OXFORD – The Boy Scouts of Troop 196 spent four days visiting the Gettysburg National Military Park recently. They pitched their tents beside Marsh Creek at Gettysburg Campground near the park.

During the four days, the Scouts learned what part Maine played in the Battle of Gettysburg.

Maine’s Gen. Joshua Chamberlain, with 360 men, defended the Union position on Little Round Top and reshaped the Union line to keep it intact. Chamberlain found himself facing a crisis, with reinforcements nowhere in sight and ammunition all but gone. Another Confederate assault was coming when Chamberlain ordered a bayonet charge into the waves of Confederate troops.

Chamberlain and his men saved the flank and the critical high ground of Little Round Top. Because the Battle of Gettysburg was essentially the decisive battle of the Civil War, some historians credit Chamberlain’s achievement with saving the Union cause.

The Scouts also visited the national cemetery, the setting for Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, and Eisenhower’s Gettysburg Farm national historic site.

Troop 196 is chartered with the Anderson/Staples Post 112, American Legion, Oxford. The Scouts said when they help decorate the Civil War graves next spring, it will provide a new meaning and a deeper understanding of the past.