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He was a full-bearded figure on a white horse, pointing across a misty ridge at the most famous battlefield in American history. 

The similarity struck my husband at once. "Just like Lee on Traveller," Jim said jokingly.

The bearded figure, in sweatshirt and baseball cap, turned. "I was waiting for someone to say that!" chuckled Ed Clawsey.

Ed, a mathematician turned licensed guide, was our leader for a unique tour of the National Military Park at Gettysburg: a five-hour horseback sojourn that led us away from the auto tour paths and ornate monuments through the woods and farm lanes of the famed battle.

While our trail was never more than a few hundred yards from the roadways and statues, our guided ride allowed us a chance to learn more and ask more about the battle, the war and the era than would have been possible in a standard tour.  

Gettysburg's 122 battlefield guides are living, breathing compendia of Civil War history. For a modest fee they will accompany visitors by foot, car, horse or even bike, tailoring tour content to individual interests. Two local stables, not the National Military Park itself, offer horses for hire.       

Clawsey's expertise had impressed our friend Bill, who urged us to make this, our second visit to the park, in the saddle.

"Re-read The Killer Angels before you go," Bill advised, and reassured us that our modest equestrian skills would suffice. "You'll be fine."

I'd read Shaara's fine, sentimental novel again by the time we arrived, and prided myself on my preparation until we stopped into Farnsworth House Military Impressions Bookstore on Baltimore Street. On a rainy Sunday evening, the place was full of men browsing thousands of titles, with bookcases labelled with categories like "Gettysburg - First Day," "Second Day," "Buford," "Kelly's Brigade," and "Regiments and State Units." One hundred thirty-five years later, this landmark battle attracts intense scholarship. A novice visiting Farnsworth's might conclude that no amount of study will suffice.

We set out the next morning from Macmillan Woods Youth Campground behind Seminary Ridge, the main Confederate battle line. As we moved north, three gentle horses following a thoroughbred, we passed through the grounds of Union Theological Seminary. Passing students smiled, accustomed to the scenic intrusion.

Pam Grimes, who supplied and tended our horses, halted briefly in the gloomy woods on the edge of the campus. "Deer," she called back to us. It took a moment to discern the white tails in the fall colors around us.  

Viewing the battlefield on horseback provides the advantages of both height and scenery. While the auto tour route hugs the ridges, we also traversed the valley. We rode across classic Pennsylvania farmland: rolling squares of green and brown that have been farmed for nearly two centuries.  Confederate officer William Dorsey Pender, writing to his wife of the region, noted that "the farms are very well cultivated; it's a shame the people can't be."

The battleground continues to yield artifacts, from bullets to bones.

"Last year, part of a uniform and the bones of a Confederate solider were found under the bridge," called Ed, as we approached the spot where General Buford's Union cavalry met the first Confederate approach.  Our guide declaimed from memory the prescient dispatch that Buford made to General Reynolds, describing the suitability of the area for a fight.    

"Terrain determines the kind of fight that you can do," Ed emphasized. Buford knew that, too. "If we need to," he had written to Reynolds, "we can withdraw to Cemetery Ridge."

As we doubled back south along Seminary Ridge, we followed a counter-clockwise path, passing first the Confederate and then the Union lines.

We learned about the wartime use of tethered balloons for aerial reconnaissance, the exact four-year sequence of the West Point curriculum in the 1830's, which stone walls were original to the battle and which were WPA "Roosevelt walls," and the military strategies argued by the Confederate generals. To illustrate Pickett's Charge, Ed choreographed our three horses to become, briefly, the brigades of Garnett, Armistead and Kemper.

"Notice how we're dropping down," noted Ed, as we descended towards the thickly wooded base of Round Top. Though the trail was slippery, the horses were surefooted.

"If you could do this on foot, you'd be exhausted by the time you got done," Ed said happily. "The horse goes through the briars and brambles, gets his feet dirty, but he gets you where you should be in the condition you should be in."

After more than three hours on horseback, I was sadly out of condition when we finally dismounted at Little Round Top. As Clawsey described the famous Union defense of the hill, I could almost feel the bayonets of the Twentieth Maine--between me and the saddle.

Late in the afternoon we moved west out onto the open field, riding Pickett's Charge in reverse. The air was fresh and quiet. Few cars cruised the perimeter of the field on a cool weekday afternoon.

I asked Ed about the fate of those whose limbs were amputated at the battle: wasn't the surgery an almost certain death sentence? His answer revealed thoughtful study.

"In 1861, yes; in 1862, less so. By 1863, close to 70 percent of all amputees in the Eastern theater had successful outcomes," he told us. Among the many factors in that success were advances in sterilization and battlefield triage encouraged by General McClellan, which saved the lives of many wounded on this field.      

As we considered the casualties which had littered the ground around us, we heard a strangely joyful noise. We looked up at an unlikely sight: the women's cross-country team from nearby Gettysburg College, running across the battlefield in an afternoon workout. Laughing easily, they flashed past our weary horses in sweats and sneakers, a poignant reminder of life and spirit. 

"By 4:30, the battle is over," said our guide with finality as we crested Seminary Ridge.

"Lee rode out onto the field and said, 'It was all my fault. I thought these men were invincible.' "

For us, it was actually closer to five; our slow pace had delayed us. Pam Grimes, our capable horse tender, led our mounts to the trailer for their twilight ride back to Hickory Hollow Farm.  

We'd ridden fewer than ten miles in six hours. But as we dismounted, stiffly, we knew we had merely brushed the surface of this field. On a fresh horse, on another day, we'll ride again.             

WAYS & MEANS

Gettysburg is located 90 miles north of Washington. The Visitor Center at Gettysburg National Military Park (717-334-1124; <http://www.nps.gov/gett/>) is located at 97 Taneytown Road. Park buildings are closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. Licensed battlefield guides are available on a first-come, first-served basis through the Information Desk at the Visitor Center. Guides are self-employed individuals licensed by the Park Service; many give tours at other Civil War sites. Fees for Gettysburg tours are: 1-5 people, $30; 6-15 people, $45; over 16 people, $65. Make reservations by calling 1-877-GETTYCW.

Local stables which offer horses for battlefield tours are:

Artillery Ridge Campground/National Riding Stables, 610 Taneytown Road, (717-334-1288): two-hour battlefield ride with licensed guide or audiotape: $42 per person (must be over 8 years old). One-hour scenic rides also available at $20.90 per person. Open daily through October, weekends only in November. Closed December through March.

Hickory Hollow Farm, 219 Crooked Creek Road (717-334-0349): battlefield tours of two to five hours at $20 per person per hour; minimum three people per ride. Riders also pay hourly rate for licensed guide's horse. Battlefield trail rides offered year-round, weather permitting. Scenic rides also available.

Where to Stay:

With the bulk of its tourists visiting between April and October, Gettysburg has plenty of hotel rooms. We stayed comfortably at the Brick House Inn  (452 Baltimore Street, 800-864-3464), a renovated Victorian within walking distance of Lincoln Square, the heart of town. The main streets of town carry heavy traffic and can be noisy; quieter accomodations may be found further away. Gettysburg's two dozen bed and breakfast inns schedule special weekend events over the winter: Dickens Christmas weekend December 4-5, Civil War Ball & Dinner January 29-30, Dinner with President Lincoln (an impersonator, we assume) February 19-20. Full accomodation listings are available from the Gettysburg Convention and Visitors Bureau, (717-334-6274), <www.gettysbg.com>

Dining:

The historic highlight is the Dobbin House (89 Steinwehr Avenue, 717-334-2100), a 1776 landmark. The basement-level Springhouse Tavern serves casual fare from 11:30 a.m.-11p.m.; dining rooms serve dinners only. Historic Farnsworth House (401 Baltimore Street, 717-334-8838) offers dinner in its tavern and restaurant, adjacent to the bookstore, as well as evening "Candlelight Ghost Walks." 
 

(Christine O'Toole is a freelance writer from Mt. Lebanon. She is a contributor to "Travelers Tales: Prague and the Czech Republic," published this month by Travelers Tales Guides.)