Today students visited various sites at Gettysburg. They stepped back in time a couple hundred years and lived the life of a soldier or surgeon during this revolutionary period. They visited General Meade's headquarters, Cemetery Ridge, the postal wagon, a surgeon's tent, and the soldiers' living quarters.
During the activities students practiced mending wounded soldiers using the tools and technology of the time, creating battle strategies for the attacks expected on Cemetery Ridge, eating hardtack during the food shortage around the campfire, and sorting mail from the union and confederate soldiers.
Below are some pictures from the event. Students did not visit all sites yet, and will finish their rotations on Monday. Enjoy!
Soldiers' Living Quarters
Here students are eating hard tack around the campfire. Some loved it and some not so much. Hardtack was a biscuit that was served to civil war soldiers during food shortages. It was made of flour, salt, and water. It was so hard that it often broke soldiers' teeth and could last up to 50 years if kept dry!
Students sang along to the song: "Hard Tack Come Again No More" as they ate their hardtack and sat around the "campfire." Although the beginning sounds like joyful noise, they get it together by the end. :)
Surgeon's Tent
Students practice mending wounded soldiers using the tools of the time. They get into pairs. One partner drew a wound card and the other would be the surgeon and decide how to treat the injury. Then the soldier would get a fate card. Often it didn't end well for soldiers during this time. The students learned about the primitive tools they had and the harmful medicines that were used.
General Meade's Headquarters and Cemetery Ridge
Here students learned about the harsh realities of battle, the weapons used, and the military tactics that won the war. They examined eye witness accounts and used maps and military pawns to decide a strategic battle plan for an expected attack at Cemetery Ridge.
The Postal Wagon
Students read real letters from Union and Confederate soldiers and used their background knowledge to sort them into piles based on the conditions the soldiers wrote about.