Gettysburg and Leadership, Day 1: Foresight

I am at a leadership conference for our Missional Team Leaders, held this year at the Gettysburg Battlefield.  We're studying the battle in detail, walking and riding on the battlefield, and gleaning principles of leadership from both sides that will hopefully impact us and those we lead.  Today was the first of 4 days here; I've decided to try to blog each day to capture some of what is impacting me.

Two things really moved me today:

1. Colonel Henry Burgwyn (pronounced Bur-go-een I think), 26th North Carolina Regiment.  Burgwyn was only 22 at the time of the Battle of Gettysburg, and he commanded a relatively untested regiment of 800 men.  The first day of the battle (July 1, 1863), they lost 588 men, including Burgwyn, but forced the formidable "Iron Brigade" (24th Michigan) to retreat.  The third day of the battle, they lost an additional 120 men in Pickett's charge, and advanced further than any other regiment.  The story goes that in the end a handful of men were left near the defended stone wall, carrying the Carolina colors, when Union troops reached out their hands, helping them over the wall and welcoming them "to the Lord's side".  Amazing, the fortitude of these untested soldiers, led by a college-aged kid!
2. Buford's foresight before the battle.  In this clip from the movie Gettysburg, Union calvary officer John Buford predicts what will happen if the confederates take the high ground.  It's amazing to think of how his predictions come to pass - just for a different army than he thinks.  

Tomorrow we'll be touring the battlefield on horseback and considering the role foresight, or lack of it, played during Day 1.