Monday, July 4, 2011

National Civil War Museum

One of the great things about vacationing in an RV is the fact that you can take side trips on a moment's notice when the mood hits you. During one afternoon of our trip it was particularly hot so instead of going to Hershey park for another day we took a drive to neighboring Harrisburg, PA to visit the National Civil War Museum. This Smithsonian affiliated museum is not something you'd stumble upon, but is well worth the trip to visit. They have a well organized and wonderfully presented collection of artifacts. The self-led tour of the museum is punctuated with many video presentations including a movie in a small theater.  There are two additional galleries with temporary exhibits which are rotated periodically. During our visit these featured an exhibit on animals in the Civil war and an exhibit on the first year of the war in time for the 150th anniversary.  Outdoors there are several artillery pieces on exhibit. Our visit took a couple of hours, but could have easily taken twice that time had we wished.

Of particular note for wargamers are two excellent dioramas. One of  Rohrbach bridge at Antietam (in 25mm) seen below on the left, and one of the "Hornets Nest" at Shiloh (in 40mm) seen below on the right.




6 comments:

Ray Rousell said...

Great post and photo's. I've always wanted to have that kind of holiday, just pick a spot on the map and away you go!

Beccas said...

I would like to go there on day.

Rodger said...

Thanks for posting. I would love to visit one day but it's a wee way from here.

Leigh said...

Never even know that existed, been to Lancaster for Historicon a couple of times and less than an hours drive away.

Looks good, if I ever find myself on that side of the pond again I will have to try including it in my itinerary.

AJ (Allan) Wright said...

If you're travelling from England/Europe to Historicon add an extra couple days to travel to nearby Gettysburg and Antietam as well.

AJ (Allan) Wright said...

Of course now that Historicon has moved it's not as close, but with it's location up in the air for the future who knows....