Gettysburg And The Paranormal

Gettysburg
Matthew Brady Photo Believed To Be In Public Domain

When we talk about the paranormal and the most supposedly haunted places in this country, one place constantly comes up in the conversations and that is Gettysburg. I suppose the fact that so many died there has something to do with that. There are probably more stories from witnesses of paranormal sightings there than anywhere else. The stories from Gettysburg can be very bizarre. One that comes to mind is a story I heard about a few years ago and even mentioned once before, but it is good enough to mention again. A man went to Gettysburg and was taking in all the sights. He decided to go into one of the buildings in that area and was surprised to be in the middle of a recreation. There it was, a Civil War hospital and it was full of patients in beds with doctors and nurses running all around to take care of the wounded. He couldn't believe how authentic it looked. Later on, after he left the building he mentioned this fact to one of the workers who was very surprised. He asked what building he had been in and when the man told him, he stated that the building was closed for years and there were no reenactments in any of the buildings and in fact after the building was used as a Civil War hospital, it was later converted to other uses. What had this guy seen? Apparently he saw something paranormal that was more like a scene from the twilight zone.

While the previous story is unexplainable, some are not. Unfortunately some people go to Gettysburg and are determined to see ghosts where none exist. I can't tell you how many photos that I have seen that people claim show spirits. No matter how hard I look at them, all I see is occasional mist or an orb produced by the action of a digital camera. Sometimes they take photos of a rock, or something like that and insist that you can see a face on it. Let me say this, stare at something hard enough and you can see a face almost everywhere.

General Farnsworth
Photo Source: Public Domain

Farnsworth House Inn in Gettysburg is extremely famous. In the Civil War the Inn was used as a site for sharpshooters from the Confederate Army. They would go up to the attic and try and pick off Union soldiers. There are many different claims of ghosts haunting the building and especially in the attic. Many visitors claim to have seen "Mary" who tries to comfort travelers by laying next to them in bed. Probably the most famous of the ghosts are the 3 soldiers who can be heard walking around in the attic, but when it is checked, no one is there. It there still a battle going on where Confederate shooters are picking off Union soldiers and neither side is aware that the war ended over 150 years ago?

During the Civil War a strange event was reported during a battle at Gettysburg. There was an area in which it was felt held the key to the entire battle. The name of that area was Little Roundtop. Lincoln even sent Colonel John Pittenger to visit the General in charge of the area, who was General Oliver J. Hunt. Pittenger told Hunt that his men looked like they had already been defeated, which Hunt did not take too kindly to. The battle began to rage again and in the heat of battle a man wearing revolutionary garb and riding a white horse jumped out in front of the men and led a charge. The charge was successful and the man disappeared. The soldiers claim that George Washington himself had led them to victory.

EVPs of Gettysburg are everywhere. An EVP is an electronic voice phenomenon. It is usually a recording that was made while no one was hearing anything, but displayed sounds and voices when played back. It seems that everyone claims to have made these at Gettysburg. There is nothing harder to prove than the fact that an EVP is genuine as anyone could fake a voice. It is a shame because this means that if anyone really gets a genuine EVP, there is no way of validating it.

When people go to Gettysburg they are almost forced to think about ghosts. This is because they are not only constantly mentioned, but ghost tours are everywhere. It is kind of sad that our great historic battlefield as been so commercialized. I wonder what the people who fought and died there would say if they saw it today? It is almost like destroying a shrine. From what I hear, even though the entire battlefield is considered a cemetery of sorts and the fact that no one is allowed to take anything out of the ground, people do it anyway. If Gettysburg is indeed haunted, it would be interesting to know if any of these people have themselves become haunted by the fact that they removed items?

Mary Virginia Ginnie or Jennie Wade
Photo Source: Public Domain (no enlargement available)

One of the best known haunted houses in Gettysburg is the Mary Virginia Ginnie, or Jennie Wade house. Ginnie was the only civilian to be killed in the battle at Gettysburg when she got trapped in a crossfire. What happened was that a bullet went through her kitchen door while she was kneading bread. While other civilians died from indirect means during the battle such as a heart attack or from handling shells that exploded, Ginnie was the only civilian that was killed by a fired shell, or bullet. Photos have been taken at the Wade house that show a full body apparition. Many are said to have seen her wandering the premises.

Is Gettysburg haunted? There certainly was a tremendous amount of bloodshed there and according to paranormal investigators, where there is a lot of death, there is a good chance for spirits.

The following are links to some so called paranormal videos: