It was Abraham Lincoln, in his immortal Gettysburg Address, who first used the words "hallowed ground" to describe the woods and fields, the rolling hills and plashing creeks where two great armies - both American - had so recently fought and died. Although the battle his eloquence commemorated was indeed a pivotal event in our country's history, the landscape where it was waged and the region that surrounded it had already been hallowed ground for generations.Stretching from Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia, this extraordinary tract of land set the stage for our national chronicle and served as backdrop to transformational American events, such as Captain John Smith's adventures in Monacan territory in the early 1600s and Gen. George Pickett's gallant, doomed charge at Gettysburg in 1863. It has given us Founding Fathers like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson; heroic figures like Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross; and models of dignity such as Gen. Robert E. Lee, who fought for his native South despite his stand against slavery. Its maps are a catalog of historical sites, from key battlefields of the American Revolution and the Civil War to the first U.S. meeting site of W. E. B. Du Bois's Niagara Movement.Illustrated with dozens of stunning modern photographs as well as evocative artifacts that summon earlier eras and aspirations, this is a book to delight travelers, U.S. history buffs, and anyone else who seeks to capture the enduring spirit and tradition of this hallowed ground. This is the birthplace of the American ideal as it has developed from unexplored wilderness to a vital artery of the American experience. Read Less