Gettysburg Tablets Reference

As lamented a few weeks back, I was looking for a solid source for the various Gettysburg National Park  Commission tablets placed outside the battlefield proper (and in general a single definitive listing encompassing those on the field also). 

I had seen reprints of the Army Quartermaster report, but the previews made me balk at paying $11 for what appeared to be basic lists.  Also I’d referenced a few of the annual War Department reports I could find through Google book searches.  None seemed offer comprehensive listings. 

Digging deeper, I stumbled across Bob Myer’s site, and his MS Word document listing pretty much everything “known” there is to see.  But, me being me, I wanted to get the most upstream source I could find.  He cites Kathy Georg Harrison’s The Location of Monuments, Markers, and Tablets on Gettysburg Battlefield as one of his base sources when starting his survey.   Amazon said “one to three weeks.”  I wanted instant gratification, so for $5 I secured a copy at the Gettysburg Visitor Center bookstore. 

Harrison’s book is short and sweet.  The listings of items is right in line with the Army Quartermaster reports.  However, what I couldn’t tell from the previews of that report, was how detailed the listings were for “outside the park” tablets.  I found those definitively listed both in Harrison’s book and Myer’s web site (and assume the Quartermaster report had them also).  Harrison added columns indicating the date the item was placed or dedicated. 

Long story short, there are 11 “Itinerary Tablets” outside the main battlefield park.  I’m more “educated” on the subject.  And I saved at least $6, with some of my cash went to support the park.  (Oh, and no three weeks spent waiting on the postman.)

Give me a few good weather weekends, and I’ll have those Itinerary Tablets “captured” and posted to the database!