140 Places Every Guide Should Know Part 16: Gettysburg LBG Fred Hawthorne
Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Fred Hawthorne is standing near the Gettysburg College office of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, which is located on Carlisle Street. This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 6:15 PM on Friday, August 12, 2011.
Fred Hawthorne’s interest in the American Civil War stemmed from stories his grandmother related of his soldier-ancestors’ war experiences. Such stories spurred him at an early age to read every book and magazine he could find dealing with the war and his family’s role in it. Hawthorne's ancestors took up arms on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line. Fred’s distant cousin, Lieutenant Thomas Huddleston, was the first western Virginia Confederate officer to die in the war - accidentally shot by one of his own men while guarding a bridge in the spring of 1861. Fred’s great grand-uncle Alex Armstrong served as a sharpshooter in Company B of the 100th Pennsylvania Infantry. The 100th took part in most of the campaigns of Ambrose Burnside’s 9th Army Corps. Another great grand-uncle in the same unit had the fingers of his hand shot off in the initial assaults on Petersburg in June of 1864. His great, great-grandfather rode with the 8th Virginia Cavalry and was captured by the Yankees while foraging for horses that same year. The study of that crucial period of American history became a lifelong interest. Fred served four years as an Intelligence Analyst with the United States Air Force during the later stages of the Vietnam War. Assignment to the National Security Agency in Washington, D.C. for much of this period allowed for many off-duty hours stomping, studying and relic-hunting the old battlefields of northern and central Virginia. Following completion of his service obligation Fred earned a university degree in American History and another in Secondary Education at the Pennsylvania State University. He went on to acquire an advanced degree in Colonial American History and Historical Archaeology. He spent sixteen years teaching history and economics on both university and secondary school levels before making a career change to educational computing in the early 1990’s operating a 400-station computer network for a public school district in south central Pennsylvania. Following graduation from Penn State Fred settled in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in a house built on ground over which Lee’s troops passed in their final assault on the Union center. The first day he lived in the house was marked with finding a dropped Confederate bullet while planting shrubbery. This location has given the opportunity of spending countless hours walking the more than twenty-five square miles of that historic site. In 1981 Fred took the battlefield guide qualifying exam administered by the National Park Service earning a federal license to serve as a Licensed Battlefield Guide. For the past twenty-nine years he has conducted more than 50,000 visitors around the battlefields of Gettysburg and other sites of that war. These visitors came from all fifty states and over forty foreign countries. For thirteen of those years Fred served as president of the Association of Licensed Battlefield Guides, Inc. – the oldest professional guide service in the United States dating back to 1915. He still holds several executive positions with that organization. He is also the author of the book, Gettysburg: Stories of Men and Monuments As Told By Battlefield Guides. To contact Fred, please click here to reveal his email address. To see the other 140 Places Every Guide Should Know posts, click here. In today's 140 Places Every Guide Should Know post, Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Fred Hawthorne shows us the Gettysburg College office of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Coster Avenue, and the Stratton Street houses containing artillery shells.
This map shows us the locations taken of the videos for the 140 Places Every Guide Should Know series. Videos #1-#39 were shown in our previous 140 Places Every Guide Should Know posts. Video #37 was taken at the Gettysburg-Hanover Railroad Station. Video #38 was taken at the house that Captain Dwight D. Eisenhower lived in on the Gettysburg College Campus during World War I. Video #39 was taken at on the Gettysburg College Campus between Pennsylvania Hall and the old President's House. Video #40 was taken at the Gettysburg College office of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Video #41 was taken at Coster Avenue. Video #42 was taken at the Kuhn House on Stratton Street. This map was created facing north at approximately 6:30 PM on Friday, September 2, 2011.
Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Fred Hawthorne is standing near the statue of President Dwight D. Eisenhower at the building which once served as the office for the President of the United States. This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 6:15 PM on Friday, August 12, 2011.
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In Video #40 (Videos #1-39 were shown in our previous 140 Places Posts) Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Fred Hawthorne shows the location of the Gettysburg College office of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 6:15 PM on Friday, August 12, 2011.
Licensed Battlefield Guide Fred Hawthorne is standing at the entrance of Coster Avenue. Coster Avenue is a continuation of Stevens Street, which is behind the photographer. This view was taken facing east at approximately 6:15 PM on Friday, August 12, 2011.
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In Video #41 Licensed Battlefield Guide Fred Hawthorne is standing at Coster Avenue and explains why it is on the list of 140 Places Every Guide Should Know. This view was taken facing southeast at approximately 6:15 PM on Friday, August 12, 2011.
Fred Hawthorne is standing by the John Kuhn House on North Stratton Street. Its wall contains a Civil War era artillery shell. This view was taken facing northeast at approximately 6:15 PM on Friday, August 12, 2011.
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In Video #42 Fred Hawthorne is standing by the John Kuhn House 221 North Stratton Street and points out an artillery shell sticking out from its south wall and also the Crass-Barbehenn House across the street which also contains a shell. This view was taken facing northeast to west at approximately 6:15 PM on Friday, August 12, 2011.
Fred Hawthorne points out the artillery shell on the south wall of the Kuhn House. This view was taken facing northeast at approximately 6:15 PM on Friday, August 12, 2011.
Fred Hawthorne is standing on the either side of Stratton Street from the Kuhn House. Behind him is the Crass-Barbehenn House located at 218 North Stratton Street. This view was taken facing northwest at approximately 6:15 PM on Friday, August 12, 2011.
Fred Hawthorne is pointing to the artillery shell at the Crass-Barbehenn House. The shell is on the second floor between the two center windows of the north wall. This view was taken facing west at approximately 6:15 PM on Friday, August 12, 2011.
The following list, certainly not a definitive one, was compiled by several Guides during long rides back and forth to grad school. It is in no way the "official policy" of the N.P.S. or the A.L.B.G., nor is it necessarily all knowledge expected of prospective new Guides. It is felt that in addition to a good, overall knowledge of the battle, a firm knowledge of the various features and sites related to the area and its pre and post battle history is necessary information for a newly-licensed Guide to begin to acquire. As of now, there are 149 places/facts on the list, and they are not in any particular order. 1. Timbers' Farm 2. "The Devil's Kitchen" 3. "Slaughter Pen" 4. The actual "Devil's Den" 5. Neill Avenue 6. Hampton Battery Rock 7. Fuller Marker 8. Irsch Advance Marker 9. Jones Artillery Avenue 10. 1st Shot Marker 11. Hazlett Inscription 12. McAllister Mill Site 13. Menchey's Spring 14. Wagon Hotel 15. Coster Avenue 16. "Trough" Rock 17. Forney Farm Site 18. Fahnestock Building 19. Henry Culp House 20. Dan Shaffer Farm 21. George House 22. South Cavalry Field 23. 1st Corps Barricade site 24. Bushman Hill 25. Herbst Woods 26. Ohio Flank Markers on Cemetery Hill 27. Ginny Wade's Three "Houses" 28. 25th Anniversary Memorial 29. 50th Anniversary Memorial 30. Warfield Ridge 31. Warfield House 32. Hunt's HQ Marker 33. Tipton Inscription 34. John Burn's House site 35. George Nixon's Grave 36. Bigelow's "Gate" 37. Brown's "Gate" 38. Dinosaur Footprints 39. Springs Hotel Site 40. "A.L. Coble" Rock 41. "D.A." Rock 42. Greene's Traverse 43. Palmer Marker 44. Heth Wounding Tree 45. Gibbon Tree 46. 54th NY Skirmish Line 47. Iron Brigade Position, Culp's Hill 48. Vincent Inscription 49. 40th NY Inscription 50. Original "Valley of Death" 51. Parrott Rifle #1 (CP) 52. Belmont Schoolhouse 53. Rock on which Ellis' and Cromwell's bodies were placed following death. 54. McPherson's Woods 55. 32nd Mass Aide Station 56. Site where Colonel Avery fell 57. Ginny Wade's three graves 58. Armistead's Grave site 59. Heagy Farm site 60. Alms House site 61. Old Adams Co. Prison 62. Sickles' Wounding Site 63. J. Weikert Farm 64. Granite Schoolhouse Site 65. Stock House 66. Sweeney House 67. Schimmelfennig's Shed site 68. Howe Avenue 69. Eagle Hotel site 70. Chaplain Howell Shot marker 71. Williams Avenue 72. Power's Hill 73. Ordnance Rifle #233 74. Berdan Avenue 75. Triangular Field 76. Pardee Field 77. Sachs' Bridge 78. Emanuel Pitzer Farm 79. George Sandoe's Death site 80. Penelope Ann 81. Only '63 Tree left in the National Cemetery 82. Location of the only 6 Rifled Napoleons made. 83. Houck's Ridge 84. Advanced Marker 1st Md CSA 85. Ewell's HQ Marker 86. Newton's HQ Marker 87. Confederates in Natl. Cem 88. Lt. Col. Fowler Killed 89. Seminary Buildings '63 90. College Buildings '63 91. Wentz House 92. Rogers House Site 93. George Sandoe's Grave 94. Raffensberger's Hill 95. "The Killing Swale" 96. Spangler's Meadow 97. Capture site 150th Pa Flag 98. Chamberlain Avenue site 99. Meade Avenue site 100. Devil's Slipper 101. Commonwealth of PA Parrotts 102. State of Connecticut James Rifles 103. Only statue of regimental commander on the field 104. Semmes' Wounding site 105. "CORA" 106. Codori Spring 107. Location of only original 6 Pdr on field 108. "Brockenbrough's" Rock Quarry 109. 5th Ohio's Skirmish Line "HQ" 110. "P. Noel" carving 111. McGilvery Avenue 112. Red Patch 113. Herman Haupt's Gettysburg Home 114. Josiah Benner's Springhouse 115. Col. Collis's grave 116. "Sickles' Act" plaque 117. John Page Nicholson marker 118. William Miller's Grave 119. Where Amos Hummiston died 120. 123rd NY Skirmish Marker 121. Slocum's HQ marker 122. Sgt. Major Stockton's rock 123. Western Maryland Railroad Station 124. Vincent wounding inscription. 125. "Second" Spangler's Spring 126. Z. Taney Farm site. 127. Army of Potomac Right Flank Marker 128. Christ Lutheran Church 129. German Reformed Church 130. Wesley Culp's Grave 131. Burial plot of museum remains. 132. 26th Pa. Emergency "Action" Marker 133. Blocher's Knoll 134. "The Big Rocks" 135. Battle Dead plot in Evergreen 136. Exact location of speaker's platform on November 19. 137. Twelve buildings that still have Civil War artillery shells in them. 138. Site of the original advance marker of the 27th Connecticut. 139. Pump site where Gen. Early wrote demands on Gettysburg, June 26. 140. Oldest existing Gettysburg church still used as a church. 141. Gen. Crawford's HQ site night of July 2. 142. Homes of three free Black families on field at time of the battle. 143. What was first monument on the field with a clearly visible Confederate Flag on it? 144. Last Civil War/Gettysburg veteran to serve as park superintendent 145. Willard's Death Site 146. Captain Jedediah Chapman (27th CT) Marker 147. Brooke Rock 148. Granite Schoolhouse Location 149. Eisenhower Home on Washington Street
Fred Hawthorne is the author of the book, Gettysburg: Stories of Men and Monuments As Told By Battlefield Guides. It was published by the Association of Licensed Battlefield Guides in 1988, and is available in many Gettysburg area bookstores. This image was scanned facing south at approximately 9:00 PM on Friday, September 17, 2010.