More on Google Earth and the Civil War

For those of you who use Google Earth, some members of the Keyhole BBS have painstakingly created a very densely populated placemark collection detailing the locations of every U.S. Civil War Battle! But that is not all, most of these have links to a site with details about each of the battles.

Download the file here: Battles of the U.S. Civil War

This is a great way to show your students the relationships between various locations related to a specific campaign. For example, under the Gettysburg Campaign, there are placemarks for Hanover, Pa where J.E.B. Stuart rode through on June 30, 1863 on his way north. You can then have your students use the ruler tool to see that he was only about 13 miles from Gettysburg. You can then have your students consider questions about how long it would have taken him to get to Gettysburg or how far did the soldiers march on their way to Gettysburg.


BTW: Hanover Junction is also where President Lincoln's train stopped on it's way to Gettysburg in November 1863.

Hanover Junction photographed by Mathew Brady showing what is thought to be Lincoln. From the Library of Congress.

Until next time...

Google Earth and the Civil War Trail

While this is targeted at tourism, there is great potential for educators. The following is an excerpt from a press release about how the Commonwealth will use Google Earth to promote tourism along the Civil War trails.

HARRISBURG – Governor Edward G. Rendell today announced that Pennsylvania will become the first state in the nation to capitalize on the Google Earth platform by using a new, cutting-edge technology to make tourism an interactive experience from anywhere in the world.

The Governor said the state will provide a $285,000 grant to support an unprecedented partnership between Google Earth, Carnegie Mellon University, NASA, the Pennsylvania Tourism Office and the National Civil War Museum that will allow ‘virtual tourists’ from all corners of the globe to immerse themselves in Pennsylvania’s Civil War trails.

Read the full press release here