National Civil War Museum

Today's major stop was at the very impressive National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

It is a very imposing building constructed on the top of a hill overlooking the city.  I was surprised to discover that it is a private museum but it is affiliated with the Smithsonian which allows it access to exhibits from that institution.

The first thing seen upon approaching the building is a statue of Sergeant Richard R. Kirkland of the 2nd South Carolina Infantry who, at the Battle of Fredericksburg Virginia, left the Confederate lines laden down with canteens to attend to the wounded of the Union Forces lying in no-man's land.

Wars often carry with them tales of heroism and compassion such as this.  His actions resulted in a ceasefire as he tended to the wounded and dying before, a few hours later, the two sides continued trying to kill one another.  Of course, the most famous example of an impromptu ceasefire is during World War 1, the so called Great War, when German and British soldiers met in no-man's land between the trenches and played soccer and exchanged items as gifts to those who they would soon be trying to kill.  Madness.


The Museum runs chronologically from the beginnings of the Civil War until General Lee's surrender  at Appomattox Virginia in 1865 and favours neither side in its exhibits, often having one side of a room dedicated to the Confederate Army and the other to the Union Army.  It makes excellent comparisons to the two sides with breakdowns of infantry, cavalry, artillery and naval forces.  It also makes excellent use of technology as each gallery has a set of screens that show various characters as they explain what is happening to them throughout the course of the war: a southern plantation owner's wife, a slave, a man whose brothers have split fighting for opposing sides, a southern woman married to a northern man, a Washington DC reporter.  They do an excellent job of bringing the issues of the day to life.

The only thing that I felt lacking was a sense of where different events were taking place.  Perhaps all Americans know these things but I certainly did not and it would have been useful to have a series of maps as one progressed through the galleries anchoring the events and giving an overall picture of the progress of the War.

Having left the museum and heading to my accommodation I came across the most unique house that I had seen, built as the entrance-way to a cemetery  Perhaps for the groundskeeper ?