April 2014

Editor's Letter
Spring has arrived in historic Gettysburg, a perfect time of year to stroll through town and visit the epic battlefield. Those of us at The Gettysburg Experience are eager to commemorate this anticipated time of year with an array of articles that we hope you will enjoy.
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Four Historic Churches
The entire town of Gettysburg was part of the battlefield during the summer of 1863. Civilians as well as hordes of soldiers saw war approach the historic crossroads town. When the smoke cleared, every edifice was used as a sanctuary for the wounded and dying. Gettysburg's churches, too, offered their aid the thousands left behind in the wake of the leaden storm. Three of the four are mentioned in the following pages -- another, built after the war, offers a unique memorial:
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April 1864: Preamble
As spring arrived in April 1864, the work of death began anew. On April 8, in northern Louisiana, the Battle of Mansfield was fought. General Dick Taylor, the son of former U.S. President Zachary Taylor, defeated Union commander Nathaniel Banks, who met the men in gray with his blue troops at a place known as Sabine Crossroads, located in a wilderness area about 30 miles south of the Confederate base of operations at Shreveport. The next day, April 9, Banks and Taylor again met for battle at Pleasant Hill, about 20 miles southeast of Mansfield, and near the banks of the Red River. This time General Banks claimed the victory -- but inexplicably did not renew his attack for Shreveport: the reason he embarked on the Red River Campaign in the first place.
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Wilderness Lodge Leather & Hat Shop Celebrates 20th Year in Gettysburg
In addition to its significant place in American history. Gettysburg is also a town filled with wonderful and unusual shops. One that is approaching its two decade mark is Wilderness Lodge Leather & Hat Shop, located at 11 Steinwehr Avenue.
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Farewell to a Pennsylvania Hero
On Friday, March 15, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett requested that all U.S. flags in Pennsylvania be flown at half-mast. The reason was that William Guarnere, age 90, had passed away on Saturday, March 8 in a Philadelphia hospital; and the following Friday was the day of his funeral. The World War II veteran had served and seen action in the war as a member of Easy Company, part of the 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. He saw action on D-Day, in Carentan, in Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands, and during the particularly devastating Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes. At the Bulge he was seriously wounded, losing a leg from an artillery explosion while rescuing fellow Easy Company airborne trooper Joe Toye. For his unflinching courage under fire, and for being wounded in battle, Guarnere was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart (in fact he was awarded more than one of some of these medals).
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Albert Lentz: The First To Fall
The history of Gettysburg is long and varied. It has seen great events and profound sorrows, from the Colonial era to the present. A town that has continued over the centuries to send her sons and daughters into perilous places for the good of the nation, Gettysburg has more than one cemetery filled with heroes.
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Recipes, Yesterday, & Today >