Having been to Gettysburg more times than I can actually count, the one thing I had never experienced, as most people, was a chance to view the battlefield from the famous Lutheran Seminary Cupola where such Gettysburg battle luminaries like Generals Reynolds, Buford and Lee, scouted the terrain and troop positions during the three days of combat.
Recently, the seminary building has been turned into a museum honoring the work done by those who treated the casualties of the battle. The structure itself is the site of a former battlefield hospital bloodied by the wounded of those of both sides. Once used as a school dormitory it fell into disrepair until rescued and transformed into the newest museum in town.
Visitors are now allowed to climb the steps of the cupola (for a fee) and take in the view as never before. It was the highlight of the trip. Of course the view is now obstructed by many buildings and trees that were not present at the time of the battle, but one can still see McPherson's Ridge, the campus of Gettysburg College, Cemetery Hill and the distant Round Tops. If you let your mind's eye take over you can appreciate the importance of the information this vantage point provided the officers of both armies as they made their plans for battle. Be sure to give it a visit.
Here are a couple of shots of the seminary building itself.
The west side of the Lutheran Seminary...
The east side of the seminary with the red flag hanging in the cupola denoting it as a military hospital at the time of the battle...
Some of the exhibits in the museum portraying the various stages of the treatment of the wounded...
One of the murals depicting the fighting on the first day that took place outside the seminary...
These four shots are taken from left to right facing west towards the scene of the first days fighting on McPherson's Ridge from inside the cupola. The first of the four is facing south-west and the last of the four is facing north west. The ground held by the Iron Brigade is on the ridge below the tree line in picture #3.
#1
#2
#3
#4
Here are two more looking west toward McPherson's Ridge...
Looking north-east towards Gettysburg College...
Looking slightly south-east toward the town of Gettysburg...
Another view looking south-west...
General Barbiero scouting the enemy...
One for posterity, not my good side...
General Buford, one who visited the cupola when it mattered...
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