Walking the Fields of Carnage

 Last week with my Pal Marty Rumpole we traveled Civil War Battlefields of Gettysburg and Antietam. Quick stop off in Harper's Ferry. I did my major time at Gettysburg. Bike tour of the battlefield with a guide Walked Pickett's Charge. Absorbed the history from the Guide and he really knew his history. Little Round Top , Devils Den came fully alive with a good guide. What moved me the most was our early evening walk of the open field of the final charge of the battle. It has become known as Pickett's Charge. I walked it both ways from the Union lines and the high water mark to the statue of General Lee & back again. By the way a note the field is full of ticks so beware. In that walk through the muck and humidity of that field I became moved by the fact I was stepping on ground where dead men once lay. The carnage of over a mile in length with precious little cover. Essentially only a few fences. Under constant fire. War........what we have done & continue to do to one another. Marty and I grew quiet the further we walked. All the facts we knew , all the books read. That sometimes can not  really tell the story. Sometimes a simple walk is a book within itself. After we finished I felt a sense of  being alone as darkness was rapidly falling. Missed the wife I guess.