Gettysburg Licensed Town Guides

04/03/2025

As we begin our 21st year providing historical walking tours of the town, we are so excited to be partnering with Shriver House Museum at Gettysburg by providing tours on Friday evenings at 5:00 p.m.

After you tour the Shriver House, walk with us and hear about the experiences of the Shriver's friends and neighbors during the three day battle.

Tickets for the walking tour can be purchased through the Shriver House or the link below.

The first Between the Firing Lines: Baltimore Street Walking Tour kicks off this Friday, April 4th. Join a Licensed Town Guide for this fascinating tour that will introduce attendees to the civilians who once lived along Baltimore Street in Gettysburg. You'll even get to see some of the battle damage that remains to this day.

Tours begin at the Shriver House at 307 Baltimore Street. Purchase your tickets here: https://tinyurl.com/4c8t3daa

📸: Historic photo of Baltimore Street from the collection of the Adams County Historical Society

03/28/2025

When the Union and Confederate armies left Gettysburg after the three day battle they left behind an estimated 50,000 casualties. That number included an estimated 20,000 wounded left to be cared for by the town's civilians.

Although the town stepped up to provide nursing care, the number of wounded were overwhelming. Several charitable organizations, as well as individuals, came to Gettysburg to provide supplies and hands-on help. One of these organizations was the Daughters of Charity, a Catholic religious order headquartered in Emmittsburg, MD.

On July 5, a group of sisters accompanied by their chaplain journeyed thirteen miles north to Gettysburg to provide both physical spiritual aid and comfort. It was a challenging journey, as recalled by the chaplain, Father Burlando. "What a frightful spectacle met our gaze! ...The farther we advanced the more harrowing was the scene; we could not restrain our tears."

When they arrived in Gettysburg Mother Regina described what happened next. "Our little band of sisters was disposed of by sending two to each hospital [church] as far as their numbers went. Our headquarters were the parlors of the McClellan's Hotel [today's Hotel Gettysburg, Est. 1797 ] which had been set aside exclusively for the sister's use."

Although the sisters were assigned to the churches of all religious denominations, they are most closely associated with St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church. A stained glass window in the church depicts the care provided by the Daughters to Union and Confederate soldiers alike. The Daughters of Charity provided nursing care at numerous military hospitals in Confederate and Union states throughout the Civil War in addition to serving on the battlefield.

The Gettysburg Licensed Town Guides conclude our Women's History tours this Saturday and Sunday. The one hour walking tour begins at 1:00 p.m. For more information or to schedule a tour please see our website at https://www.gbltg.com or call 717-253-5737.

03/21/2025

On January 26, 1844 in the Adams County Courthouse in Gettysburg a Virginia woman filed manumission documents for the enslaved daughter of her deceased husband. Mary Maddox had previously manumitted Kitty Payne and her children eleven months earlier in Rapahannock County, VA. Family oral history states that Kitty's father was Samuel Maddox, Sr., Mary's husband. Samuel Sr.'s will bequeathed his estate to Mary and it was that will and the interpretation of it that lead to both freedom for Kitty and her children and their subsequent abduction from Adams County back to Rapahannock County, VA.

For one and a half years Kitty and her young children Mary, Eliza and James lived in the vicinity of Bear Mountain near Bendersville where they were supported by the Quaker community.

On July 24, 1845 the family was kidnapped from their home in the middle of the night by a group of men lead by the nephew of Samuel Maddox, Sr., also named Samuel Maddox. Maddox, Jr. and the kidnappers stopped at Myers' Tavern (the Elk Horn Hotel) in Bendersville before fleeing south, pursued by John Wright, a Quaker, as far as the Mason Dixon Line.

Upon their return to Virginia Kitty was able to contest her abduction due to a Virginia law that allowed enslaved persons who claimed free legal status to have their day in court and which also provided her with legal aid, something that the majority of kidnapped enslaved individuals could not take advantage of. The Menallen Friends continued to provide support until her claim to freedom came to trial.

Her case came before the Rapahannock court in March 1846 and both the judge and jury were slaveholders. Despite this, Kitty and her children had their manumission confirmed by the court, albeit on a legal technicality.

With her manumission confirmed Kitty, now known as Catherine, and her children returned to Gettysburg. Catherine married Abraham Brian, a widower. She and Abraham had a child together, Frances. Catherine died in 1850 and is buried in Gettysburg's Lincoln Cemetery.

To commemorate Women's History Month, the Gettysburg Licensed Town Guides are offering a one hour walking tour focused on the women of Gettysburg. Tours are Saturday and Sunday at 1:00 throughout March. For more information or to schedule a tour please see our website at https://www.gbltg.com or call 717-253-5737.

📷: Kitty Payne website marker is located at the Elk Horn Hotel in Bendersville

03/14/2025

When the first shot of the Battle of Gettysburg was fired, 18 year old Anna Garlach was in her backyard stringing beans for dinner. By the end of the day she witnessed the Union retreat in front of her Baltimore St. home. "In the retreat...there were more people in the street than I have seen since any time. The street seemed blocked. In front of our house the crowd was so great that I believe I could have walked across the street on the heads of the soldiers."

With her father, Henry, stranded on Cemetery Hill for days and her mother Catherine preoccupied with sheltering Gen. Schimmelfenning and chasing Confederate soldiers out of the house the duty of watching Frankie, her six month old baby brother, fell to Anna.

When there was sharpshooting and artillery fire on the second and third day Anna sat with Frankie in the cellar near the steps while her 12 year old brother Will and her mother, armed with an ax, sat on the steps.

Hear Anna and Catherine's story and that of other brave and intrepid women on our Women's History Tour every Saturday and Sunday in March. The one hour walking tours begin at 1:00 p.m. For more information or to schedule a tour please see our website at https://www.gbltg.com or call 717-253-5737.

📷 courtesy of The Adams County Historical Society at Gettysburg

03/10/2025

Yay us! Looking forward to another season of doing what we love ❤️

Source: Gettysburg Times, March 10, 2025.

02/14/2025

Twenty six presidents have visited Gettysburg since 1863 and the president who holds the record for the shortest visit ever is Woodrow Wilson.

President Wilson's train pulled into Gettysburg at 11:00 a.m. on July 4, 1913 and departed one hour later at 12:00 noon. In the one hour that he spent in Gettysburg President Wilson spoke to the veterans gathered for the 50th anniversary of the battle. The president initially declined an invitation to speak at the reunion but reconsidered upon the advice of his advisors. His speech focused on reconciliation and unification.

In observance of President's Day we are offering a 60 minute walking tour highlighting presidential visits to Gettysburg. The tours are scheduled at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 15 through Monday, February 17. For reservations or for more information see our website at https://www.gbltg.com or call 717-253-5737. Tours can also be scheduled online through Get Your Guide.

P.S. It's just a coincidence that this tour, like President Wilson's visit, is one hour long 😉

01/05/2025

How cool is this?!

12/21/2024

12/08/2024

Main Street Gettysburg 's Christmas Festival was so much fun! 🌲🎅🤶🌲Thank you to the sponsors and volunteers for a wonderful event! Here's a few photos of the ice sculptures on Baltimore St. that were snapped between our tours yesterday.

12/06/2024

For all those taking the Licensed Battlefield Guide exam tomorrow: You've prepped, studied and walked the battlefield for hours examining every cannon, position and terrain. You've formed study groups, written practice essays and memorized the Order of Battle. You've read secondary sources, delved into primary sources and took notes and made outlines. You have done all this and more. Know that you are ready. We wish you success tomorrow.

12/05/2024

Main Street Gettysburg's Christmas Festival is this Saturday, December 7. Many events are planned throughout the day, including a presentation sponsored by the Gettysburg Foundation at 11:00 a.m. in the courtyard at the Children of 1863 Museum. The presentation is free and features Gettysburg Licensed Town Guide Ted Hirt and author Stephen Evangelista.

Despite the deprivations of war, this special time of year was still celebrated in the Civil War army and on the Homefront. Ted and Stephen will discuss how Christmas was celebrated throughout the country and in Gettysburg by both citizens and the members of Battery B 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery. Hear readings of the heartfelt letters soldiers wrote to family at home, sing holiday carols sung by the fireside and hold some of the items that soldiers would have received in packages from their loved ones. This program includes period holiday music by Nick Evangelista.

11/22/2024

Many thanks to all who toured with us this year...and years past. This year marked our 20th anniversary of providing historic walking tours of town and we are looking forward to our 21st season starting in April 2025. Tours are available from December 2024 through March 2025 and can be scheduled by visiting https://www.gbltg.com or calling 717-253-5737. Tours can also be scheduled through Viatour and GetYourGuide.

11/19/2024

Today marks the 161st anniversary of the dedication of the Soldiers National Cemetery in Gettysburg, on November 19, 1863. On that date, President Lincoln delivered his famed Gettysburg Address, reminding a weary nation that the victory at Gettysburg was part of a broader war to secure freedom and democracy for all.

100 years after Lincoln's famed speech, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the former President of the United States, was the keynote speaker for the centennial commemoration of the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1963. Eisenhower used his remarks to highlight the same message which Lincoln gave a century before, noting:

"We read Lincoln’s sentiments, we ponder his words - the beauty of the sentiments he expressed enthralls us; the majesty of his words holds us spellbound - but we have not paid to his message its just tribute until we - ourselves - live it. For well he knew that to live for country is a duty, as demanding as is the readiness to die for it. So long as this truth remains our guiding light, self-government in this nation will never die."

"True to democracy’s basic principle that all are created equal and endowed by the Creator with priceless human rights, the good citizen now, as always before, is called upon to defend the rights of others as he does his own; to subordinate self to the country’s good; to refuse to take the easy way today that may invite national disaster tomorrow; to accept the truth that the work still to be done awaits his doing."

(Eisenhower NHS Image: General Eisenhower stands on a podium, surrounded by seated dignitaries, facing a large crowd seated in front of him)

11/18/2024

Gettysburg Remembrance Day Parade and spectators. Thank you to all for a wonderful parade. We saw five Lincolns, three Lees and two Grants.

📷: rmzajko

11/18/2024

Gettysburg Licensed Town Guide Ted Hirt (right), a member of Battery B of the 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery, marches in the 2024 Remembrance Day Parade.

11/17/2024

Remembrance Day pre-parade shots. The weather was perfect and so was the parade.

📷: rmzajko