I'm finally in the right spot!

I just finished reading Monday, June 29, 1863 and Wednesday, July 1, 1863—The First Day. Right now I am a little lost. I have to keep turning back to the Forward where the author, Michael Shaara, wrote a brief biographical sketch of the main leaders at the Battle of Gettysburg. Thank goodness for the forward. I’m amazed at how these men respected and regarded one another, no matter which side they fought for. I’ve never really thought about that because most wars involve another country and so the military leaders have been trained in different places. But during the Civil War, both sides had leaders trained at West Point.
During this part of the reading I’m amazed at how many “I didn’t know that!” moments I have had. For example, I had to look up information on Stonewall Jackson. He was mentioned many times during this part, and I found myself wanting to know more about why the leaders thought of him as a great leader. I wanted to find out the circumstances of his death, also. Jackson was accidentally shot by friendly fire in 1862. He had to have his arm amputated. Several days later, he got pneumonia and died. I know that I have seen a children’s book on Stonewall Jackson in my school’s book room. I’ll have to have my kids read it.
Another thing that I had an “I didn’t know that” moment about was that Taps was written during this war. I’m sure that this is a “duh” for many people, but I didn’t know that. It’s a good thing that I’m going on this tour.