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An Interesting Day In Gettysburg

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day in Gettysburg. One of those days God gives Vermonters (where I used to live) to make up for days in mid-winter when it is 25 below with 2 feet of snow on the ground.

I normally do Living History tours on Monday and Thursday mornings but I didn't hve a tour yesterday so I took Harry Pfantz' book about the first day's battle and headed to Cemetery Hill and the National Cemetery. I intended to read about the first dy's fighting whee the Confederates pushed the Ynkees up to the top of Cemetery Hill where Evergreen Cemetery is located

But as I walked through the New York section of the cemetery on my way to a marble bench near the Pennsylvania section, A lady stopped me and asked if there was anything in my book bout her ancestor. There wasn't so I kept reading the page where there was a man mentioned with her ancestor's name.

The story told of a Color Corporal Albert Mericle and Color Sergeant Lewis Bishop of the 154 th New York Infantry. They had been shot near a brickyard along Stratton Street where the street crosses Stevens' Run. (I cross that bridge everyday.). Corporal Mericle lasted several days before he passed away. Sergeant Lewis apparently was killed instantly. The colors were brought along to Cemetery Hill.

What makes this story interesting is what happened next is just plain weird. Not paranormal, just weird. I looked down and I was standing at Corporal Mericle's grave.The spelling was a little different - Miracle vs. Mericle but it was him. Two headstones to the left was Sgt. Bishop.

I have read about people dying at Gettysburg before, but never found myself unintentionally standing at their grave while reading about them

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Permalink Reply by Dori Emerson Lloyd on April 27, 2013 at 10:23am

"like" ;-]

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Permalink Reply by Jim Avery on May 8, 2013 at 9:19am

Australia and the US Civil War

I work as a tour guide in Gettysburg for the Farnsworth House. One of the tours I do is a living history tour. We typically have at least one Australian on every tour. I wondered why the interest in the Civil War by Australians. Now I know why. A lady on the tour last week told me there are three Civil War veterans buried in Adelaide. That got me researching and what I found is absolutely fascinating.

Some of the soldiers from Australia were really Americans who had gone to Australia during the Victoria gold rush of the 1850’s and had gone home to fight. Others were Australians who had joined the crews of Confederate ships that visited their ports. Still more were Americans who went to Australia after the war.

Australia also had its own fears about the Civil War. The South (the Confederate States of America) was trying to get Britain to join the war on their side. If that happened, the Russians were preparing to invade Australia. For more about this see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_and_the_American_Civil_War

The William Kenyon Australian Confederated SCV Camp 2160 (SCV = Sons of Confederate Veterans) has a fascinating web site called Australian and New Zealand American Civil War Veterans. They have identified veterans of the Civil War buried in Australia and New Zealand. They are listed alphabetically and the group has written biographies about each of them. Some include photographs of their graves. They also have some fantastic art work. Here is their link http://www.acwv.info/1-files/introduction-A.htm . They also have a list of descendants and one stands out. A descendant of General Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Confederate troops.

An Interesting Day In Gettysburg

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