Gettysburg Pennsylvania, a small town near the Maryland border, not far from Baltimore, is a quiet town with elements of the past. In July of 1863 the Union Army of the north along with the confederate army of the south engaged in a vicious three-day battle resulting in a great loss of life. This battle, the Battle of Gettysburg, is one of the most famous instances in American history, and decidedly the most famous battle of the entire American Civil War. The casualty rate was around 50,000 men, an astronomical number in just three days. Not long after the battle ended, it is said that paranormal activity began. Today, the number of stories relating to paranormal sightings is practically endless. Hotspots around the battlefield include Little Roundtop, The Wheatfield, Devil’s Den and Seminary Ridge. Even though, many stories come from those spots, the entire battlefield and even the town itself are one big hotspot for ghostly activity.
When I was 13 years old, I went with my family on a trip to Gettysburg to learn more about the Civil War. From an early age, I have been a Civil War buff and collector. I was born and spent the first nine years of my life in Georgia. My great 3x grandfather’s all fought in the war, for the Confederates. I even had quite a few great uncle’s who fought in the war. At the age of 9, my dad’s job moved us to Indiana, there I was able to learn about the Civil War from a northern perspective, and instantly became interested in the famous Iron Brigade. So, when given the opportunity, I jumped at the opportunity to go and see where these great warriors battled. The battlefield is huge and overwhelming but that is not the thing that has stuck with me all of these years.
What stuck with me most was, what I thought was a reenactment happening on the battlefield near the spot of Pickett’s Charge. My dad and sister had wandered off to go look at a different monument while my mom and I stood near where the Union lines would have stood during the charge itself. We watched as a group of soldier’s came out of the trees and marched towards where we were standing. We could hear them begin to yell as they advanced but then they stopped and it looked like that started over again, like they were doing a loop. It was weird, even to my 13-year-old self, for a reenactment. Around the time they reached midfield, my dad and sister showed up calling our names. My mom asked my dad about the reenactor’s and why they kept starting over. His question: what reenactor’s? We turned to see no one standing there. They were completely gone in a span of seconds. We stayed for about twenty more minutes, completely dumbfounded, but the soldiers never again showed up. After returning home I told my history teacher about the weird reenactment. He is the one who told me that what we saw probably wasn’t reenactor’s, but the spirits of the actual soldiers from that fateful battle well over a century ago. From there, I was obsessed.
I've attached a picture of the spot from my recent trip for reference of the area.
Fast forward nineteen years to October 2019, and I finally got the chance to visit Gettysburg again. My husband and three kids accompanied me on the trip, begrudgingly. The first day there we ran into nothing in the way of paranormal activity until that night around 8 o’clock. It is pretty dark around that time and we had a long day so we were going to head back to the room. I had had my EMF meter on throughout the day with barely a blip so I was not expecting anything when we stopped by The Wheatfield to switch drivers, my husband was tired of it. There is where to activity began. The meter went crazy for the first time all day. I was so excited. It went on for a few minutes but eventually died out and so we went on our way back to the room. I do not have video of the emf going off but I do have a recording I will attach. Basically, you can hear me ecstatic and the meter beeping wildly.
The next day, my husband and kids wanted a pool day, so I left them at the hotel (where they were pleased to remain) and I set off to find more paranormal experiences. I parked my car at Devil’s Den and began my hike. I swear I kept seeing something flash by me on the rocks at Devil’s Den, but I could never catch anything, nor did my meter go off, so I chalked it up to shadows. After hiking for a while, I found a quiet place to sit in the Rose Woods. Probably not the best place to hang out by yourself (don’t be like me, always have someone with you), but I was tired, and it was shady so my out of shape self sat down. I opened the kindle app on my phone and began to read a book. Not long into it I began getting the feeling that I was being watched. I looked around, nothing, so I continued reading. A little while later, I heard leaves crunching under footsteps but never saw anything or anyone. I still had my emf meter out, but it was not going off so I didn’t think this was going to be a ghostly encounter, probably more so a woodland creature encounter. Then I heard cannon shots. Maybe a reenactor? Kind of weird for a Tuesday afternoon in October, but maybe? I started an evp, just in case, and also did a video span around. Nothing showed up. I did decide to take a couple of pictures in quick succession, and wouldn’t you know it, in one of the photos, there is a face staring right back at me. He seemed to be hiding right behind a tree. Well, at this point I felt that I had probably spent enough time in the Rose Woods and decided it was time for me to leave. Quickly.
Upon my return home I looked at the photos closer. Of the same photos taken seconds apart, only one had the face. It gave me goosebumps but at the same time I was excited for what I had found. I started to second guess myself on the photo with the face. Maybe it was just trees or something lined up to look like a face, but none of the other photos had the same “face.” It was a pretty weird looking face. Maybe I was just wrong? I used an Iphone for the pictures, which has the live photo element. I held my finger down on the picture to watch the photo live and was shocked to see the mouth moving like one would who was talking. It was amazing to see. Right then and there I decided I was going back for more. I hope to go back this spring for even more experiences. My family has begged me to let them stay at home.
A few more photos of out trip.
