The Gettysburg Casino
This is a great video, and hits exactly the right chord. For what it’s worth, Matthew Broderick’s g-g-grandfather fought on Culp’s Hill with the 20th Connecticut Infantry. Not sure why this wasn’t mentioned in the video; it’s one of those small details that mean a lot when it comes to making the case for the preservation of Gettysburg.
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h/t Kevin Levin.
Dead Confederates, A Civil War Era Blog 
A casino would no doubt detract from the solemnity of the battlefield, until you consider how many of the troops on both sides played cards or rolled dice for money.
Gambling was common among the Rebs, anyhow, though it was said that even the irreligious ones always left their dice and cards with the baggage before a fight—not wanting their kin to find them on their body should they be killed.
How nice, it will probably contain a Longstreet Room, you can order a Robert E Lee Cocktail, and play the Pickett’s Charge Slots on your way out as you try to recover your lost money.
For a different way to honor a battlefield, see this:
http://www.amazon.com/Battlefield-Farming-Civil-War-Battleground/dp/080186447X
Amazon.com Review
Peter Svenson, a successful artist, bought the field of his dreams in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley and planned to build a home there for his family. But he soon discovered that a Civil War military engagement, the Battle of Cross Keys, was fought on the very soil he wanted to till. Svenson’s story of his own moral and physical struggles is masterfully interspersed with the reports, letters and history of the battle, sweeping the reader into the drama of the past and Svenson’s reverence for both history and the land.
That looks like a good read, thanks.
It’s a good book, and so cheap at $1.81 for a used copy.
Wow, that’s something else. I am constantly being caught up short by the important things that hadn’t crossed my mind, until some kind and intelligent soul on the internet called my attention to them.
Talk about your hallowed ground. I’d forgotten the numbers — 7000 dead is more than the town I grew up in. in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract…. And yet, it seems pretty clear that there is, in fact, a way to detract.
Thanks, ee — can I still call you that?
Always and forever my friend! (as I will always think of you as AndyinTexas)