The Crossfire of Gettysburg

American History Hit

History Hit

America, History

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 6 July 2023

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Gettysburg is synonymous with the bloodiest battle in the history of the United States. But before it was the location of a battle and Lincoln's arguably most famous speech, Gettysburg was a town.

In this episode, Don is joined by Andrew Dalton, executive director of the Adams County Historical Society. They explore the story of Gettysburg and its people, their experiences in the battle, and the lasting effects of the Civil War on the town.

Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Teän Stewart-Murray. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It's 1860. We are in our house in the county seat of Adams County, Pennsylvania, where it is peaceful and prosperous.
0:08.0	Ten roads intersect right here in town, and this community thrives.
0:12.0	There are banks, taverns, stables, carriage
0:15.4	workshops, shoemakers supplied by tanneries down by the creek. Fertile farm fields surround us. It's
0:22.2	Gettysburg. It is a good and lucky town, an industrious
0:26.3	town, but it is just a town, a nice place to raise a family. The 2,400 citizens walk our streets with deliberate intent.
0:34.0	Merchants supply our needs. Business is done daily.
0:38.0	Church is attended faithfully.
0:39.0	The town center hums with chatter and the clip-clopping of force hooves provides an even cadence to life.
0:46.0	Who would possibly conceive that in a matter of a few short years it will all be shattered
0:51.1	in a cataclysmic battle. Hello and welcome to American History Hit I'm Don Wildman. Thanks for joining us. It is a fact of war that the people who suffer most in any
1:16.0	conflict are ultimately, and sometimes immediately, those without the guns, that is the
1:21.2	civilian population.
1:23.0	Just look at the terrible news from Ukraine these days
1:26.0	how the people who live in those villages, towns and cities
1:29.0	are the ones so often terrorized and without recourse or escape, who live in mortal horror that they will be targeted next.
1:37.0	Or if they do get away before the shooting starts or the bombs begin to fall,
1:41.0	eventually it's the civilians who must return to a devastated war zone and try to rebuild their lives and property to pick up where they left off if they haven't decided to leave altogether.
1:50.0	War takes prisoners aplenty, but the fighters are usually released, where the civilians
1:55.7	remain trapped in or out of their homes until life returns to some kind of normal.
2:01.1	If such a thing can exist after you've seen people die in your own streets or in your farm fields.
2:06.0	This was certainly the case in July 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.
	...

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