The battle of Gettysburg occupies a special place in our nation’s collective memory of the Civil War. It is still considered by many to be the turning point of the war and Gettysburg is likely the one Civil War site that most people will visit at some point. For that reason alone there is an interest in protecting its natural landscape.
But what exactly does that mean? You might point to the recent restoration work on Little Round Top. If you know your park history you might even recall the removal of the visitor center on Cemetery Ridge or the observation tower that stood in Colt Park at Johns Avenue from 1974 to 2000.
Of course, Gettysburg is also a historic landscape and many Gettysburg aficionados believe that the historic integrity of the battlefield must be protected at all costs. This entails returning and maintaining the landscape as close to its appearance at the time of the battle as possible. [Certainly the removal of the visitor center was part of this attempt as well.]
As a historian, I certainly understand this. A wartime perspective enhances primary source accounts of the battle. Walking various sections of the battlefield reinforces the challenges of command at every level and the experiences of the men who experienced the battle.
It’s worth pointing out that for many students of the battle it was William Frassanito’s wonderful studies of Civil War photographs that captured their interest in Gettysburg. Frassanito painstakingly sought out the very sites where the dead were photographed, in the days following the battle, often by identifying individual rocks and rock formations that you can still see today.
Debates persist over the location of iconic photographs such as the “Harvest of Death” that involve attempting to align wartime features with the current landscape.
But what happens when concerns about the integrity of the historic landscape come into conflict with changes to the natural landscape? A couple of years ago beavers began building a dam along a small stream that runs along the base of Little Round Top in an area known as the “Valley of Death.”
As you can see below, their handy work has resulted in the creation of a small pond.
A couple things about this short video have garnered attention on social media. First, the pond itself, which can easily be seen by car along Crawford Avenue and especially from Little Round Top. I certainly noticed it during my visit last month.
It’s impossible to ignore and I suspect that for many informed visitors it is a distraction from appreciating the wartime landscape, but I can also easily imagine plenty of people wondering how soldiers forded this water obstacle.
Hopefully, no one leaves the battlefield thinking that ‘but for that pond, Lee’s assault might have been successful on July 2.’ LOL
Like many others, I have certainly appreciated the park’s attempt in recent years to return the battlefield to its wartime appearance through controlled brush fires, etc., but it seems to me that this must be balanced with the fact that wildlife has a right to this space as well.
I prefer to view the historic landscape of Gettysburg as an act of imagination rather than something that can actually be achieved. The battlefield landscape is constantly in a state of change. The soldiers themselves are part of this story as were the tourists who soon followed, the army’s use of the field during WWI, and the inevitable commercial development.
What I suspect is really troubling folks in this video is the fly fisherman. I’ve read a few comments suggesting that his fishing disrespects the memory of the men who fought and died at Gettysburg. That’s ridiculous.
For some reason, the first thing I thought of when I saw this video is Winslow Homer’s painting “The Veteran in a New Field.”
I guess I appreciate the contrast between the bloody fighting that once took place at this spot and the peaceful act of casting into the pond.
For many, however, this man is a distraction from the act of imagination that many of us fall into when we drive and walk the battlefield. We are no longer imagining Confederate Gen. Lafayette McLaw’s attack late in the afternoon on July 2, 1863 and the brave defense of the Pennsylvania Reserves.
Ultimately, I don’t see much of a difference between fishing, picnicking, and even spending the night on the battlefield dressed as a Confederate soldier.
What do you think?
My first association upon seeing the heading and photo with this post was Richard Brautigan's first short story collection, 'Trout Fishing in America'. It got him published but sold a quite limited press run until long after he'd published his first novel, 'A Confederate General from Big Sur'.
While we’re discussing our National Park System, here’s a reflection from Heather Cox Richardson https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/history-extra-for-august-25-2024?r=5hbsd&utm_medium=ios