The Ghosts of Gettysburg

This past Wednesday, we headed off on a more ambitious trip than our usual paranormal jaunts, and moseyed on up to Gettysburg, PA.  We got up early, packed our lunches, got our mandatory iced coffee drinks, and set out on the open road.  Before our trip, we had done a little bit of research on the battlefield deemed "most haunted" in America, and we found out that the two most haunted locations were fairly close to one another.  The most paranormal activity has been reported at Devil's Den and Little Big Horn, both of which finally visited after a bit of stressful navigation problems.  Unfortunately our trip was relatively inconclusive paranormally (unless the ghosts were the ones messing with our GPS...) and we got drenched by a rainstorm, but we managed to snap a few photos along the way, and find out a little about the ghosts of Gettysburg.

Me, hopefully not being too disrespectful.

1. Devil's Den - The area of Gettysburg named Devil's Den earned it's name for a reason. Tumbling down a large hill, Devil's Den is a rocky collection of giant boulders, undoubtedly difficult to climb up, especially during a battle.  It is here that Confederate sharpshooters camped out at the top of the den, systematically shooting at all who passed underneath them, and unseen by anyone unfortunate enough to be beneath them. As the battle raged on, Union soldiers eventually figured out where exactly these sharpshooters were and managed to take them out. After the fighting had ceased in this particular area, Civil War photographers came in and started snapping photos of the day's carnage.  One such photographer, Alexander Gardner, felt that his photos might evoke stronger emotion if the bodies were more strategically placed.  He ordered his assistants to move some of them men around, snapped some photos of his newly arranged scenes, and continued on his way. Some people believe that the souls of the men whose bodies were moved around for the photos haunt this spot in particular because they were not treated justly so soon after their demise.  Many people have reported having technological difficulties while at Devil's Den, like camera photos coming up blank, or batteries going completely dead within moments.  Perhaps these men. who were mistreated by photography during the dawn of it's usage, hope to ensure that in their afterlife it is difficult to use the devices that disrespected them so? 

No ghosts here today, though we did capture many spectral orbs on camera.

2. Little Round Top - Not to be confused with the site known as for the battle of Little Big Horn out west - (trust us, our GPS tried to take us there) - Little Round Top is at the top of a hill overlooking a section of the battlefield. A short hike from Devil's Den, we had grand plans to climb to the top before a monsoon hit the National Park and we decided driving would be more prudent. Little Round Top was used by the 20th Maine division of the Union Army to successfully repel a particularly nasty assault from the Confederacy.  Even after the day was over and the blood had been shed, the battle never ceased.  The most notable report  of a haunted experience at Little Round Top comes all the way from the big screen - when the film "Gettysburg" was being made, some of the cast, dressed up as Union soldiers took a break and sat down at the top of the hill. Suddenly they heard a rustling in the trees, and out popped an old, grungy looking old man, who approached them and said "rough one today, ay boys?" while handing the extras some musket rounds.  Confused, they took the rounds back to the props department and asked why they were given them.  Equally perplexed, the props department told them these were not the rounds they were using in the film.  Still curious, the extras took their rounds to one of the park's historians, who told the shocked group that these rounds were legitimate rounds, made around the 1860's.  Was the haggard old man simply a kook visiting the park that day? Or was he perhaps a battle weary soldier, mistaking the man in costume for actual men in uniform? No one can really say, but still, where did he get the bullets and why was he on set? 

3. Bonus! - the rain stopped us from making the rounds to the final place we wanted to visit at Gettysburg - triangular field - so we won't say too much about it except that it, like Devil's Den and Little Round Top, was the site of many deaths over the course of one day. Many people have reported seeing things in the distance while viewing the field, and others have reported the same technical difficulties experienced at Devil's Den. Still, why should we tell you about the supposed hauntings when we can show you what prompted us to consider this locale as a possible stop on our tour? Here is a video (unfortunately not filmed by us) which supposedly captures a ghost on film.  If you watch closely you can see it, but ultimately its up to your own judgement whether or not this is real or not. 

Gettysburg was the last real trip we're taking, as senior projects are coming to an end. Still, we hope to have one more entry about the supposed witch of Truxton park before we present, plus later today we will add a little post regarding the interviews we had with our tour guides about their opinions on the supernatural world - we promise it's a scream!

Side note - since we live in Maryland, we had trouble finding books on Gettysburg hauntings, so we mainly used websites for our information.  You can find more detailed accounts of the Gettysburg ghosts on America's Most Haunted, HyperBear.com, and The Gothic Curiosity Cabinet