Crossroads of the Conflict: Defining Hours for the Blue and Gray: A Guide to the Monuments of Gettysburg

Gettysburg Defining Hours of the Civil War

"Donald W. McLaughlin did not fight in the Battle of Gettysburg, but he spent many years guiding others around these battlefields. It gave him an understanding of the Battlefield and the human dimensions and tragedies of that battle possessed by few other people. Don knew that the many magnificent monuments and memorials in the killing fields of Gettysburg overwhelm the casual visitor and confuse even the serious student. He also understood that the statues and markers themselves may not reveal completely the thoughts and ideas of those who fought here, survived and what they wanted remembered. Such understanding is hard to come by, and for this reason once gathered must be shared, so that others may avoid the mistakes which brought strangers to this beautiful place for the purpose of killing one another. By allowing his personal notes and meticulous research about the monuments and memorials of Gettysburg to be assembled and published, Don McLaughlin has done all of us a tremendous service." - Col. John C. Slaughter, Medical Corps United States Army (retired)

"Don's book is an invaluable resource in locating the numerous monuments that exist on the Gettysburg Battlefield. It's the easiest guide to use, as it has a great index and the numerous maps he drew are excellent. Even more impressive to me, is the fact that the book contains an accurate inscription of every monument on the field!" - Eric A. Campbell Park Ranger Gettysburg National Military Park

Donald William McLaughlin was born in the Bronx, NY in 1917. He spent his childhood on Long Island and eventually moved to upstate New York to work for the General Electric Corporation in the 1940's. During WWII he enlisted, serving as a civil engineer in the United States Military along with his 3 brothers, Robert, James and William McLaughlin. He married Shirley Glaeser of Pittsfield, MA in 1948 and had seven children. He was a crucial player in changing the railroads from steam to diesel in the 1940's and 50's. He retired from General Electric in 1981 and moved to Gettysburg, PA in 1983 to become a Licensed Battlefield Tour Guide which he continued until 1997. McLaughlin was an avid photographer and developed his own photos. He was also an amateur cartographer. He published a number of articles from 1950-1980's in history and train magazines. His maps and photographs are in print in Gettysburg: Stories of Men and Monuments As Told By Battlefield Guides, by Frederick W. Hawthorne. Additional maps are in Crossroads of the Conflict. He was a member of many Civil War Roundtables in the Gettysburg area for more than a decade. Beginning in 1981 he mapped out the battlefield on foot, spending over 10 years locating every single monument that he could discover and chart. Through this work he developed the most extensive record of battlefield monuments available to the public.