Slyder Family Farm: Pre-Visit Lessons

Preparing for the Site Visit

The purpose of this lesson is to prepare students for their visit to Gettysburg and their Slyder Family Farm student program. It is important that students complete this pre-lesson before they arrive at the battlefield. Otherwise, much of the impact of the park experience will be lost. There are two pre-visit lessons below.

The Slyder Farm is located at the southern end of the battlefield near Little Round Top and Big Round Top. The farm was in the direct line of much of the action in the early afternoon of July 2. Soldiers of Union General Daniel E. Sickles' Third Corps first occupied it. They were quickly driven out by Lieutenant General James Longstreet's Confederate brigades, who advanced through the property on their drive toward the left flank of the Union army.

The experience at the Slyder Farm will take place over a two-hour period. After first meeting a Park Ranger at the bus lot of the Museum and Visitor Center (1195 Baltimore Pike, Gettysburg, PA 17325), the bus(es) will be driven to a parking area on Big Round Top. Students will begin their lesson there. This park activity is a ranger-led program, with opportunities for much interaction and participation by students.

Pre-Visit Lesson 1: What Would You Do?

Procedure:

While at the Slyder Farm, students will be participating in some "chore stations", as well as in a small role-playing skit. Using the script below, they will act out what happened on the morning of July 2, 1863 - the day the Union soldiers told John Slyder and his family to leave their farm. In the classroom, they can practice the skit and discuss their trip in small groups, as directed below.

1. Review the "What Would You Do?" section below.

2. Divide the students into four groups to work on the activity in the classroom.

3. Have students think about the importance of land. Why was the land so important to the Slyders? It provided their living, of course, but land also has a value that is more than monetary. Land is so precious to many people that they are willing to die for it.

4. Ask each group to discuss among themselves: What might be the conflict between the soldiers and the Slyders as the soldiers arrive at the farm on July 2?

Write down what you think the family or the soldiers might say, then hand out the script (or role cards) for "July 2, 1863".

5. Have a brief discussion with the whole class. Point out that the Slyders had limited time to make their decisions and act in their best interest; this was a true test of their resolve and courage - this was the clearest example that they would have in their lifetimes of crisis management - on this day they would experience firsthand the "impact of war" in a very troubling and personal way. This crisis could have ended in a number of ways. Ask the students to list the possible outcomes. Point out that there is no right or wrong answer - that the handling of the crisis depends on the thoughts and quick actions of the people involved.

6. Choose up to six students to portray the soldiers during the field trip while at the Slyder Farm. Choose students to play John and Catherine Slyder and their three children, John, Hannah, and Jacob Isaiah.

7. Give students a brief overview of what will happen at the farm on field trip day. "We're going to take a walk through time. We're going to learn about life on the Slyder farm. We'll also experience some of the chores that the family might have done on that day. We're going to give you the chance to experience the events of the morning of July 2, 1863 - and to see that the battle affected not only the soldiers who fought it, but also the people who lived there. You're going to have a chance to decide on the best action plan for the Slyders - and then you're going to learn what really happened to them back in 1863."

8. Have students vote on the best action plan for the Slyders.

What Would You Do?

For the Slyder family, July 2, 1863, started out like any other summer day. John and Catherine Slyder, who owned a small farm near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, had a long list of chores to finish. There was always something to do on a farm - and the Slyders, like most farmers of the time, grew or made almost everything they needed. Besides being a farmer, John Slyder was also a carpenter and a blacksmith. The Slyders had owned the land they farmed since 1848 and had moved there three or four years later.

Three of the Slyder's five children - John, age 20, Hannah, age 17, and Jacob Isaiah, age 9 - were still at home on the farm. Two older children had moved away and were living in their own homes. The Slyders had heard about the war, of course - although Catherine Slyder, who never learned to read, had to rely on conversations with others for her news. But in the two years that the war had been going on, the fighting had taken place in the states that were trying to secede from the Union. Still, there were some signs that trouble was brewing.

On June 30, some Union soldiers bad come to the farm asking for food and water. Catherine Slyder had just baked bread and had picked some beans from her garden. She gave those to the soldiers and sent them on their way. The next day, July 1, more Union soldiers came up from Plum Run. Again, they asked for food and water, and again the family gave them some provisions. Catherine was nervous about what might happen if the family didn't cooperate.

July 2 dawned clear and warm. John Slyder was hoping to harvest some wheat - but he found that the grain wasn't quite ready. There were animals to care for - the Slyders had horses, cattle, hogs, sheep, geese, chickens and bees on the farm. Early in the morning, Union soldiers arrived on horseback. "You'd better leave," they told the Slyders. The Confederate army was assembling along the Emmitsburg Road - just a few hundred yards from their property. On the other side of their farm, at Devil's Den, the Union army was assembling as well. The Slyders had to make a decision - and to make it quickly. Should they stay or should they go? What do you think? What would you do?

The Skit:
Stay or Go?

Assign students the following roles, then have them rehearse and perform the skit by following the script.

The setting for your skit is the Slyder family farm on July 2, 1863. Union soldiers arrive at the farm to warn the Slyders that the armies are headed their way, and the Slyders have just a short time to determine whether they will stay or go. Your skit should last about two minutes, and conclude with their decision.

Who Were The Slyders?

John Slyder
John is the head of his household and will ultimately have the final say in the decision-making process of whether to stay to save the farm or leave for a place of safety. He has invested years of hard work to just get this land to a productive state and could not afford or bear to see it destroyed. How would his family live without their farm? On the other hand, he is worried about the safety of his family, with the possibility of thousands of men fighting all around them.

Catherine Slyder
Catherine is torn about what to do, but will support her husband in whatever path he chooses. If only they had time to pack up some family heirlooms, and get the valuable wheat harvest into storage! She has heard about the damage done to the farms in the South and knows that it could take them years to rebuild after such devastation. Why, of all places, did the armies choose Gettysburg to fight it out?

John Slyder. Jr.
Young John is 20 years old and thinking about getting married and farming some land of his own soon. He has worked side by side with his father for many years, and is proud of this farm. He remembers when the war began and how everyone thought it would be over after one or two battles. He never imagined that Lee's army would invade the North, and certainly never thought they would get the whole way to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Hannah Slyder
Hannah is frightened. What will happen to them if they stay here; the sounds of the cannon were so loud yesterday, and the soldiers look so hungry and tired! Maybe it will be alright. Where will they go if they leave? What will happen to the animals she has cared for each day? How much food will they be able to fit into their wagon? She anxiously waits for her father to make a decision.

Jacob Isaiah Slyder
Jacob Isaiah cannot remember living anywhere other than this farm. But he also knows that his home is wherever his family is. When the rumors began and the armies first came to town, it all seemed like an adventure, a little excitement in the midst of all his boring chores. But now he is mad at the soldiers for asking his family to leave their home. Why can't they protect his family from the Rebels? Now he wished that he could just do his chores and that everything was back to normal.

Soldiers:
The soldiers have a job to do, and not much time to waste. They are here to warn the Slyders that the armies are headed toward their farm and that they will not be safe if they stay. They do not know how the Slyders will react to this news, but there will not be much that they can do to protect · them other than to warn them that the battle is near - these civilians will have to understand that two armies headed towards each other are unstoppable. No one knows how this battle will turn out, but everyone knows how important the outcome will be.

July 2, 1863 - Script

[Soldiers march up from the trail, beating a cadence on the drum and carrying the Union flag. They confront the Slyder family].


Soldier: Whose farm is this?

Slyders: It is ours.

Soldier: Who are you?

John Slyder: We are the Slyder family.

Soldier: I've come to warn you. You had better leave your farm now!

John Slyder: Why? This is our home. It's summer and we have many chores to do.

Soldier: The rebs are over there (points toward the Emmitsburg Road). Thousands of them will be coming across your farm as they attack the Round Tops and Devil's Den.

John Slyder: Well, we can't just leave. Our life's work is tied up in this farm.

Catherine Slyder: Besides, you're the Union Army. Aren't you supposed to protect us?

Soldier: There's nothing we can do except warn you and tell you to leave. If you don't, you and your family could be killed. Have some sense, man! Get your family out of here while there is still time.

John Slyder: Well ... I have to talk it over with my family.

Soldier: Don't talk long - there isn't much time.


[The family talks among themselves. Finally, Mr. Slyder gives the family's decision to the soldiers. The soldiers leave the farm and head back towards the trail].

Pre-Visit Lesson 2:
Examining the Cost of Battle

For this activity, have your students examine the images below that were taken in the days immediately following the battle of Gettysburg. These images depict some of the widespread destruction and devastation wrought upon the houses and farms of the local residents, whose homes were caught up in the midst of the battle.

Please Note: One of the images shows dead horses on the battlefield and so you may want to warn your students ahead of time.

At the time of the battle, Gettysburg was home to about 2,400 people. While many residents in the town remained in their homes during the battle, most of those who resided on the land where the battle was fought fled for safety. The three-day battle was fought in their town, on their streets, and on their farm fields. Their schools, churches, and in many cases, their homes were turned into temporary field hospitals. It is estimated that during the course of the battle, between seven-to-eight million bullets were fired, as were tens of thousands of artillery shells. Over 160,000 soldiers and tens of thousands of horses went into position and into camp on their farm fields, depleting resources and destroying crops. Afterward, the dead were buried in their crop fields and in their backyards.

After closely examining these images, have the students answer the following questions in an effort to illustrate just one example of the impact or consequences of battle.

Reflection Questions:

1. What do you see in the photographs? Identify at least three things from each of the images.
2. From examining the photographs, identify three ways in which the battle impacted the lives of the people who lived at Gettysburg.
3. How do you think the people who lived in these homes felt once they returned home and saw the damage done to their property?
4. If you were forced to flee your home at a moment’s notice, name one thing you would take with you? What do you think children of the town of Gettysburg in 1863 would have taken with them?

Finally, working either individually or in small groups, write a concise caption for each of the images, describing the impact of battle.

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