- Joined
- Feb 23, 2013
- Location
- East Texas
Part I - The Lutheran Seminary Building
I visited the relatively new Seminary Ridge Museum in Gettysburg's old 1850's Lutheran Seminary on a rainy day in August, 2014, and found it to be a welcome and very worthwhile addition to the many attractions relating to the famous battle. Of course it is this building which gives Seminary Ridge on which it stands its name. One important feature of my visit was the opportunity to fully explore the structure itself, including the attic and famous cupola, which was damaged in the last century but restored to its wartime appearance. The visit isn't exactly a cheap one - nearly $20 - and it is possible to see the exhibits only at a lesser price; but somehow the experience wouldn't be complete without it.
The cavernous attic is lighted by two fanlights, one facing east towards town, and this one facing west towards McPherson Ridge. Form the attic a narrow staircase, below, now leads to the cupola; originally only a ladder provided access.
Tradition holds that Brig. Gen. John Buford watched the Confederate deployment from the cupola, and there's even a nineteenth-century engraving showing him and Maj. Gen. John Reynolds both here, but according to our tour guide there's nothing to substantiate these claims. ( Some accounts even have Robert E. Lee here as well on July 1st or 2d! ) Since Reynolds was killed outright soon after the battle began, and Buford died later in the year, neither were able to verify their presence postwar when every little detail of the battle was recorded and subsequently argued over. Supposedly the most that can be said for this claim is that one of Buford's staff definitely climbed up here for a look.
The above view looks north towards Oak Hill, though the wooded knob at right is part of Seminary Ridge; below is the view towards McPherson Ridge, and on the horizon the trees along Herr Ridge.
I visited the relatively new Seminary Ridge Museum in Gettysburg's old 1850's Lutheran Seminary on a rainy day in August, 2014, and found it to be a welcome and very worthwhile addition to the many attractions relating to the famous battle. Of course it is this building which gives Seminary Ridge on which it stands its name. One important feature of my visit was the opportunity to fully explore the structure itself, including the attic and famous cupola, which was damaged in the last century but restored to its wartime appearance. The visit isn't exactly a cheap one - nearly $20 - and it is possible to see the exhibits only at a lesser price; but somehow the experience wouldn't be complete without it.
The cavernous attic is lighted by two fanlights, one facing east towards town, and this one facing west towards McPherson Ridge. Form the attic a narrow staircase, below, now leads to the cupola; originally only a ladder provided access.
Tradition holds that Brig. Gen. John Buford watched the Confederate deployment from the cupola, and there's even a nineteenth-century engraving showing him and Maj. Gen. John Reynolds both here, but according to our tour guide there's nothing to substantiate these claims. ( Some accounts even have Robert E. Lee here as well on July 1st or 2d! ) Since Reynolds was killed outright soon after the battle began, and Buford died later in the year, neither were able to verify their presence postwar when every little detail of the battle was recorded and subsequently argued over. Supposedly the most that can be said for this claim is that one of Buford's staff definitely climbed up here for a look.
The above view looks north towards Oak Hill, though the wooded knob at right is part of Seminary Ridge; below is the view towards McPherson Ridge, and on the horizon the trees along Herr Ridge.