This odd picture is me, standing by a monument to Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, the Maine college professor who fought like a tiger on Little Round Top to prevent the confederates from turning the end of the Union line. (Read Killer Angels sometime, for a great, fictionalization of the story).

A good pal and I drove down here (you can only make the trip with a GOOD pal; it’s endless). We spent the night and then did a five-hour tour of the battlefield, by bicycle. We had a small group, a superb guide and a great time. If ever you go to Gettysburg (and are in decent shape) do the tour by bike. It’s the only way to go. An amazing experience and worth a lot of trouble. Which it is because Gettysburg is in the middle of nowhere. But not that day. That day, it was the center of the world. As were the men who fought there. Big stuff.