November in Gettysburg is alive with the rustle of falling leaves, the click clack of 19th Century army boots and banging of swords and canteens and belt buckles against the blues and browns and greys and reds and greens of woolen uniforms. the Third Saturday in November 2016 as is the custom is alive with remembrance of death a and destruction 153 years ago July 1-3 1863. This year, Dedication Day, the ceremony of the anniversary of the Nov 19, 1863 dedication of the National Cemetery and delivery of one of the most famous speeches in US History, coincides with Remembrance Day, a time of wreath laying throughout the park, musical tributes and a parade of both Union and Confederate reenactors and living historians.

This is my third year attending Remembrance Day and the first time at Dedication Day. I am a bit skeptical that this will be as significant as the first when I was in the midst of my Civil War immersion.  It was then that I happened upon the musicians on Little Round Top playing marches and hyms as the sun set., the inspiration for Gettysburg Prayer. It was then that my new born studies came to life as the whole town of Gettysburg filled with 19th C. memories and storytelling.