Visiting Gettysburg really is an amazing experience.

Standing at the top of Little Round Top, looking down on the Devil's Den, and imagining the Confederate soldiers repeatedly storming that position will put you in a reflective mood regarding the courage (or stupidity) we humans sometimes display.

Although I don't know of any direct ancestors that fought in the Civil War for either side, I do know that my great great grandfather fought under Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans and his father was a French soldier who came to Fort Toulouse near present day Wetumpka, Al., back when Alabama was part of France.

He fought in some of the battles between the French/Creek Indians and the English/Cherokee Indians during the French and Indian War. He then married the fort commander's daughter and migrated to New Orleans when the English took over Alabama in the 1760's. That's how my dad's family made it to what would eventually become the United States.

My great great uncle (the grandson of the French soldier mentioned above) fought at the Battle of San Jacinto during the Texas Revolution. He was 18 at the time and died 3 weeks later from what was probably yellow fever.

My mother was a genealogist and she spent years in libraries (before the internet) in Texas, Louisiana, and all over the Southeast researching our family. It really is a pretty cool thing to get into and to know the history of one's family so well.