Gettysburg.  The name alone brings forth historical visions of desperate fights in wheat fields, bodies heaped before stone walls, and that poor bastard Pickett writing an after action report so incendiary in its rhetoric that General Lee literally had it burned. Whether one thinks that the Union was saved on this day or that Northern numbers and industrial capacity would have made a Southern victory Pyrrhic, the sheer magnitude of this fight cannot be denied.
So hey, what better thing to do than make heavy metal songs about it?!
Today’s offering comes from Civil War (not to be confused with The Civil Wars).  I found this song through an I-tunes recommendation, and it has grown on me the last couple of weeks:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzZWq7858X4&w=420&h=315]
 
Still, if I had to choose songs to commemorate the battle, I’m rolling with Iced Earth’s trilogy from their album The Glorious Burden.

Day 1

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf8S38SJqU0&w=420&h=315]

Day 2

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fuzltpk-q_g&w=420&h=315]
Let the record show this begins with what I call “A Hancock Pledge.”  Don’t make a pledge asking deities to strike you down if you have to attack your best friend’s position–it can have a bad outcome.

Day 3

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFmeLLXEuss&w=560&h=315]
No seriously, a bad outcome.
 
Out of the three, I play “Hold At All Cost” the most often.  I have a couple playlists used for desperate scenes or times in my books.  No bayonet charges (yet), but I’m sure fans can guess at least a couple of points where I had this blaring in the background.  Feel free to put guesses in the comments section.

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