Camp Letterman Part 3: A Tour With Licensed Battlefield Guide Phil Lechak

In Video #10 (Videos 1-9 were covered in our first two posts about Camp Letterman) we have returned to the wayside exhibits at the northeast corner of the Giant Store parking lot. Licensed Battlefield Guide Phil Lechak begins today’s post by welcoming us back, and showing the vandalism on the waysides. This view was taken facing northeast at approximately 1:30 PM on Sunday, January 25, 2009.

This is the third installment of Licensed Battlefield Guide Phil Lechak’s tour of Camp Letterman. In our previous posts, we covered the general history of the site, the Operating Tent Area, and the view from what Phil calls “Hospital Hill.” Today we will view a large area where archaeological digs were conducted, and the embalming tent area of the hospital complex.

To contact Phil Lechak, click here to reveal his email address.

See the following related posts:

Camp Letterman Part 1 with Licensed Battlefield Guide Phil Lechak on November 15, 2008.
Camp Letterman Part 2 with Licensed Battlefield Guide Phil Lechak on November 17, 2008.
National Park Service seasonal ranger program on Civil War Medicine on August 5, 2008.
National Park Service seasonal ranger program on nurse Salome “Sallie” Myers on August 1, 2008.
National Park Service seasonal ranger program on nurse Cornelia Hancock on July 24, 2008.

This is a view of the site with locations where we took the videos numbered inside a white star. The mobile homes are no longer in this location. Videos 1-9 may be seen in our previous posts on Camp Letterman. This map was created on January 31, 2009. Video #10 is at the same location as video #1. Today we will show videos 10-15.

Here is the vandalized wayside exhibit that Phil showed us in Video #10. It describes how Private Justus Silliman, who was wounded during the battle, would take care of the body of one of the members of his regiment, Samuel Comstock. This view was taken facing northeast at approximately 2:30 PM on Sunday, November 9, 2008.

In Video #11, Phil discussed Dr. Jonathan Letterman (1824-1872), after whom Camp Letterman was named. Letterman devised a system of forward first aid stations at the regimental level, where principles of triage were first instituted. He established mobile field hospitals to be located at division and corps headquarters. This was all connected by an efficient ambulance corps, established by Letterman in August 1862, under the control of medical staff instead of the Quartermaster Department. Letterman also arranged an efficient system for the distribution of medical supplies. His “Letterman system” was adopted by other Union armies and was eventually officially established as the medical procedure for the entirety of the United States’ armies by an Act of Congress in March 1864.

In Video #11, we are in the area of Phil’s favorite blue water tank on Hospital Hill. Phil will read and describe some of the procedures instituted by Dr. Jonathan Letterman for his “Letterman system.” This view was looking northwest to northeast at approximately 2:00 PM on Sunday, January 25, 2009.

We will begin today’s walk on private property owned by S&A homes. They have given permission for Phil to take tours in this area. This view was looking northeast at approximately 2:00 PM on Sunday, January 25, 2009.

In Video #12, we continue Video #9 from our second post on Camp Letterman. Phil shows us the area where we will being. This view was looking northeast at approximately 2:00 PM on Sunday, January 25, 2009.

Here is the map that Phil was showing us in Video #12. This map was created on February 22, 2005 by the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service.

We are standing on Hospital Hill facing southwest. Big Round Top is in the background just to the right of Phil in this picture. This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 2:00 PM on Sunday, January 25, 2009.

In Video #13, Phil begins showing us Big Round Top to the southwest, and we will pan around to show areas where archaeological studies were conducted on Hospital Hill. This view was taking facing southwest and panning around to the northeast and to the southeast at approximately 2:00 PM on Sunday, January 25, 2009.

Here is one of the large areas where the topsoil was scraped away to determine if any important artifacts were in this area. This view was taken facing north at approximately 2:00 PM on Sunday, January 25, 2009.

In Video #14, Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Phil Lechak reiterates that this is private property, and shows the large piles of dirt that had been sifted during the archaeological study. This view facing north to east at approximately 2:00 PM on Sunday, January 25, 2009.

To give one an idea of how tall the “sifting piles” are, we have placed Phil near the piles shown at the end of the last video, Video #14. Some buildings at Gateway Gettysburg, at the intersection of US 15 and US 30, is in the left background. This view was taken facing southeast at approximately 2:00 PM on Sunday, January 25, 2009.

We have now moved near the area of the Camp Letterman embalming tent. This view was taken facing north at approximately 2:00 PM on Sunday, January 25, 2009.

In Video #15, Phil explains that we have moved near the location of the embalming tent, and shows us some “staged” photographs taken in this area. This view was taken facing north to northeast at approximately 2:00 PM on Sunday, January 25, 2009.

Phil’s thumbs show the same soldier alive at an operating tent on the left, and in a coffin at the embalming tent on the right. View facing northeast at approximately 2:00 PM on Sunday, January 25, 2009.

Here is the “operating tent” view. Notice the woods in the background. This view was taken facing north between August and possibly September, 1863.

Here is the “embalming tent” view. This view was taken facing north between August and possibly September, 1863.

See our previous posts on Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guides:

Gettysburg Guide Room: The Final Days on March 8, 2008.
Lights Out at the Electric Map on April 13, 2008.
New Guide Room at the New Visitor Center on April 19, 2008.
New Association of Licensed Battlefield Guide Office and Library Opens on August 25, 2008.
Evergreen Cemetery Headstone Damage with LBG Deb Novotny on October 20, 2008.
Camp Letterman Part 1 with LBG Phil Lechak on November 15, 2008.
Camp Letterman Part 2 with LBG Phil Lechak on November 17, 2008.
Gettysburg Artillery Part 1 with LBG George Newton on November 21, 2008.
“Mammy’s Little Baby Loves Guided Tours” with LBG Charlie Fennell on November 23, 2008.
Bucktails on McPherson’s Ridge Part 1 with LBG Rich Kohr on November 26, 2008.
Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Exam 2008 on December 6, 2008.
Gettysburg Hawk Hunting with Licensed Battlefield Guide Dave Weaver on December 14, 2008.
Licensed Battlefield Guide Rich Bellamy: Colonel Edward Ephraim Cross Part 1 on January 3, 2008.
Licensed Battlefield Guide Rich Bellamy: Colonel Edward Ephraim Cross Part 2 on January 5, 2009.
Licensed Battlefield Guide Rich Kohr: William Wible’s Gettysburg Quarry on January 21, 2009.
Licensed Battlefield Guide Rich Kohr: The Gettysburg Electric Trolley Part 1 on January 23, 2009.
Licensed Battlefield Guide Rich Kohr: The Gettysburg Electric Trolley Part 2 on January 26, 2009.
Licensed Battlefield Guide Rich Kohr: The Gettysburg Electric Trolley Part 3 on January 29, 2009.
Licensed Battlefield Guide Rich Kohr: The Gettysburg Electric Trolley Part 4 on February 2, 2009.