The restless spirits of Pennsylvania (Part 1)

The town of Gettysburg is located in southern Pennsylvania. The residents of this town have come to realized the town’s importance during the Battle of Gettysburg and have restored the historical downtown area giving tours about life during that time.

The Civil War battle of Gettysburg lasted 3 days from July 1st to July 3rd over a distance of 40 miles in the countryside and farmland near and around the town of Gettysburg. General Robert E. Lee was heading his troops north aiming for Harrisburg and looking for places where his soldiers could live off of the land. At that time one of the crafts in Gettysburg was the tanning of leather and the making of boots. Knowing that his soldiers need boots General Lee went there. He took over the town and purchased or just took boots for his troops.

Meanwhile Union troops were also headed north. They collided so to speak with the Confederate troops and this resulted in the bloody battle of Gettysburg where 50,000 men lost their lives. It was the turning point in the Civil War giving advantage to the Union forces.

The people of Gettysburg spent a horrifying 3 days with the battle raging so near to them. Many houses and buildings were made into makeshift care stations and operating facilities for the wounded. People also hid in their basements hoping to survive. After the battle the townspeople were left with thousands of men to nurse back to health and dead bodies everywhere rotting in the summer sun. It took a long time for them to get their lives back into order. There was also the matter of loss of food, crops and buildings.

Since many houses and buildings in Gettysburg were used by both sides involved in the conflict the psychic energy remaining was great. After such a bloody conflict there are those who don’t realize they have died, those who don’t know the conflict has ended and those who relive again and again what has happened to them.

During that time many bodies were left to decompose also on the streets of the town and people would walk around holding peppermint and vanilla soaked handkerchiefs to their noses. Today people have caught the wafting scent of peppermint and vanilla in the air.

The Farnsworth House Inn a very successful bed and breakfast inn and restaurant in this town. It was built in 1810. The building still has the original walls, flooring and rafters of that time. Over a 100 bullet holes can be found in the walls. During the battle of Gettysburg Confederate sharpshooters had taken over the building and were shooting from the attic at Union soldiers over on Cemetery Hill some 100 yards away. Inadvertently they shot Jennie Wade in a nearby house baking bread for the Union soldiers.

After the battle it was used as Federal Headquarters and is considered to be the most haunted house in Gettysburg. The owners operate a theater for ghost stories in the basement and give ghost tours. When the inn is quiet and no one is in the attic the spirit of a soldier still on duty there can be heard giving a concert on a Jew’s harp. Footsteps are heard on the stairs and the main floor and employees have heard footsteps following them around but no one is ever there. Entities come and sit on beds and people have seen apparitions and shadows moving about. In the restaurant waitresses have had someone yank hard on their apron strings practically turning them about. In the hallway between the tavern and kitchen the apparition of an older woman in 1800’s attire has been seen looking over the items on the shelves stored there and then just disappearing in thin air.

At the Jenny Wade house a double dwelling is located at the southern end of Baltimore Street as one approaches Cemetery Hill. Jenny and her sister Georgia rented one unit and Susan McClean the other. Georgia’s husband Louis was fighting in the war. The sisters had been warned to abandon the house as they were right in the middle of the gunfire. Instead they baked bread and gave out water to the Union soldiers. As mentioned previously Jenny was hit by a stray bullet and killed during the 3rd day of the battle.

The house is now a museum and looks like it did in 1863 with original furnishings from cellar to attic. An apparition of a young woman has been seen about and the smell of freshly baking bread fills the air. The scent of her favorite rose scented perfume can also be smelled.

Children from a nearby orphanage used to come and play in this house. Finding it like an oasis away from the abusive orphanage director. On the second floor the entities of these children enjoy swinging on the chains that rope off areas with antique furniture. The sound of a friendly greeting "Hey!" has been heard and they have wrapped themselves around people ankles or touched a person by the hand. They also like to play with the bedskirts on the bottom of the beds in the upstairs bedrooms. Downstairs in the downstairs bedroom where stories are told to people they play with visitor’s jewelry and tug on coats.

A male entity also haunts the upstairs area he is known to smoke cigars and drop invisible ashes about.

The Gettysburg National Military Park encompasses over 40 miles of land and has over 1,000,000 monuments and cannons. At this park soldiers are still on duty and many are still experiencing the terrifying events that led to their deaths. At the Little Round Top a strategic position for the Union soldiers giving them a good view of the land below a headless horseman can be seen riding his horse around. Phantom soldiers have been seen marching in formation and riding their horses against the enemy.

During the filming of the film Gettysburg actors in their Civil War uniforms would walk around exploring the battlegrounds between filming. A group of actors in Union soldier uniforms went up to the Little Round Top to enjoy the sunset. They heard a rustling behind them and out stepped a haggard old man dressed as a Union private. He was filthy and smelled of sulfur a key ingredient used in black powder in 1863. Walking up to the men he handed them a few musket rounds and said, "Rough one today, eh boys?" Then he walked away and disappeared. The muskets that were given to the actors were authenticated as being original rounds 130 years old.

West of the Little Round Top is the Triangular Field or the valley of death. It is considered the most haunted area of the park. There are not only apparitions of phantom soldiers but of Indian warriors as well. Devil’s Den is not only the hot spot of the Battle of Gettysburg but also of an Indian war years before the Battle of the Crows. Before the Civil War battle there were seen apparitions of Indian warriors and the sounds of war whoops could be heard.

Devil’s Den is a pile of rocks that long haired calvarymen from Georgia and Texas defended and finally drove out the Union troops. They suffered many casualties fighting their way across Triangular Field to Devil’s Den. The 3rd day when the battle ended the survivors retreated with Lee and the Union soldiers found many bodies in the valley and on the rocks. The already rotting bodies were thrown down the crevices between the rocks the lucky ones were buried. Visitors and park rangers have seen apparitions of sharp shooter among the tree line at the Triangular field and have heard the sound of gunfire and drum rolls in the wooded area of the field.

People who have wanted to take pictures of Devil’s Den have had problems with their cameras or have had them thrown to the ground. When someone has loudly stated his intention of taking some pictures he or she has been allowed to do so.

A cameraman’s homemade wooden camera was twice knocked off its stand and finally knocked into a boulder cave from which he retrieved it. On a second trip the man’s teammate explained that they were from Texas and wanted to take pictures to honor what Texans has accomplished there. After this there were no more problems for this team of paranormal investigators.

Some other people trying to take pictures in the area found that someone would constantly be turning off their digital camera to prevent them from taking any pictures. Occasionally if all goes well entities may even pose for the camera. After his pictures were developed one man saw a man with long hair standing in his picture. A female visitor trying to get a picture in the early morning light had a lifelike apparition of a Texas soldier in ragged clothes, a shirt without buttons, a big hat and no shoes directed her to take a picture of Plum Run saying, "What you’re looking for is over there." This same entity likes having his picture taken with people but when the film is developed where he was standing is an empty space.

A haunting unrelated to the battle is just east of Baltimore Peak. A young woman in 1800 was involved with a married man. When she realized he would never leave his wife she killed herself. Now a woman dressed in white haunts the spring here in this area. Park rangers have also lived in the houses located in the park to keep them in shape and to have a place to stay. In the Culp Farm farmhouse an unseen presence haunts the second floor and frantic footsteps can be heard running back and forth. Right in the center of the park is a stone house called the Weiker House. Before the Union army took it over Confederate soldiers would hide there. Later the Weiker house barn was set up as a field hospital. The presence of frantic Confederate soldiers can be felt in the cellar and attic where they used to hide and eventually were found and killed. Footsteps have been heard and a door on the second floor refuses to stay shut even when it was nailed shut.

Near the front lines the Humelbaugh House was used for operating on the wounded soldiers. There were no antibiotics and the suffering of the soldiers was great. Amputated arms and legs were thrown out of the kitchen window. Today this same window startled people with strange vibrating sounds. Confederate Brigadier William Barksdale who was wounded leading a charge on Seminary Ridge was left to die in front of this house most likely because his wounds were fatal but his voice can still be heard today calling for water. At the entrance to the Gettysburg National Cemetery in the cemetery lodge all the unclaimed personal property of the soldiers who were killed was housed for many decades. People hear footsteps and entities are upset about their belongings. The far off cries of babies can be heard as some civilians were also killed by stray bullets. The cemetery itself used to be haunted by a Captain William Miller who was upset that his tombstone did not list his Medal of Honor. When a psychic discovered this the problem was corrected and the Captain could depart for the other side. The forest area on Cemetery Ridge is well known for its phantom Civil War band music.

And so the poor souls are left here still fighting their battles and reliving the horrors of the war.