The Academy: The Licensed Battlefield Guides of Gettysburg are among the foremost experts on this crucial period of American History. Many of our 100-plus members have spent a lifetime of study and every day are out teaching people the significance of this great Battle. This Academy – an outgrowth of our old test-prep program – has been designed to appeal to a wide audience. Anyone with an interest in learning more about the era leading up to the American Civil War, the war itself, the greatest battle of the war and the period of reconstruction following the war will find some topic of interest contained in this course. It is designed such that each session is a self-contained topic. One can pick and choose a specific topic where they feel they have the need OR simply the interest. We have incorporated many of the suggestions and recommendations of our 2015 and 2017 Academy participants to improve the 2024 edition. Each session will be taught by a veteran licensed guide who specializes in the study of that topic. All represent a wide range of guiding experience.
Comments from some past participants of the ALBG Academy:
“…there was a tremendous amount of information stuffed into each class.”
“…the classes were of great value to my study preparation for the exam.”
“Overall I would recommend the Academy to anyone interested in Gettysburg. We were very fortunate to have such a wide variety of expertise available to lead the classes.”
Disclaimer: The Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide qualification process is conducted periodically by the National Park Service under authority granted it in the Code of Federal Regulations. Though the ALBG Academy would certainly help provide a base of information of value to anyone contemplating sitting for the exam, it is not solely designed to prepare one to take the guide exam. Anyone with an interest in the period will find the course of value. The ALBG does not plan, develop or administer the Guide Qualification Exam. That announcement will be made by the National Park Service at such time as they perceive the need to license additional guides. When it does a link will appear here to all the detail contained on the GNMP website.
Background: The Gettysburg National Military Park periodically announces a written test will be offered as part of the licensing process. Years ago the ALBG began a series of classes designed to assist individuals interested in taking the written test. For several test cycles the Harrisburg Area Community College took over the program as part of their Continuing Education program. When the Gettysburg campus of HACC eliminated the Continuing Education Department, ALBG opted to continue the test-prep program on its own. Now we have decided to move our focus from purely test prep to a program of interest to a much wider audience yet it is still ideal for anyone who may be considering sitting for the test when offered. The process of becoming an LBG is more than simply sitting for and doing well on a written examination. Accordingly, the NPS, in conjunction with LBG representatives, did a complete overhaul of the program some years back to better examine a wide-variety of skills – not simply a strong factual knowledge. This process continues to be refined and evolve. For more information on the licensing process refer to the Gettysburg National Military Park website which will contain detailed process information on licensing.
Location: The Academy will begin Saturday, June 1, 2024 and run Saturdays through the summer with the exception of “Bike Week” weekend (July 13, 2024). All indoor classroom sessions are held Saturday and Sunday mornings at the Gettysburg Heritage Center (former Wax Museum) on Steinwehr Avenue, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. They will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. All of these sessions will take place in the classroom. Session sizes will be limited to a maximum of 40 registrants per section due to room capacity. Once the 40 seats are committed the session will be closed. As part of this year’s Academy several workshops will be held specifically to help enhance essay writing skills. Details on these sessions will be found at the bottom of this page and registration for those will be open as soon as dates and location are firmed up.
Cost: The cost for each of the four-hour sessions is $40 per person. The sessions may be purchased individually by clicking the respective link below the description
Sunday, August 25, 2024 – Session 12 – Section 2: Post Battle Commemoration, Monumentation, and Development
Instructor: Fred Hawthorne, LBG Badge #56, Licensed in 1981
What we know today as the Gettysburg National Military Park did not simply spring into existence. It is the product of a century and a half of development. Its transformation continues to this day. This session will examine the development of the Gettysburg Battlefield from 1863 through the present with a look at the many individuals and groups responsible for preserving, developing and marking the Park. Emphasis will be placed on the how the monumentation of the Battlefield came about with information on the building and significance of many of the key memorial structures on the field today.
Saturday, August 31, 2024 – Final Academy Session – Panel Discussion Led by Veteran Battlefield Guides
Moderator: Fred Hawthorne, LBG (Program Manager).
LBG Badge 233 – Bruce Rice (Took the Written in 2006 and Oral in 2008)
LBG Badge 252 – Les Fowler (Took the Written in 2010 and Oral in 2012)
LBG Badge 177 – Tom Clark (Took the Written in 2015 and Oral 2016 – Veteran of the Tier process)
LBG Badge 256 – Jasan Hileman (Took the Written in 2015 and Oral 2016 – Veteran of the Tier process)
LBG Badge 38 – Jess Wheedleton (Took the last written exam in 2017 – Veteran of the Tier process)
LBG Badge 27 – Mike Rupert (Took the last written exam in 2017 – Veteran of the Tier process.)
As a conclusion to the 2024 Academy we will hold an open-ended panel discussion focusing on the licensing process. A panel of Veteran Guides will share their licensing experience, how they prepared for their Tier I exam and especially the dreaded “Oral Exam.” Four members of our panel have experienced all the tiers of the current licensing process and will be a great resource for those apprehensive about the road ahead. All will share hints and suggestions and will answer questions on all phases of the exam process or any Academy questions that you may have! Our panelists have experience with traditional car and bus tours as well as more non-traditional tours like bicycle, segway, and horseback. It’s your chance to have a gaggle of guides available at one place at a single time – each eager to share their experience and answer all your questions.
Instructors: Ralph Siegel. LBG Badge #207 Licensed in 2004. Formerly with the Associated Press. Amy Worden, Formerly with the Philadelphia Inquirer and now, Managing Producer with PennLive.
A troublesome component of the Battlefield Guide Qualification exam is the requirement to develop and write a coherent essay in a limited amount of time. On past exams this has involved answering between four and eight comprehensive essays during the afternoon testing session. This new feature of Guide Academy is a writers’ workshop led by two individuals with considerable experience as professional writers. Those preparing for the LBG exam can practice and improve their essay-writing skills. This is a collaborative program with participants working together. Essay strategies will be covered. Participants will practice writing out essays by hand, then have their work reviewed and critiqued by their instructors and by the group. (Public discussion of an individual’s work is optional.) Each session will be strictly limited to 14 participants. Should the two currently scheduled sessions be filled and interest remain, an additional date MAY be offered,
Note: These sessions will be held in the Eisenhower Meeting Room at the Adams County Public Library on Baltimore Street. Each will take place from 1 to 4 PM. Registration links below. ONLY CHOOSE TO REGISTER FOR ONE. Duplicate registrations cannot be honored to allow for maximum availability.
Sunday June 2, 2024: Session 1 (Section 2): History of Licensed Battlefield Guiding and the Licensing Process
Instructor: Fred Hawthorne, Academy Program Manager, 2024
Not sure what a Licensed Battlefield Guide is? What is the difference between a Park Guide and a Park Ranger? How did guiding actually come about? You really don’t know much about the nuts and bolts of guiding? How much money can you make? Do I have to wear a uniform? Are there any pitfalls to guiding? What hurdles must I jump in the process of becoming an LBG? These questions and many, many more will be answered in the opening session of Guide Academy ’24. Not sure if you want to sit for the 2024 Exam? Not sure if you want to attend any of the Academy programs? Do you want to see what the process is to earn a Guide license? Or are you just curious what these oddly dressed individuals all over the field in the summer are and where they came from? Sign up for this session.
Saturday, June 8, 2024 – Session 2: Causes and Consequences of the American Civil War.
Instructor: Eric Lindblade, Badge No. 163, Licensed in 2016.
Session 2 will examine both the causes and consequences of the American Civil War. Questions on both of these periods do appear on Guide exams and this can serve as a good refresher. Topics include the outbreak of the Civil War, the key leaders involved and the many different solutions put forth to resolve the Nation’s difficulties. But the war’s end does not end the story. The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln only complicates the difficult issue of reconstructing both the political and social systems of the defeated south. We will look at the final days of the war and the many years of struggle ahead up to our present time. The consequences of our nation’s bloodiest war continue to haunt us today.
Sunday, June 16, 2024 – Session 3: The Evolution of Tactics, Weapons and Organizations
Instructor: Chris Rebmann, LBG Badge #146. Licensed in 1998.
“Jomini,” “Hardee’s Tactics,” “Napoleon’s Maxims;” all of these and many more were topics of discussion around campfires and tents of officers, both north and south, as the citizen-soldiers struggled to master the jargon and knowledge of the professional soldier. The war as it continued saw the older Napoleonic-style tactics begin to give way to a more effective one based on the development of modern weapons and more effective cannon. How troops moved to how far a Napoleon cannon actually fired to the transition of cavalry’s role in battle are all topics of interest in this session as we watch the war grow from a clash of amateur armies to the forging of large, well-trained and veteran war machines.
Sunday, June 23, 2024 – Session 4: The Gettysburg Campaign – Late April to Mid-August 1863
Instructor: Phil Muskett, LBG Badge #240, Licensed in 2010
The Gettysburg Campaign encompasses far more than three days of fighting in July around a little Pennsylvania town. The battle Chancellorsville, the death of Jackson, the reorganization of the Army of Northern Virginia all played a role in Lee developing his plans for what became the campaign into Pennsylvania. This session beings the two armies to what became the great battlefield and then follows their withdrawal back into Virginia in July and August. Enroute a number of small engagements took place which all played a role in what because known to history as the “Gettysburg Campaign.
Sunday, June 30, 2024 – Session 5: Battle of Gettysburg – the “Meeting Engagement: July 1”
Instructor: Joe Mieczkowski, LBG Badge #226, Licensed in 2007.
This session will be a comprehensive overview of the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg and its consequences. It will include the movements of the key units of both armies as well as major personalities involved.
Sunday, July 7, 2024 – Session 6: Battle of Gettysburg – “Heavy Fighting on July 2”
Instructor: Charlie Fennell, LBG Badge No. 28, Licensed in 1986.
This session will be a comprehensive overview of the Confederate assault on the Union flanks on the afternoon and evening of July 2nd. It will include the movements of the key units of both armies: elements of James Longstreet’s Confederate First Corps and Dan Sickles’s Union Third Corps as well as supporting units involved in the action. Often taking second place to events occurring on the southern part of the battlefield, the defense of Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Hill were equally important to the final outcome of the Battle. We will move on to investigate the fighting on the Federal right flank. It will cover both the July 2nd attack on Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Hill by elements of Richard Ewell’s Confederate Second Corps as well as the Union counterattack and heavy fighting on the morning of July 3rd on Culp’s Hill. Affiliated actions on Power’s and Wolf’s Hill will be considered. The Second Day’s fighting resulted in the most casualties of any of the days at Gettysburg, engulfed the entire Union Line, and witnessed the two most important command controversies of the battle, The Lee- Longstreet and the Sickles-Meade controversies. The Second Day could very well be the most significant day of fighting in the Battle of Gettysburg.
Sunday, July 21, 2024 – Session 7: Battle of Gettysburg “Afternoon Fighting of July 3”
Instructor: Chuck Burkell, LBG Badge #75, Licensed in 2014.
The fighting on the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg will be the focus of this combined classroom. We start with a review of Lee’s plan for the resumption of the fighting in the morning and why it had to be altered. The plans for a massive cannonade and then infantry assault were developed and carried out into what became known as Pickett’s Charge. Included will be why Lee thought the plan would succeed, and why the assault actually failed.
Saturday, July 27, 2024 and Sunday, July 28, 2024 – Session 8: The Aftermath of the Battle & the Soldiers’ National Cemetery
Instructor: Roy Frampton (Saturday) and Joe Mieczkowski (Sunday)
While the war continues, Gettysburg is left to cope with the aftermath of the bloodiest battle ever to occur in North America. This session will examine the impact of the battle on the town and cleanup of the area immediately following the battle, including the treatment and transportation of the thousands of wounded men. We will look at the problem of the dead and dying, their burial on the battlefield and the subsequent development and dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery, including the 26-hours of President Lincoln’s visit in November. We will also discuss the exhumation and reburial of the Southern battle dead after the war.
Sunday August 4, 2024 – Session 9: Human Interest Stories of the Battle of Gettysburg
Instructor: Deb Novotny, LBG Badge #14, Licensed in 1975.
A battle is fought by human beings. The area where a battle is fought often contains innocent human beings unfortunate enough to be trapped by the struggle of the armies. Thus stories of the unique experience of these soldiers and civilians put flesh on the bones of dry battle facts, figures and statistics. This session looks at the facts behind some of the cherished and the little-known human interest stories related to the campaign and the Battle of Gettysburg. Oft told myths and stories will be discussed. Some will be debunked. Others verified.
Sunday, August 11, 2024 – Session 10: Cavalry Operations During the Gettysburg Campaign.
Instructor: Andie Custer-Donahue, LBG Badge #141, Licensed in 1998.
The cavalry branch of service is often overlooked by students of the Battle of Gettysburg aside from the July 1st role of Buford’s Cavalry division and the actions of a fellow named George Custer. But the role of cavalry throughout the Gettysburg Campaign was a crucial one. This session will look at all aspects of the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia in the summer of 1863.
Sunday, August 18, 2024 – Session 11 – Section 2: Overview of the Balance of the American Civil War.
Instructor: Dave Donahue, LBG Badge #237, Licensed in 2009.
Gettysburg lasted three days in the summer of 1863 yet the entire American Civil War lasted One thousand, five hundred and six days in total. This eleventh session will deal with the broad overview of the non-Gettysburg elements of that war including many of the war’s great campaigns and major battles a guide would be expected to be familiar with.
Updated: August 19, 2024