Although only minor National Park Service signage alerts you to the boundaries of the vast Gettysburg battlefield at its outer edges bleeding into neighboring counties, it’s almost impossible not to know by instinct when you’ve crossed the threshold onto its hallowed, historic ground. It just feels different. You have to wonder if the area’s residents feel the same. It’s little doubt those of 1863 felt it, too, as many bore the burden of the battle while it raged and, likely, for the rest of their lives after.
When the battle broke out in this county seat on July 1, 1863, college classes were interrupted, business stopped, and a bustling railroad town was stilled. If residents hadn’t fled for safety elsewhere, they shuttered themselves in
