We are in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to visit the battlefields of the Civil War’s bloodiest battle which is widely believed to be the war’s turning point!

The election of Abraham Lincoln in November 1860 was the final blow to what had been an age-old smoking gun – the fate of slavery – as the Republicans were determined to prevent slavery extending into the western territories.

Efforts at a compromise failed as Southern leaders feared that Lincoln would stop the expansion of slavery and put it on a course towards extinction. Before Lincoln took office in March 1861, seven states declared their intention to leave the Union and join together to form the Confederate States of America. The states were: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas.

The re-supply of Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina became the first crisis of newly inaugurated President Lincoln. In April, 1861, Lincoln notified the Governor of South Carolina that he was sending supply ships to the Fort. The response he received was an ultimatum to the immediate evacuation of the Fort. The first shots were fired by the Confederates on April 12, 1861 and 36 hours later the Union Major agreed to evacuate. The Civil War had begun.

By the end of June, 1863, after two years of brutal war, both the Union and Confederate armies arrived in the area surrounding the town of Gettysburg. It was just a matter of time before the two armies collided. The only question was where!

Me and a beautiful bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln. The film “Lincoln” starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field is an incredible visual depiction of the time around the Civil War!