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| General Hancock arrives at Cemetery Hill on the evening of July 1, 1863. Painting by Don Troiani |
So I almost missed the anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg. Well, I did miss Day One on July 1st, but an hour before midnight on the 2nd I am making this post to commemorate the event.
Back in 2020 or 2019 my daughter Lelia and I visited Gettysburg as well as a number of other Eastern Theater ACW battles. Below are two pictures that I took of the McPherson's Ridge area which saw the opening shots fired on the first day of the battle.
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| McPherson's Farm where much of the action took place on the First Day of the Battle of Gettysburg. I took this photo around 5PM in the evening and captured a view of the dramatic sky. |
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| The Chambersburg Pike leading into the town of Gettysburg. McPherson's Barn is on the right. |
Back here in the present, I spent much of the day making wheat fields to use in my Pickett's Charge war game at Historicon this year. Here are three different iterations of wheat fields that I made:
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| Left side is the Third Generation wheat field. It is a simple flat board with tufts of wheat. The Second Generation wheat field consists of irregularly shaped bases. |
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| The First Generation wheat field was made of strips of coir material from a "welcome mat" that I bought at Home Depot. I glued the one-inch strips of coir onto a base and then sprinkled clippings from the door mat onto the field/ The Third Generation wheat field can be seen in the background. |
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| Here is the Third Generation of my wheat field construction ideas. I think that I like this version the best. It is supposed to depict the wheat field after it has been harvested or trampled down by soldiers passing through. The base is made from a piece of cork backed dinner table mat. I then spread my mixture of "goop" (wallboard paste mixed with brown acrylic paint) onto the cork side of the mat and then let it dry overnight. The next day I dry brush a light tan color over the now-dried goop. Then I clip off cuttings from the coir welcome mat and sprinkle these clippings onto the board. I use spray on photo adhesive for this step, but while glue works just as well. I have glued some small pieces of the door mat onto the board to represent random areas of the field that were not cut down and harvested. |
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| Battle in The Wheat Field. July 2, 1863 on the second day of Gettyburg |
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| General Barksdale leads his vaunted brigade of Mississippi regiments through the Peach Orchard and on to the Trostle Farm. This was Day Two action. |
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