Love on the Battlefield
- Gettysburg Sentinels
- Aug 13
- 2 min read
Call it serendipity or kismet—Walt and Nancy’s shared deep appreciation for Gettysburg, rooted in their mutual fascination with its history and significance, is what truly brought them together.
Nancy had been drawn to this hallowed ground and visited frequently, but Remembrance Day weekend 2019 was the first time she’d made that November trek from her North Carolina home.
Walt first experienced the draw of Gettysburg as a 7-year-old during a family vacation to the battlefield in 1963. He immediately fell in love with the area and vowed to call it home one day.
However, hundreds of subsequent visits paled in comparison to Remembrance Day weekend in 2019.
Nancy and Walt’s lives changed forever at 8:30 p.m. on November 22, 2019, when they met at a Remembrance Day event. “We both felt an instant connection,” Walt remembers.
This led to a walk the following morning to Nancy’s favorite spot on the battlefield — the witness tree on Houck's Ridge/Devil's Den.
After a whirlwind year, the couple returned to their spot under the majestic tree wearing Civil War-period clothing — Nancy as a southern belle and Walt as her Union infantry captain. It was there, under their tree, Walt proposed exactly one year later.
When the couple visited Greg Allen’s Gettysburg Sentinels workshop, Nancy spotted Christmas tree ornaments made from that Devil’s Den witness tree wood. Walt immediately asked if Greg could make them wedding bands made from that Devils Den witness tree wood. “I had long wondered what I would do with these tiny pieces of wood,” explains Greg, “because their size really limited it.”
Initially, Greg was hesitant — the branch wood was thin and not as stable as wood from a larger branch or trunk. But Walt asked Greg to try because of the tree’s significance to the couple.
The result was two unique, stunning rings crafted from the oak tree that witnessed so much in 1863.
The rings are an everlasting symbol of the love that Walt and Nancy have for one another — and for the place that brought them together. “So, you see, what others may view as one of many witness trees, Nancy and I will always celebrate as our special place,” says Walt. “The place where two people who love Gettysburg fell in love with one another.”
“It was just a perfect use of this very, very special wood,” says Greg. “And they’re a special couple; they’re like two teenagers in love.”
Discover how your love for Gettysburg can live on through pieces crafted from historic battlefield trees at gettysburgsentinels.com/shop