburg, had lost an arm at Fair Oaks, thirteen months previous, but was back in September for Antietam, leading a brigade into the West Woods. The moral and physical resilience of these men surpasses understanding. Jeffrey Stocker’s We Fought Desperate: A History of the 153rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment is available for purchase; for more information, shoot him an e-mail: info@153PA.com.

Also in May, Hilda Koontz offered a “Show and Tell” on women’s Civil War-era mourning attire, featuring a 150-year old black lace bonnet that would have been worn by a girl in “half-mourning.” In our generations, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross has identified Five Stages of Grief, and it’s interesting to think the Victorians literally wore their grief stages.

Our outdoor summer series continues on Thursday, July 25, as the Roundtable’s own James Hessler guides us through the Peach Orchard. We are to park on Sickles Avenue, the program starting at 6:00 at the Excelsior Monument. You’ll have an opportunity to purchase his newly published, Gettysburg’s Peach Orchard: Longstreet, Sickles, and the Bloody Fight for ‘Commanding Ground’ Along the Emmitsburg Road.

On August 22, we’ll tour be East Cavalry Field, led by battlefield guide Chris Army. Our 6:00 gathering place is the Evangelical Holiness Church, south of the Outlet Mall, at Baltimore and White Church Road. Jeb Stuart vs. George Custer should make for a most interesting evening.

I’ll miss the July Peach Orchard meeting, grand-parenting in Utah and Montana. As Vice-President Hilda is out as well, Lynn Heller has kindly agreed to convene. If, in the course of your travels, you visit places that might be of interest to Roundtable members, I’d enjoy hearing about it. E-mail, brdgettysburg@gmail.com, and maybe attach a photo.

- BRD