2022 New Gettysburg Battlewalks Coverage

Now available to stream on demand with PCN Select.

July 1

"Gettysburg History Hike" with Ranger Troy Harman

Hike from the Visitor Center to Cemetery Ridge where fighting raged on July 2 & 3, 1863. Get an overview of the battle, visit the site of Pickett’s Charge, explore the Bloody Angle, and walk in the footsteps of the men who struggled there.

"The First Shots" with Ranger John Nicholas

Stand in the spot where in the early morning of July 1, 1863, Lieutenant Marcellus Jones of the 8^th Illinois Cavalry fired the shot that began the Battle of Gettysburg.

"The End of the First Day" with John Hoptak, Education Specialist

The command decisions made at the end of the first day cast shadows over the remainder of the Battle of Gettysburg. Explore the decisions and how they forecasted the outcome of the battle.

 

July 2

"The Peach Orchard" with Ranger Matt Atkinson

On the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Union 3rd Corps commander Daniel Sickles repositioned his forces to the high ground of the Peach Orchard. Learn how his decision threatened the Union flank in the battle's heaviest fighting.

"Sacrifice of the 1st Minnesota" with Christopher Gwinn, Chief of Interpretation

Trace the steps the brave men of the 1st Minnesota took on July 2, 1863, to delay a Confederate brigade until reinforcements arrived. Outnumbered 5 to 1, the sacrifice of the 1st Minnesota reinforced the Union Army's crucial position on Cemetery Ridge.

"National Cemetery Tour" with Bill Thomas, Licensed Battlefield Guide

Explore the meaning and cost of the Battle of Gettysburg, and of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Find out how the National Cemetery was established, who is buried there, and why Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address still has meaning for us today.

 

July 3

"Pickett's Charge" with Angie Atkinson, Supervisory Ranger

Follow the footsteps of 15,000 Confederate soldiers who marched three-quarters of a mile through open terrain, exposed to persistent Union artillery fire. Named for Virginia General George E. Pickett, Pickett's Charge marked the end of the Battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863.

"Defense of Cemetery Ridge" with Ranger Karlton Smith

Learn how the fate of the Battle of Gettysburg hung in the balance as the fighting progressed to Cemetery Ridge.

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GETTYSBURG BATTLEWALKS ON PCN

By Larry Kaspar, Senior Producer and Host

A visitor taking a stroll today through Gettysburg and the tranquil surrounding countryside can find jarring reminders of violence.  Bullet-riddled walls, a gaping hole in the side of a barn from a cannonball, are sobering reminders of a great battle.   

If you stood on the spot at a certain hour in 1863 that’s occupied by PCN studios today, you would have heard thunderous cannon-fire rolling across the landscape from thirty-five miles away at the Battle of Gettysburg. 

In that small south-central Pennsylvania town, men were struggling and dying in what history books would call the bloodiest fight to ever take place on American soil.  And it didn’t involve a foreign invader.  The United States was a country at war with itself.

Since 1995, in partnership with the Gettysburg National Military Park, PCN has marked the occasion by televising Gettysburg Battlewalks.  On the anniversary of the battle, historians guide park visitors across the actual battlefield in the footsteps of the soldiers who fought there on July 1, 2, and 3 of 1863.

”Being on the same ground that was marched over, fought over, and bled over, helps us to bridge the divide between the past and the present, and hopefully allows us to connect, in a meaningful way, with those who made history at Gettysburg,” says Christopher Gwinn, Chief of Interpretation and Education at Gettysburg National Military Park. “We are thrilled to be able to again work with PCN to share this experience with viewers across Pennsylvania, so that they too can benefit from this experience."Battlewalks are geared for both the novice park visitor and the advanced Civil War buff.  Youngsters can find programs designed for their tastes, too; few kids can resist a chance to learn about crude medical treatment given at battlefield hospitals in 1863.  Some Battlewalks offer basic information and take about a half-hour.  Others can take about two hours.  Choosing one over the other depends on the visitor’s level of interest and physical endurance.  Some of the more analytical Battlewalks even entertain what-if scenarios posed by experts who ponder how changing one event might have affected the outcome of the battle.

PCN’s cameras record each Battlewalk in a way that makes the viewer feel as if they were along with the group.  You’ll hear no voice-over narration, you’ll see no actors or performers, with the exception of a few lucky volunteers who wear woolen uniforms and explain their gear and weapons to make a point.  What you will see and hear, are experts and park visitors on a solemn procession into another time, when the future of the United States was in doubt.

Armies at the time didn’t know it, but the Battle of Gettysburg proved to be a turning point.  Though the Civil War would rage on, the Battle of Gettysburg is considered to be the high-water mark of the Confederacy, because they would never again advance that far to the north.  Over one-hundred fifty years later, battlefield visitors and historians alike continue to be fascinated with this unique time in our nation’s history.     

To help illustrate war’s human toll, park rangers often hold up photographs during Battlewalks of soldiers in uniform.  The effect can be startling.  Some faces are too young to have shouldered such grave responsibility.  They stare out from the pages of history, from another age.  They give pause to a person in the 21^st century who might wonder how they themselves might have risen to the challenge.

Watch Gettysburg Battlewalks on PCN-TV and the PCN app.  

 

Battlewalks • Talks • Panels • Books • Interviews • And More!
New and past Gettysburg Battlewalks, battletalks, interviews with Civil War experts, and more are available to stream on demand with the Gettysburg Collection. Subscribe to PCN Select today to begin streaming.

► Click here to start watching now.