In this cemetery lie some of the soldiers that died during the Battle of Gettysburg July 1 to July 3, 1863. This was the battle with the largest number of casualities in the American Civil War and is often cited as the war's turning point. During this battle the 93,921 man strong Union Forces, led by Gen. George G. Meade, met the 71,699 man strong Confederate Forces, led by Gen. Robert E. Lee. When driving the loop that covers the former battleground, a relatively small area of only a few square miles, where every participating state has erected memorials to their fallen heroes, it is almost incomprehensible when looking at the staggering numbers of casualities during the three days the battle lasted. The Union had 23,055 wounded, 3,155 killed, and 5369 captured or missing. The Conferderacy had 23,231 wounded, 4,708 killed, and 5,830 captured or missing. All in only 3 days and this amongst soldiers of the same country!! There were no sophisticated weapons launched over the horizon, this was literally eyeball to eyeball. This picture was taken on 4 June 2006. Thank you for viewing and commenting on my recent uploads and a special 'Thank you' to those that may have added some of them as their favorites, Sig... A weather update; Today was the 9th consecetive day where temperatures here in Phoenix have exceeded 110F with afternoon relative humidity values of 2 or 3% and overnight lows in the mid-to upper 80s. Yesterday in Goodyear, on the westend of Phoenix where I live, it was 117F, in the shade on my patio it was 120F. The air condition is going full steam and the electricity bill will be high.