Haunted Gettysburg

[pearl1863]

Re: Haunted Gettysburg

Mr. Hicks,

Just last week my family was at Gettysburg. We went to the Living History tour of the cemetery and our guide had turned around to get into character. My mom found humor in it and started laughing. As I was standing right beside her, we both felt a sudden cold chill. That day, I'm almost certain it was over 80 degrees so the sudden temperature drop was pretty much impossible.

Lesson learned: Don't laugh at Kyle Stetz. He has spirits on his side.

I don't know if this will interest your wife, but I thought it was a pretty weird experience.

Elizabeth Martin

[Rob Weaver]

Re: Haunted Gettysburg

Rob,

You wouldn't also be a member of The Jenny Wade Club, Soupbone Weymer Chapter, No. 1, would you? Not that the actual initiation ritual takes place by her grave, you understand. Needs a handshake or a fob or a secret distress signal or something.

No, I'm not - I was just a particularly cheeky freshman at Gettysburg College at the time.

[redleggeddevil]

Re: Haunted Gettysburg

No, I'm not - I was just a particularly cheeky freshman at Gettysburg College at the time.

Tell the whole truth, Rob-- you were a particularly cheeky freshman...who thought Jenny Wade was really hot.

That, more than the paranormal angle, is what frightened me.

[Rob Weaver]

Re: Haunted Gettysburg

Yeah, she was a babe, but her family was so messed up! (I do have some recollection of being seized, pulled to the ground and pummeled by you and Ed right after that.)

[Clsinclair]

Re: Haunted Gettysburg

My wife and I stayed 4 nights in the Heth room at the Cashtown Inn (General A.P. Hills headquarters). The Heth room is reported as one of the most haunted rooms in the US according to the Travel Channel. I did pull some evil pranks on my wife such as writting Heth on the fogged mirror in the bathroom while she was taking a shower. Then I got back in bed as if nothing had happened. She got out of the shower and screamed.

Claude Sinclair

[GWagner]

Re: Haunted Gettysburg

I've had a few experiences at Shiloh.

I think if you are looking for haints, battlefields is the first place to look.

Galen Wagner
Yellowhammer Rifles

[coastaltrash]

Re: Haunted Gettysburg

Holy Mother, I think I just saw a ghost...GALEN IS POSTING AGAIN.

[GWagner]

Re: Haunted Gettysburg

Hey Pat...I've been lurking a while.

I am still doing a few things with the Yellerhammers.

Got some new dandy duds from Mr. Utley for our Home Guard impression.

I took a few years off...my father in law passed away, I had rotator cuff surgery finally...man if I'd a known how long I'd been hurting...and the recovery from that is not fun. Two years out and I still can't throw 92 mph again yet...maybe because I am 36.....and I kinda got burned out.

Garrett is wanting to get into the field...so if you have any cheap used stuff...size 28 pants and 32 coats...let me know.

I'm gonna try to do Keiths LH at Lookout this year. Maybe if it pans out you can swing up there.

Galen Wagner
YR

P.S. Dear God...said Abner!!

[Jeff Prechtel]

Re: Haunted Gettysburg

Brian-
almost anywhere on the battlefield, I would assume,
since there was so much blood splilt there....however,
my dad and i have had several "experiences" while just
wandering around various parts of the battlefield.

I've experienced cold spots (and I mean cold, not a nice cool breeze)
in various places between the Virginia monument and the pike.
The triangular field on the backside of Hazlett's(?) battery in Devil's den;
all three of our cameras died here at the same time (the back's popped open)
the den it's self, as well as the east cav battlefield (had an encounter there,
pm me if you'd like the whole story0 there's certainly lots of places that have felt eerie,
or whatever to me when I was there more or less by myself, the wheatfield, walking
around the 20th Maine monument, any of the woodlots where the field hospitals were
set up, and certainly the den at night, as well as the valley of death.

Maybe her ghost interest will interest her more in the war, there's certainly a lot
of books out there that are great for the "beginner" Have her try Mark Nesbitt's
Ghost of G-burg series, as well as several of the short human interest books
that are available throught the various shopps in Gettysburg.

Good luck
-JP

[Alamo Guard]

Re: Haunted Gettysburg

Ive had a few wierd things happen to me at night on the Mansfield Battleground. Hard to explain, wasnt really looking for it and Im sure no one would believe me regardless.

[FranklinGuardsNYSM]

Re: Haunted Gettysburg

Mark Nesbitt's
Ghost of G-burg series, as well as several of the short human interest books
that are available throught the various shopps in Gettysburg.

It should be noted that among the stories in Nesbitt's books, many have been confirmed as willful and knowing fabrications, including one that was inspired by a college student's creative writing piece. Much of this came out when he decided to "copyright" these stories as intellectual property to prevent other tours from retelling them; he was forced to admit the stories' origins or else he couldn't lay exclusive claim to them.

The human interest books, however, I've always found much more interesting. Anything that Greg Coco had a hand in is great, and his works range from quick, anecdotal collections of facts to massive scholarly works. Something for everyone from him.

[vamick]

Re: Haunted Gettysburg

Brian, If yer wife has been doing this for awhile she probably already knows that 'ghosts' happen when and where they choose. And that not every creak and groan. nor bloody battlefield yeild them up at any given time like some epherimal cabbage:D..that said I live ina 'haunted house' myself, they being my family ( it was built by my ggfather) I probably cause them more grief than they do me...I have experienced some 'things' there in my life however, to the extent that the 'supernatural' if 'benign' isnt to be feared!, Its just the coin toss of what we live in this place, and after all the house is more 'their's' than 'mine'..but getting to tha point..has she ever tried "EVP" recording?"Electronic Voice Phenominon" can turn up very striking things! especially in an environment where there is so much mortal traffic to and fro Ive witnessed truly ..'disturbing' recordings thru that medium, so..be fore warned!..some I wished I had never heard.. but anyway basically, and Im sure she already knows this, 'ghosts' er 'spirits' er what have ya, travel on their own time frame, we witness whatever we are fortunate enough to see/feel almost at random..it is all a 'mystery' and being 'mysterious' we who would intrude must apporach it in that light..'believe' or 'disbelieve', in the end those of us who have seen tho it might be hard to explain KNOW...something is 'out there' I have seen/heard/felt and smelled and it gives comfort to know they are there looking over my shoulder as it were..I look foward in the hopefully "distant" future :) to joining my 19th cent brethern in their space in time...hopefully they wont find me too 'farby'!:D

[Jeff Prechtel]

Re: Haunted Gettysburg

Marc-
I'm pretty unaware of Mark's stories being fabricated, although after reading
many, many books on the subject of paranormal encounters i've found several
in there to give me the "yeah, riiiiiight" feeling, and then, there are lots in there
that make me shake my head and wonder, well...maybe?.

I totally agree with the crass comercialization of the "ghost tours"
and feel bad that it's taken on a Knott's Berry farm halloween-o-rama
feel to it. What happened to those men & boys there, should NEVER be
treated with anything less than reverence. I've only had two things "happen"
to me at Gettysburg. One in the triangular field, with myself, my father & Mark Nesbitt,
who my dad had hired to give us a tour. We had been making fun of the "Texas" ghost
who's purportedly been seen many times in the Den. as we were walking the triangular field, we were joking about him, and how maybe Brady or one of his assistants dragged
that guy around from place to place using him as a "prop". After several minutes my camera jammed, and then the back popped open.....as i looked up, both my dad & Mark
were working on their cameras. It was a little odd that THREE cameras stopped working at the exact same time.

-JP

[Mike N]

Re: Haunted Gettysburg

I try to keep an open mind regarding the paranormal as I'm sure there is much that goes on in our world that isn't explained by known science or is simply beyond our understanding. Although I've personally experienced some "odd" things on other battlefields (not at Gettysburg though), I'm generally skeptical of the ghost stories, disgusted with the ghost tour businesses and annoyed by the "investigators" who prowl the battlefield with all manner of instrumentation to conduct their searches. At a certain point I feel it becomes downright disrespectful to the history of what happened on that ground and to the memory of the men who fought and died there.

My own belief is that many of these "ghostly" experiences are simply the result of self fulfilling prophecies on the part of the ghost "hunters" themselves. They believe they've experienced something paranormal because they went there with that objective in mind, sometimes almost desperately wanting to believe.

Sorry, but not every "orb" or wisp of smoke in battlefield photos is an apparition. I've yet to see a photo or hear a recording that doesn't have at least a possible earthly explanation.

IMO the most interesting stories are those from folks who aren't out looking for a paranormal experience, especially when the same story is reported independently by people who don't have a connection with each other. No doubt there are a few of these that defy conventional explanation.

Mike Nugent

[Carolann Schmitt]

Re: Haunted Gettysburg

I posted the following on this forum prior to one of the crashes. It was suggested that I re-post it for those who missed it.

Halloween night, about six years ago. Cold, some ground fog, almost full moon. We were at a party hosted by NPS friends who lived on the Trostle Farm on the Gettysburg battlefield. The surrounding avenues were a constant stream of cars of ghost hunters desperately seeking just one sign of the supernatural.

Among the liquid libations at the party were several bottles of MD 20-20, Kiwi Lime flavor. If you didn't experience this 'fine' beverage in your college days, you'll find it in the 'wino' section of your local liquor store. It's bright green in color, and tastes about as bad as it looks.

One of the guests discovered that, if you held a pen flashlight under a bottle, it glowed phosphorescent green. He immediately decided to set off on a walk across the battlefield with the glowing bottle of Kiwi Lime held over his head. There was just enough ground fog to emphasize the glow and illuminate the silhouette of the kepi on his head, yet keep everything else a hazy form in the fog. The terrain in that part of the field is pretty uneven and Jim has a bad knee, so the green 'orb' tended to bob up and down as he made his way over ditches and around rocks.

As soon as set off on his jaunt, it was wall-to-wall flash bulbs from all directions: the top of Little Round Top, over toward the Peach Orchard, from the direction of the Weikert farm. Headlights turned on everywhere, as cars began making their way closer and closer to the Trostle House and the field where they could finally photograph 'proof' of the supernatural appartitions that 'haunt the battlefield'.

For the next fifteen minutes, I don't think any of us ever laughed so hard in our lives. It was hilarious watching cars drive right past us on United States Avenue, snapping photos as fast as they could and frantically trying to get closer and closer to the 'orb'. The flashlight battery finally died and Jim stumbled back to the party, laughing as hard as the rest of us. Sooner or later, we all expect to see that story appear in one of the innumerable books about ghosts and the Gettysburg battlefield.

I've lived in Gettysburg or it's environs for almost sixty years. There are areas on the battlefield and elsewhere in the county that still raise the hair on the back of my neck. It may happen to you, it may not. But the veracity of the innumerable ghost tours, ghost stories, etc. is best summed up by this experience:

About two years ago, the current pastor of the Presbyterian Church was working in the church office with the windows open. He sat there listening to one of the ghost tour guides relate two absolutely false stories about the 'ghosts' that haunted the church from its days as a hospital after the battle. As the guide was finishing her spiel, the pastor got up, turned off the lights, walked out the door, and told the tour: "Ladies and gentlemen, I can swear to you as the pastor of this church that the only ghost in our sanctuary is the Holy Ghost. Have a good evening."