Jepson class leads students to Gettysburg for battlefield tour

From Nov. 3-4, a group of 15 students in Al Goethals and Brig. Gen. John Mountcastle's Civil War and Leadership class toured the battlefields of Gettysburg to better understand leadership and decision-making in battle.

"That battlefield really is a metaphor for the struggle we all face in the profession and our daily lives," Mountcastle said, "especially the uncertainty of the unknown, the stress and fear of both enemies and letting other people down.

"This is something that we really look forward to. The group of students that we meet with is extraordinary," he said of this year's class.

On Sunday before dinner, the group talked about goals for the trip, said senior Allie Dumke. "I wanted to understand the many factors that led to the battle's outcome and how the Union victory was achieved," Dumke said. "I felt as though my goals for the trip were well exceeded."

Goethals compared the trip to the "lab element" of a science class. "The idea is that we read about this battle, but what does it actually look like in the course of Civil War leadership?" he said.

David DuBois, a senior who went on the trip, said touring the grounds had provided a more tangible component to the course. "You read about battles, and it just sounds like different numbers of people running at each other and shooting at each other," he said. "You can't really grasp how complicated it is until you actually see the grounds."

Mountcastle said: "I'm gratified to see that Richmond students really derive something special from having 'boots on the ground.' We're able to put ourselves, just for a short while, in the shoes of the men who walked that very ground. You're talking about lives on the line, not corporate spreadsheets, but spending lives for ideas."

Students said that seeing the site of Pickett's Charge, Gen. Robert E. Lee's last attempt to break the defenses of the Union Army, had been memorable.

"The most memorable part was standing where Pickett's charge took place and observing the terrain to imagine what it was like during battle," Dumke said.

Pickett's charge, Goethals said, was considered to be a bad decision by most people. "Standing at two different points and to see what it would have been like for the Confederates attacking gives a much fuller sense of what's called for in the course of human action," he said.

At the site of the "Gettysburg Address," Mountcastle said there had been no laughing or joking. "It was a pretty somber group," he said. "We were all sunk deep in our thoughts about what his soldiers had accomplished to preserve the Union and the strength of human nature."

When asked which elements of battle were most relevant to the study of leadership, Goethals said decision-making was the most important. "Those moral issues, what risks you ask people to take, and whether you're willing to share those risks," he said.

"My goal was to develop my own opinion about whether certain generals made the right decisions," DuBois said. "I got a better idea of it, but it's definitely different because even though you're there, you're not leading thousands of people."

Goethals said, "I was very proud of our students; they worked hard to get prepared for this trip."

DuBois said: "I had a great time. Gen. Mountcastle and Dr. Goethals are great and have so many unbelievable facts to add."

Mountcastle surprised the group with a token from the Civil War, Dumke said, "Now I have a lead bullet from the Civil War to remember the trip by."

Mountcastle first took a group of Jepson students to Gettysburg at the suggestion of a Board of Trustees member in 2004, he said. Goethals first attended the trip in 2006 and was inspired to create a class about America at midcentury, using the civil war as a framework, Mountcastle said. Since that time, both said they had been close friends and colleagues.

Once the class was established in 2008, administrators for the Jepson School of Leadership Studies have been able to fund the trip, Mountcastle said. "This is something that we really look forward to," he said. "The opportunity Jepson provides is so very special, and it's a great pleasure for me to be involved."

Contact staff writer Taylor Cloonan at Taylor.Cloonan@richmond.edu