Gettysburg Devils Den

Traveler's Checklist: Gettysburg National Military Park

The Civil War yielded more than 2,000 sites of battles and skirmishes in three geographic regions, but none is better known than Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. During July 1-3, 1863, Gettysburg was the site of the Civil War’s biggest and bloodiest battle. When the smoke cleared, about 51,000 soldiers had been killed, wounded, or captured and General Robert E. Lee’s second and last invasion of the North had been repulsed. The Battle of Gettysburg was the High Water Mark of the Confederacy, and today the nearly 6,000-acre Gettysburg National Military Park is the crown jewel of American battlefield parks.

The four year-long (2011-2015) 150th anniversary commemoration of the Civil War adds further interest to what has always been a very special place. More than one million people from all over America and the world will visit Gettysburg National Military Park in 2011. If you plan to be among them, the information that follows should prove helpful.

If you will be visiting the park during the prime season (March through October), and especially if you will be tightly scheduled, be aware that the most popular activities are ticketed or fee-paid attractions and services that may be fully booked much of the time. Walk-up tickets for the Cyclorama, Film and Museum Experience program at the park's Museum and Visitor Center are sold at the ticket counter in the large museum lobby. However, you can purchase timed tickets online at Ticket Prices & Packages or by calling 877-874-2478.

Use the same contact information to make reservations for Licensed Battlefield Guide tours, which should be made at least 72 hours in advance to insure timely arrangements. Note that Ticket Prices & Packages offers a "Value Ticket" that combines a Licensed Battlefield Guide bus tour with the Cyclorama, Film and Museum Experience.

and then view the Gettysburg Cyclorama in a specially designed hall. During March through November, the film and Cyclorama painting program runs every 15 minutes. The History Channel-sponsored film, which bears a title inspired by Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, is a first-rate production. Narrated by Morgan Freeman, and featuring the voices of Sam Waterston and Marcia Gay Harden, it sets the Battle of Gettysburg into the larger context of American history and the four year-long Civil War that cost 620,000 lives, left the South's economy (and much of its landscape) in ruins, ended slavery, and changed America forever. The Gettysburg Cyclorama painting, which was recently restored at a cost of more than $11 million, depicts “Pickett’s Charge” (Longstreet's Assault), the furious climax of the Gettysburg Battle, on a 360-degree oil-on-canvas painting that is 42 feet high and 377 feet long. It's the largest painting in America.

Gettysburg Battle App

The Gettysburg: Devil’s Den & Little Round Top Battle App is the perfect touring partner for your visits to the Gettysburg battlefield. Our GPS-enabled touring application allows you to discover all the great historical sites in this most popular region of the battlefield . Walk where the 20th Maine or 1st Texas fought – the units’ positions are right on the map. Pinch, expand, scroll, and explore our rich battlefield map with its many “virtual signs” and points of interest tied to the Devil’s Den and Little Round Top regions of the Gettysburg battlefield. Your Virtual Civil War Battlefield Guide

Clicking on any of the embedded “virtual signs” will provide you with a wealth of historical information, expert videos, and the voices of the participants who fought here in July 1863. Learn the true history of the battlefield as you stand at the Sharpshooter’s Den, the Slaughter Pen, the Devil’s Kitchen, Vincent’s Spur, or the crest of Little Round Top. Our Battle Apps also come with a wealth of onboard information for your visit – orders of battle, facts about the battle, historical photos, chronologies, and our famous battle maps are all at your fingertips. We even have a Battlefield Challenge section that will hopefully motivate you to find all the great hidden treasures of the battlefield.

Gettysburg Unearthed, The Excavation of a Haunted History

So You Think You Know Gettysburg?, The Stories Behind the Monuments and the Men Who Fought One of America's Most Epic Battles

Gettysburg battlefield, the definitive illustrated history

Gettysburg, a history of the Gettysburg battle-field memorial association, with an account of the battle

The Artillery of Gettysburg