Hauntings of the Great RebellionEver been to the Triangular Field at Gettysburg at night? Do you know any good Civil War era ghost stories, the kind you tell your friends around the campfire? Read and post about these ghostly experiences here.
This weekend I'll be going to Gettysburg for the week-long Civil War Institute. This will be my 17th year there. Each year, during my free time, I've gone to Iverson's Pits. I've been there either morning, noon or night, and have yet to see an apparition. Maybe I'm trying too hard.
I've been to Devil's Den waiting for that shot of unexpected cold air on an impossibly hot day to come rushing through the boulders; I've been on the Longstreet Tower waiting for a Confederate soldier to talk to me but then not show up in any photos that I might take; I've been in the basement of Penn Hall (then Pennsylvania College) hoping to see the wounded.
Nada. Zilch. Zippo.
Maybe I'm trying too hard.
About 10 years ago, my wife and I took a ghost tour weekend at Gettysburg, which was conducted by a Gettysburg Battlefield Guide. Interesting enough. There was one story that really stuck with me.
According to the guide, this happened about 20 years ago or so. Apparently, the Gettysburg police had set up a speed trap on the Emmitsburg Road, but near the Bryan Farm. They stopped doing it when one evening two of the officers saw a band of Confederates charging the fence line, and then disappeared. Scared the bejeezus out of them. They had no explanation for it. It's supposedly filed in their police report.
Turns out there is a paranormal phenomenon called 'physical duality', I think, that basically states in the event of sudden and unexpected death, a soul still continues on with its earthly mission. What the police officers apparently 'saw' were some Confederates in Pickett's Charge approaching the artillery guns of Arnold's Battery, and who were simply vaporized by the blast while making their charge.
Pretty unsettling story, but I haven't seen those ghosts, either. I have enough trouble with the normal, much less the paranormal. But maybe I will see them this year. Stay tuned.
Last edited by PvtClewell; 06-18-2008 at 08:43 AM.
It usually doesn't happen to those who want it to!
My ex was always trying to find ghosts, see ghosts, communicate with ghosts. I told him that if he ever actually saw/felt/encountered one (not photo "signs" like orbs) he'd go out of his way to never have the experience again.
Ditto with what Blue Zouave said. If you're looking for them, you won't find them. It's when they aren't even on your mind that you're apt to have an experience.
I've never had an experience that I can call valid. I had something happen one night when I was about 6 yrs old, but I discount that as a dream.
We're going to Gettysburg later this year with a couple of close friends from Virginia. He's a history buff, she's into ghosts. My wife is into ghosts, and I'm a ghost AND history nut. The 4 of us have visited battlefields in Virginia, and spent a long evening at an old CW hospital near their home in Gordonsville, but never experienced anything.
It'll be the first trip to Gettysburg for all of us.
You can never expect to see the ghosts of Gettysburg. If you go looking for them, they will not come looking for you. You must never hope to encounter them, else you'll never see them.
__________________
Pvt.BrandonBenner
3rd Pennsylvania Artillery, Battery B
"They couldn't hit an elephant at this dis-"
-Major General John Sedgwick, Battle of Spotsylvania, 1864
It'll happen when your not expecting it. We have the Baker Plantation in the County. It's reputedly haunted and was one of the Focal points of Clements Danville Raid in 1864.
A lot of "Ghost Hunters" go out there and my dept is called to run them off and check that the building is secure.
Me I'm kinda half and half about ghosts, but any who. This spring we get a call and I tool on out and evict the hunters of ghosts. The officer who responded with me and I began to check the residence. At the rear I saw an upstairs curtain move and I swear I saw a women in period dress looking out.
We checked all the doors they were padlocked and returned to the rear of the house. The window was frosted over. It was about 65 degrees.
This weekend I'll be going to Gettysburg for the week-long Civil War Institute. This will be my 17th year there. Each year, during my free time, I've gone to Iverson's Pits. I've been there either morning, noon or night, and have yet to see an apparition. Maybe I'm trying too hard.
I've been to Devil's Den waiting for that shot of unexpected cold air on an impossibly hot day to come rushing through the boulders; I've been on the Longstreet Tower waiting for a Confederate soldier to talk to me but then not show up in any photos that I might take; I've been in the basement of Penn Hall (then Pennsylvania College) hoping to see the wounded.
Nada. Zilch. Zippo.
Maybe I'm trying too hard.
About 10 years ago, my wife and I took a ghost tour weekend at Gettysburg, which was conducted by a Gettysburg Battlefield Guide. Interesting enough. There was one story that really stuck with me.
According to the guide, this happened about 20 years ago or so. Apparently, the Gettysburg police had set up a speed trap on the Emmitsburg Road, but near the Bryan Farm. They stopped doing it when one evening two of the officers saw a band of Confederates charging the fence line, and then disappeared. Scared the bejeezus out of them. They had no explanation for it. It's supposedly filed in their police report.
Turns out there is a paranormal phenomenon called 'physical duality', I think, that basically states in the event of sudden and unexpected death, a soul still continues on with its earthly mission. What the police officers apparently 'saw' were some Confederates in Pickett's Charge approaching the artillery guns of Arnold's Battery, and who were simply vaporized by the blast while making their charge.
Pretty unsettling story, but I haven't seen those ghosts, either. I have enough trouble with the normal, much less the paranormal. But maybe I will see them this year. Stay tuned.
PvtClewell,
I'm in the same boat you are, as I have been to Gettysburg many times and have yet to see a ghost. I at one time drove with a friend after dark in the park, who claimed he had seen a ghost near the 'bloody pond/spring' there. No luck.
However, I would like to share a story here about the Ohio Statehouse here in Columbus, Ohio, and how it is supposed to be haunted by Abraham Lincoln.
I had the privilege of serving with the 76th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (Reenacted) a long time ago, and one of our most forward looked to events was the Encampment at The Statehouse, an event that celebrated the Statehouse's and Ohio's role in the Civil War with a Civil War encampment on the Statehouse grounds, right in downtown, Columbus.
My company got to reenact an actual event the real 76th OVI participated in during Civil War. The actual 76th OVI late in the war had reenlisted with enough of its members to be designated an Ohio Volunteer Veteran Infantry Regiment (OVVI), with about 400 men reenlisting for three more years. Along with this designation, the reenlisting men were given 40 days furlough and sent home as a unit to their hometown of Newark, Ohio, in late 1864.
The men had special furlough jackets made up so they could 'strut their stuff' at home, dressed to the nines as it were. Boarding trains, they began the long trip home and along the way, stopped at the North Train Station in Columbus, Ohio, with a layover of a few days.
The regiment got in late to the station, well after midnight, as the story goes, and when trying to get quartered at Todd Barracks, they were told there was no room for them that night. As all of the hotels were closed and no room for them provided at the barracks, the officers and men of the 76th decided to take matters into their own hands.
The regiment formed up at the train station, marched south on High Street until they came to the Ohio Statehouse. The boys executed a "Left turn, march!", and proceeded down the walk to the main entrance to the building, marched up the marble steps, ignoring the protests of the janitors inside, and proceeded to spread their knapsacks and blankets on the floor of the rotunda.
After throwing the janitors out, the boys bedded down for the night and got some well-deserved sleep. The next morning, by some miracle, room was found for the entire regiment at Todd Barracks.
My reenacting company got to reenact that very historical sleep-over with the Ohio Statehouse permitting my 76th unit to sleep overnight in the building, in the rotunda, just as the real men of the 76th had done so long ago. It was so cool!
It was when we were bedding down for the night, that a fellow reenactor told the tale about Lincoln's ghost. It was said that a clerk that used to work in the building for many years, was leaving the building after working long into the night. While he was going through the rotunda, he heard violin music coming from the Senate chambers and went to investigate. There he saw a beautiful young woman, dressed in a 1800s dress, dancing with a tall gentleman dressed in a dark suit with a beard. The man turned pale when he realized the tall man was Abraham Lincoln and, in terror, fled the building.
Of course my fellow reenactors and myself had a good chuckle about the story but about that time a State Highway Trooper came up upon hearing our friend relate the tale. He said most of the Statehouse employees knew the man in question who had said he had seen Lincoln's ghost and said he was completely reliable, a no-nonsense sort of fellow, who never worked late in the Statehouse for the rest of his time there.
The patrolman also related that they used guard dogs at times when patroling the building and the dogs sometimes would often "hit" on something they alone could see, but not the officer accompying them. The officer also related that several of his fellow patrolmen had heard music and voices, but always upon investigation, could never find anyone in the room where the music and voices were heard coming from.
And no, I did not hear violin music the night I slept over at the Ohio Statehouse, but you can bet your bottom dollar, I sure listened for it!
Sincerely,
Unionblue
__________________ "The American people and the Government at Washington may refuse to recognize it for a time but the inexorable logic of events will force it upon them in the end; that the war now being waged in this land is a war for and against slavery." Frederick Douglass
"Loyalty to our ancestors does not include loyalty to their mistakes." George Santayana
Thanks for the kind response about my Ohio Statehouse story and Old Abe.
If you can stand the rantings of an old man, I got another one for you.
Not a actual ghost story, but one connected with ghosts.
The Ohio Statehouse runs tours of its facilities to the public during the day and sometimes, during special events, does ghost tours in the evening.
My wife, Sue, was heavily involved in reenacting when we first got started in the hobby and she went to great lengths to make sure she either bought or made authentic 1860s ladies dresses for our reenacting events.
She has this lovely gray dress, bonnet, black lace gloves and black reticule (lace purse) and has period lace up women's shoes, corset, hoop skirts, the works. She had been invited to the Statehouse, along with a group of other reenacting ladies, to give a period fashion show to the visiting public.
At the same time, tour groups were being led around by Statehouse guides who were giving visitors lecutres about the various highlights, offices, departments, and history associated with the building. Part of the lecture concerned ghost stories associated with the Statehouse since its construction and its completetion in 1860.
One such group had found its way to our now familiar rotunda, standing at one side, listening attentively to their guide describe one ghost that has been seen roaming about the Statehouse at all hours, a woman dressed in 1860s attire.
It was about this time that Sue was done with her portion of the period fashion show and had a serious call of nature and began looking for the nearest public restroom. They happened to be on the other side of the rotunda and down a flight of stairs.
Just as the tour guide had finished his 1860s lady ghost story, he asked, "Are there any questions?"
It was at this time Sue glided by, walking silently across the marble floor of the rotunda in front of the group, while the tour guide had his back towards her. You could have heard a pin drop. Just as the guide was about to wind up his tour, one little old lady shakely raised her hand and asked, "Is that her? Is that one of the ghosts?"
The guide, with a puzzeled look on his face turned, saw Sue as she was gliding out of sight, dropped his jaw for a second, and then replied, "I don't know, but it sure could be!"
Sue found out about this story from one of the Statehouse employees who coordinated the Civil War fashion show, came home and told me all about it.
It was worth the laugh.
Sincerely,
Unionblue
__________________ "The American people and the Government at Washington may refuse to recognize it for a time but the inexorable logic of events will force it upon them in the end; that the war now being waged in this land is a war for and against slavery." Frederick Douglass
"Loyalty to our ancestors does not include loyalty to their mistakes." George Santayana
I'm beginning to think the only time I'll see ghosts is when I become one myself.
By the way, I do believe I'm a few years older than you are. So I guess that makes us a couple of old geezers sitting around the cracker barrel trading stories and slapping our knees. Our own knees, of course, not each other's.
I'm beginning to think the only time I'll see ghosts is when I become one myself.
By the way, I do believe I'm a few years older than you are. So I guess that makes us a couple of old geezers sitting around the cracker barrel trading stories and slapping our knees. Our own knees, of course, not each other's.
And why not?
I turned 55 this July 11, 2008, got three grandkids all 10 years old.
I submit, that I AM old.
See you around the old cracker barrel.
Sincerely,
Unionblue
__________________ "The American people and the Government at Washington may refuse to recognize it for a time but the inexorable logic of events will force it upon them in the end; that the war now being waged in this land is a war for and against slavery." Frederick Douglass
"Loyalty to our ancestors does not include loyalty to their mistakes." George Santayana
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Pvt. Brandon Benner
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