Reprinted with Permission From Battle of Gettysburg Buff Newsletter!(Thanks Randy) We also have a personal account by Chris Bagley about what it is like to prepare and take the Licensed Battlefield Guide written exam. We hope you will enjoy it: Why do you want to be a battlefield guide? Many people have asked. It is a simple answer expressed best by President Lincoln: “The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but they can never forget what they did here.” Prominent historian and author Gary Gallagher dedicated his book “Lee the Soldier” to his wife, who often observed that she has visited Gettysburg more often than did R.E. Lee. I suppose the same could be said of my wife Becky. Recently, I decided to make a career change. I went from working at Aultman Hospital’s Department of Surgery in Canton, Ohio to becoming a travel nurse. While I still work and specialize in surgery, now I have assignments from which I choose. My first assignment was fortunate enough to be located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The benefit for me was obvious; it was close to my home in Canton and even closer to my home away from home, Gettysburg. I have always desired to become a LBG for the Gettysburg National Military Park. My first trip to Gettysburg was when I was 10. My father and I took the double decker bus tour of the battlefield. It was a hot sunny day, and I remember visiting Little Round Top, Cemetery Ridge and the High Water Mark. One thing I do remember from that day was the utter confusion that ensued. I had no idea the battlefield was that big or complicated. In 1992, the movie “Gettysburg” was released and again my dad and I returned to the hallowed grounds. I was still confused. But something happened; I developed a long-lasting appreciation not only for the history of the battle and war but also for the town, the surrounding countryside as well as the people. It is a place that my wife and I would like to retire to someday. After a couple weeks in Carlisle, I discovered that the LBG written exam (the first step in becoming a guide) was to be given on December 1, 2012. I wrote to the NPS and submitted my application and all of the necessary forms to ensure I had a spot and my chance. I was able to extend my assignment in Carlisle until the end of December, ensuring I would be there for the test. I wasted no time in studying every night --- I read and read and read some more. Unfortunately, I felt as though it wasn’t going quite as planned. I was attempting to re-read 300-400 page books by the likes of Pfanz and Coddington. How is an individual to learn enough about a pivotal event in American history, which encompassed over 175,000 lives and 26 square miles, to pass the exam, or better yet just not embarrass myself? I needed help and I had an idea of whom to seek it from. I had known Terry Latschar for a few years and had also met Wayne Motts, whose Audio CD tour I still carry in my car, just in case! Both are LBG’s, and I sought their council. First, I took a horseback tour with Terry Latcher. Day after day in 95+ degree heat, she conducts tours to scores of people. Her enthusiasm and knowledge were infectious. Terry told me not to bang my head against a wall trying to remember the tiniest minutia of the battle. Re-learn the basics from Antebellum to Reconstruction. Then go and learn the battle. But then she began asking me about every battle from First Manassas to Appomattox. She also hit on battles in the western theater. A well-rounded guide knows these things, she explained. Perhaps not every minute detail, but one should at minimum know names of the key figures and dates. I then met Wayne, who has recently been awarded Guide Emeritus status. Wayne, over breakfast, asked me when Gettysburg was founded, what was the population, the major industries. Like Terry, he asked me about battles that occurred prior to and after Gettysburg. A moment of déjà vu occurred -- he explained a good guide knows these things. After breakfast, we went to a local bookstore and he began asking me if I owned certain books. I showed him the ones I had and he proceeded to load my arms with a sizable stack, including maps and a book on the monuments. He explained I would need these as well. He also told me not to learn the battle as if I were reading a book to someone. It was a story, one that I had to convey in my own words to people who may have little or no knowledge of the battle, let alone the Civil War. I had my work cut out for me. Every night after work, I would spend two hours reading and taking notes. On the weekends that I didn’t go home to Canton, I spent in the “Burg” all day Saturday and Sunday. I bought a 3-ring binder and quickly filled it with all of my notes. I separated the notes by topic: Antebellum, infantry, cavalry, artillery, trivia, battles of the Civil War, and finally Gettysburg from the start of the campaign to the end. My binder of notes ended with Reconstruction. I spent many hours at the Visitor’s Museum, Evergreen Cemetery, the Diorama and drove around this small town looking for seldom visited areas like Powers’ Hill and Wolf Hill. I found a fantastic websites via Facebook called “Battle of Gettysburg Buff” and “Sentinels in Stone.” They soon became valuable resources for my study. Randy Drais, the owner and operator of the “Battle of Gettysburg Buff” website, sponsors special tours given by LBG’s and I was fortunate to meet Randy and attend a tour on Sharpshooters given by LBG Gar Phillips. The tour even provided hardtack. Soon Summer faded to Fall and then December 1st arrived. It was a cold and overcast day when I arrived at the testing site. A group of 150+ individuals were ready to put to paper what they knew or didn’t know. After registration, the test started promptly at nine. We had three hours to complete the exam. It was a combination of multiple choice, true or false, fill in the blank, matching, and essay. Candidates were also quizzed on their ability to identify common and not so common monuments. I was pleasantly surprised that while there were some questions I didn’t know, a majority of them I breezed through, but would it be enough? After completing the exam, I turned in my papers and did what any person would do -- I went back to the battlefield and began studying again. While I knew that I would receive what would be considered a passing grade in an academic setting, I was unsure if the score I would receive would make the cut to move onto the second phase -- the dreaded and nerve-wracking oral exam. A few weeks passed and finally the results arrived at my home in Canton. I had just finished my assignment in Carlisle and was headed home for the holidays. My wife called me while I was driving and said the results arrived. I told her to open the letter and read the result. I scored 186 out of 230. The cut-off was 206. I missed by 20 points. My ranking was 44 out of 151. I was not as disappointed as my wife thought I would be. For a first try on an exam that many retired military and even history teachers have taken, an 80% was as good as gold. The next time I hope will be even better. The study guide I made was invaluable as was the advice from Terry and Wayne. I will not and promised that I would not give out questions that were on the test, but I am going to give you, dear reader, just one. If you are ever asked “Where is Grant buried?”, Grant’s Tomb may get a chuckle out of most, but it is definitely not correct on the LBG test. Now that the test is done, I feel I owe my wife Becky a nice romantic getaway. I hear Gettysburg is beautiful this time of year!
Posted on: Wed, 05 Jun 2013 00:50:23 +0000
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