Battle of Gettysburg Reenactment

The battle took place in 1863, two years before the conflict finally finished. The key issue at stake was slavery. The northern states opposed it but the southern states, whose economy largely depended upon it, were in favour of perpetuating the system.

The battle itself occurred more by accident than design. General Lee was heading northwards towards central Pennsylvania with 75,000 confederate troops when he learned that he was being pursued by 95,000 Union troops. Lee ordered several brigades to forage east and it was here that the two forces met and converged on Gettysburg.

For three days the fighting raged until the infamous Pickett's Charge, which decimated the confederate forces. General Pickett led thousands of his men over a mile of open ground, mistakenly assuming that an earlier round of cannon shot had virtually wiped out the Union's stronghold. In fact, it had destroyed nothing more than fields.

The re-enactment follows the pattern of the battle itself and takes place over three days. The highlight is the Pickett's Charge at 2pm on the Sunday. It is a loud, smoky affair with the sounds of pistol crack and rifle shot ringing loud over the battlefield. Capturing the imagination of schoolchildren and war historians alike, it is an extremely popular event and it's worth booking a viewing position well in advance. Traffic is heavy around the weekend, so arrive early so as not to miss the battles.

If you fancy getting involved, anyone over 16 can join their regiment of choice and can even bring their own horse - it had better be used to gunshot though...

Aside from the battlefield, there are live mortar fire and artillery demonstrations, war photography exhibitions, civil war music concerts and even military weddings. Another legacy of the Civil War is capitalism, and there's no shortage of merchandise and memorabilia of all shapes and sizes on offer.