Magic Lantern Slide Gettysburg Rebels Seminary Ridge

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No TV in those days so this slide would have been used to report on the Gettysburg battle just afterwards or later on. This is a hand painted magic lantern slide that is identified on its side as, "AMERICAN CIVIL WAR The Invasion of Pennsylvania-Battle of Gettysburg-Charge of the Rebels on Cemetery Hill, Thursday, July 2, 1863". Each and every detail is clearly discernible, down to and including the soldiers, the flags, the Union artillery on the ridge and even an exploding cannon ball in the lower left corner. Hard to see in the photos but t are also advancing lines of Confederate infantry in the background. At one time t was a light paper background on the reverse of the slide which provided background, only small remnants remain. The slide measures 7" wide by 4 1/16" high, 3/8" thick. It is in pristine condition. As good as they get, this is a great must have collector's item. Please note: Allow 7 days for shipping as we are out finding new items during the week. One picture is worth a thousand words so please use the Larger option to examine the condition and content of this listing. Our shipping charges include postage plus handling i.e. packaging, materials and transportation and may be modified depending on w the winning bidder lives. For our foreign customers, the US Postal Service has discontinued the Global Priority mail flat rate box. Negative or neutral feedback for clearly stated shipping costs will be returned as we can not bargain down what we are charged. We pass our shipping charges on and do not profit from them, we don't want to lose money either. We will return negative feedback when warranted. "Union army commander Gen. George G. Meade, along with thousands of reinforcements, arrived at the Union camps before dawn on July 2. After a moonlight inspection of his army's position, Meade approved the location as being perfect for a defensive fight. Not only was the terrain in his favor but he also had more men on the battlefield than Lee -- and more were coming. Later that morning, Lee met with his II Corps commander, Gen. Richard Ewell, who Lee felt had not been aggressive enough on July 1. Lee told him, "We did not pursue our advantage of yesterday, and now the enemy are in good position." Coming from gentleman Lee, Ewell recognized the statement as a severe rebuke and no doubt steeled himself to perform better in the day's coming battle. The Union army was in position, and Lee ordered his army to attack. The main assault would be delivered by Longstreet's corps on the Union left, while Ewell's men applied pressure to the right of the line. Gen. Daniel E. Sickles's 10,000 men III Corps of the Union Army of the Potomac filed into position on Cemetery Ridge during the night and early morning of July 2, 1863. The corps occupied the extreme left of the Union line, the long shank of the hook-shaped position. Commander Gen. George G. Meade felt t was little possibility of a Confederate attack from that direction and devoted his energies to the other end of the line. Sickles, however was concerned about a low elevation one-half mile to his front, halfway between Cemetery Ridge and the Confederate army on Seminary Ridge. Sickles feared that if the Rebels placed cannon t, his position on Cemetery Ridge, which at his part of the line was only slightly higher than the surrounding ground, would be threatened. A peach orchard was on top of the low, flat topped ridge and the Emmitsburg Road crossed over it. Another low ridge angled back from the peach orchard, past a wheat field, to a jumble of giant rocks known as the Devel's Den, 1,100 yards away. Five hundreds yards past Devel's Den was Little Round Top, and between the two was a marshy area through which meandered a little stream called Plum Run. Much of the day's fighting would cover this entire area and the names Peach Orchard, Wheat Field, Devil's Den, and Little Round Top would, from that day forward, connote images of slaughter and mayhem to students of the Civil War. And the low area t... read more

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