GDG- Winter Stomp

[keith mackenzie]

I think we had a pretty good time. The morning tour  covering Brewster and Carr succeeded in reminding me that no matter how hard I try,  The scale of what happened here is always going to over awe me and will leave me stumbling down swale and up ridges with the words "What the F..were they thinking?" running in the background of my brain like an AM radio ( a little "Winchester Cathedral", anyone?) I'm not entirely sure what the significance of Devereux' reports have to do with anything but Wayne's mention of them caught every ones attention, and was the cause of a discussion later at the Mine, because it evidently puts into question the accepted timing of events on Cemetery Ridge.Sometime during Wayne's presentation, it occurred to me that the bullets and carnage of the battle were incidental annoyances to the men who fought here, not entirely like the background hum you can hear from a highway you can't see. You may notice it for a moment, but you'll be back to the task
 at hand without a second thought.
   
   I'll admit that photographic analysis isn't by any means my strong suite. I don't even see me in pictures of myself. I daresay, if I see any pictures of the stomp, I'll wonder what possessed "that doofus"  to wear the flaming "do rag". Chuck presented his information within the general backdrop of what happened at ECH, and others there didn't seem to have any problem relating the pictures to the terrain, but I couldn't see it. On the other hand, I have seen parts of this field with Chuck that I never would have looked at on my own, and I have pondered events that I wouldn't have known to ponder, if he hadn't brought it to my attention. Say what you will, personally I find his input indespensible to my Gettysburg education.. 
   
   
  That evening, at the Mine, we discussed, or better yet, it was explained to me, all that we had seen during the day. John Archer, who was with us in the afternoon, was kind enough to explain his opposition to Chucks theory on the photographs, almost as if I had any clue. I asked Frassanito what he thought and he said he has looked at all the positions that have been proposed and can't find it anywhere, and has even considered that the pictures were from an earlier battlefield, Antietam, perhaps. He dismissed that pretty quickly, finding it hard to imagine that the photographers would have done anything that dishonest. I actually have no problem with that. A picture from an earlier battlefield, lost in the process before the show it was intended for, and then thrown in to the next one, so as not to waste the sale? I can see it. Frassanito was a little more animated about his take on the "new" Lincoln picture, which he feels what amounts to a civic responsibility to debunk.
 He's going to have his six reasons why it's not Lincoln set up on a friends blog site, but it's not there yet.(http://www.livingonthefield.blogspot.com/) In the mean time, he's arranging his private papers, journals and correspondence for donation to the Adams county Historical Society.
   
  The next morning found myself, Bob , Mike, Steve, and Rick Barber pushing through the woods south of confederate avenue in the  location that Andie Custer has identified as the spot where Farnsworth died. I guess you could say that more than half of us are convinced, while the rest are just, well, lost in the woods. While standing in front of Warfields Ridge, I pictured the ridge lined with men, something a little like when the Indians show up in the movie to assault the wagon train. Steve said that was pretty close.
   
  I want to thank Everyone who came, because it's always fun hanging with the 'gangsta's (From my book "The Gangsta's Of Gettysburg", subject not yet decided) But I particularly want to thank Wayne and Chuck, who have conducted every winter stomp I've ever been to. 
   
  And Hi to Peggy Rock, who showed me around her shop and sold me a book.
   
  Happy New Year
  K..
   
   
  

Steven Leydorf <leydorfs at hotmail.com> wrote:
  Esteemed GDG Member Contributes:



Hi.

I was out of town during the winter stomp,so I haven't paid much attention to the posts. However, I don't remember seeing any posts either cancelling or praising or denigrating the stomp. What happened? Was it held?

Steve Leydorf
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