Gettysburg Cannons Roar as Civil War Buffs Add to Cyclorama
U.S. Army Captain J.G. Benton’s ammunition chest sat for 46 years in a dusty display. Now it’s back on the front lines, helping bring an 1863 battle to life with a 42-foot-high painting in the round.
The chest and other artifacts allow visitors to see the painting at Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania the way the artist intended. That makes it even more meaningful for Civil War buffs who admire the depiction of the bloodiest battle in U.S. history.
“I can close my eyes and hear the roar of the cannons, the men shouting, the horses neighing,” said Sue Boardman, a Gettysburg Foundation historian who worked on the restoration. “I’ve never felt that with any other work of art. Every time I see the painting, I notice something new.”
The oil painting, billed as the largest in the world, is a cyclorama of 14 panels placed in a circle, giving a natural perspective when viewed from the center. It measures 377 feet (115 meters) around and is housed in a new $103 million visitor center after artists and historians spent three years restoring the 124-year-old work.
They made it a diorama, a three-dimensional scene, by adding recreations of Civil War equipment on terrain formed from concrete and Styrofoam. The painting also was cleaned and mended before being reopened to public viewing last month at the park 120 miles (190 kilometers) southwest of Philadelphia and 75 miles north of Washington.
“The Battle of Gettysburg” depicts the charge of Confederate infantry led by General George Pickett, a turning point in the war between the North and South. Painted by French artist Paul Philippoteaux, it was first shown in Boston in 1884 and moved to the battlefield site in 1913. 
Historical Entertainment
“There were no motion pictures back then, so cycloramas were a popular way to present sweeping images such as Pickett’s Charge,” said Boardman, author of a book about the painting. “Dioramas were used to give these kinds of paintings more authenticity and energy.”
An ordnance rifle, muskets dropped by wounded soldiers, discarded cartridge boxes and bloody stretchers are now positioned in front of the painting.
“It took my breath away,” said Gordon Jones, senior military historian at the Atlanta History Center. “The presentation — augmented by the diorama and the new light and sound show — is very powerful.”
Philippoteaux based the work on eyewitness accounts and photographs taken after the three-day battle, Boardman said. Even before the refurbishing, the painting was known for evoking emotion about the horrors of war.
`Gave Me Chills’
“You feel like you are surrounded by soldiers who are bleeding to death,” said Janice Pietrone, a retired first-grade teacher. She first saw the cyclorama at age 13, when “it gave me chills.”
Confederate forces under General Robert E. Lee invaded Pennsylvania in July 1863, the third year of the Civil War. They were rebuffed by Union troops led by General George S. Meade, a Pennsylvanian. The confrontation left more than 50,000 soldiers dead, wounded or missing.
“It was the largest incursion into the North by a Confederate army,” Jones said. “If Southern forces had prevailed at Gettysburg, it would have been a devastating blow to morale in the North.”
Both original items and copies are used in the diorama. Jeff Stafford, whose Coatesville, Pennsylvania-based company recreates Civil War cannons, donated the ordnance gun, valued at more than $26,000.
“I have relatives who fought on both sides in the Civil War, so I felt like I had to be a part of this,” said Stafford, 53. “I wanted to use my skills to add to the diorama’s realistic feel.”
Confederate Legacy
Randy Grimsley, a retired school administrator from Towson, Maryland, and a Confederate re-enactor with the 1st Virginia Infantry, donated a haversack and several bedrolls.
“Getting a chance to be involved in something like this is as good as it gets,” said Grimsley, 67, whose great-great uncle was a Confederate foot soldier.
The Gettysburg Foundation contributed Benton’s limber chest, used to hold artillery rounds, which had been displayed in the old visitor center since 1962. Benton was an assistant to General George Ramsey, chief of ordnance for Washington.
The team of conservators uncovered depictions of 20 soldiers that had been painted over, Boardman said. They also returned 12 feet of canvas at the top of the panels to restore sky that had been cut away, she said.
Weather Accuracy
To color the sky, the restorers relied on pictures, veterans’ accounts and calculations by a Gettysburg College professor. Michael Jacobs, who taught math and science, took daily weather readings in the town starting in 1830, Boardman said.
Congress appropriated $15 million to renovate the painting and the state of Pennsylvania paid $20 million toward the museum and visitor center, said Dru Anne Neil, a foundation spokeswoman. Private donations covered the rest, she said.
The facilities are expected to boost annual park attendance by 37 percent to 1.3 million people, Neil said. Entry to the museum and the painting is $7.50.
“Gettysburg should be considered hallowed ground by all Americans,” said Colonel Jay P. Morgan, commander of missile forces at Los Angeles Air Force Base in California. The cyclorama “serves as a remembrance that Americans are willing to fight and die for their ideals.”
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Source: Bloomberg
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