Gettysburg: the battle that turned the tide Providing a different reality are the re-enactors, camped here on summer weekends, ready to talk to visitors. Behind the imposing memorial to troops from Pennsylvania, members of Battery D ate, drilled and fired muskets as if it were 1863. "Back then, artillery was an art form more than a science," one told me. There was so much variation in guns, powder and fuses. On hearing that I was off to talk to the enemy, they warned me: "Don't tell "em where we're at; we'll hang you as a spy." Over in the Confederate lines, the talk was of dwindling supplies. "And the British," one solder complained, "are selling arms to both sides." Today, the battlefield looks much as it did 150 years ago. Hedgerows have been replanted; 20th-century intrusions, such as a motel, have been removed. Gettysburg itself retains its 19th-century character, with brick pavements and Georgian-style buildings. "People stop and ask us where the battlefield is," one local told me. It was here: the town was right in the middle. On Baltimore Street, Confederate sharpshooters fired at Union soldiers from the windows of what is now Mr G's home-made ice-cream shop. Bullet holes still scar the walls and photographs show the small cellar, where the family then living there hid. More strategically important was the main hall of the Lutheran Theological Seminary. Perched on a hill, the four-storey school was occupied by Union troops, then captured by the Confederates, before ending up as a field hospital. On Monday, marking the anniversary, the former hospital dormitory opens as the Gettysburg Seminary Ridge Museum, providing an alternative account of the battle. Instead of focusing on generals and tactics, the exhibits are about townspeople and individual soldiers. I listened to readings from diaries and letters and winced as a doctor sawed on a mannequin's leg. Two little books, published in 1857, stopped me in my tracks: Slavery Ordained of God and God Against Slavery. Back then, the issue divided friends and families, religious groups and political parties. Some Southerners were anti-slavery; some Northerners believed in a state's right to self-determination. A computer screen presented me with scenarios from everyday life. Say a runaway slave knocks at the door. In this edition of The Moral Maze circa 1860, the question is: What would you do? Turn him in? Send him away? Shelter him? Like the folks back then, I had to choose. Before leaving, I climbed the wooden stairs to the cupola, a vital military vantage point. I looked down on the town, the battlefield and the surrounding countryside. North-west were the hills, where the Confederates camped; to the south was Little Round Top, where they were repulsed by Union troops. And, there on Cemetery Hill, was the Soldiers" National Cemetery. This burial ground for 3,500 Union dead was dedicated five months after the battle. At the ceremony, the main speaker was one Edward Everett. No one remembers him or his two-hour speech. Abraham Lincoln was invited to give a "few appropriate remarks." The 10 sentences that he read out on November 19, 1863, are among the most powerful ever spoken by an American president: the Gettysburg Address. More civil war battlefields The Civil War lasted from 1861 to 1865, and most of the fighting was in the South. The National Park Service looks after many of the 300 battlefields and historic sites (nps.gov). The following are among the most important. Fort Sumter National Monument: Charleston, South Carolina (nps.gov/fosu). On April 12, 1861, Confederate artillery fired on Fort Sumter: these were the first shots of the Civil War. Get the background at the Fort Sumter Visitor Education Centre in downtown Charleston. Then take a ferry to the island fort that guarded the harbour (fortsumtertours.com). Ask for an "extended stay pass" for extra time to explore. Antietam National Battlefield: Sharpsburg, Maryland (nps.gov/ancm). The single bloodiest day in American history was September 17, 1862. In just 12 hours, 23,000 soldiers were killed or wounded. The Battle of Antietam, known in the South as the Battle of Sharpsburg, took place in the border state of Maryland, 70 miles north-west of Washington DC. Vicksburg National Military Park: Vicksburg, Mississippi (nps.gov/vick). Some 200 miles north of New Orleans, Vicksburg's position on the Mississippi River made it key to both sides. It finally fell into Union hands on July 4, 1863, after General Ulysses S Grant laid siege and starved the garrison into submission. Victory came at a huge cost: nearly 17,000 Union soldiers are buried here in the largest Civil War cemetery. Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park: Tennessee and Georgia (nps.gov/chch). In the autumn of 1863 thre was fighting on both sides of the Tennessee-Georgia border. The prize was Chattanooga, a vital railhead. Follow the self-guided auto tour to see the Chickamauga Battlefield; ride the Incline Railway to the top of Lookout Mountain. The Union victory here, in what was dubbed the Battle above the Clouds, was described by one Confederate soldier as "the death-knell of the Confederacy." The diary of a British Army officer, Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Fremantle, provides a graphic eye-witness account of the Battle of Gettysburg. Getting there America As You Like It (020 8742 8299; americaasyoulikeit.com) offers a six-night trip to Washington and Gettysburg, from £1,095 per person. The price includes flight from Heathrow to Washington Dulles, three nights" room only in Alexandria, three nights" b&b in Gettysburg and four days" car hire with Hertz. Gettysburg is 90 minutes" drive from Washington. Where to stay and eat Hotel Gettysburg ££ The 119 rooms in this practical century-old hotel have been renovated recently. It is bang in the heart of town (717 337 2000; hotelgettysburg.com; doubles from $159/£103). Doubleday Inn ££ The only place to stay that is right on the battlefield, this cheerful, comfy nine-room b&b serves generous breakfasts. As an added bonus, the owners are history buffs and provide free CD audio tours and lead stimulating Saturday evening history discussions. 001 717 334 9119; doubledayinn.com; double rooms from $140/£91 with breakfast. The Dobbin House Tavern ££ This restaurant in a 1776 building plays on its colonial roots: soup in pipkins, apple pye [sic]. Downstairs, the tavern serves a good burger (89 Steinwehr Avenue; 717 334 2100; dobbinhouse.com). There is much to see; plan to spend two days here. Explore Gettysburg National Military Park on foot, by bicycle, on a Segway, in a bus, in a horse-drawn carriage tour (gettysburg.travel) or on horseback (hickoryhollowfarm.com). Check out the National Park Service's free ranger programmes (nps.gov/gett). For greater depth, hire a licensed guide to drive your car so that you can concentrate on the battlefield ($55/£36; gettysburgtourguides.org). The new attraction is the Gettysburg Seminary Ridge Museum (seminaryridgemuseum.org). Others include: General Lee's Headquarters Museum; the David Wills House, where Lincoln stayed the night before the Gettysburg Address; the Shriver House Museum, revealing one family's experience during the battle; the Eisenhower National Historic Site - the former president's home and farm. Freedom Transit trolleys (buses) provide free transport to all the sites (ridethetrolley.com). On November 19 each year, Jim Getty, a Lincoln actor and historian, reads the Gettysburg Address at the Soldiers" National Cemetery. For the 150th anniversary, President Barack Obama has been invited as a speaker (gettysburgfoundation.org). More information: Gettysburg Convention & Visitors Bureau (gettysburg.travel) One of the most important eye-witness accounts of the battle was the diary written by a British Army officer, Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Fremantle.