Ghost Soldiers of Gettysburg

by Patrick Burke

  In three days of fighting, there were more than 51,000 casualties at the Battle of Gettysburg. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

  All of these factors add up to Gettysburg representing the perfect environment in which to conduct paranormal field research. The overwhelming number of documented paranormal experiences in Gettysburg suggests that, as Gov. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, a Civil War general, eloquently stated in his dedication speech to the Maine monuments in 1888, something does stay and spirits do in fact linger. Even when we use critical, objective, scientific reasoning to discount the majority of these experiences as misinterpretations of normal events, a wealth of compelling, corroborative, verifiable evidence remains, including scientific data and video, still photographs, electronic sound recordings, and first- and second-hand eyewitness testimony from our investigations alone.

  We knew that focusing our attention on Gettysburg would give us the best chance of validating the haunting experience and prove that the soul, or at least a part of human consciousness, survives bodily death. Research has shown that there’s a higher percentage of paranormal activity at locations where emotions ran high and trauma was involved, which makes battlefields great places to conduct paranormal research.

  Gettysburg is replete with ghost stories. Tens of thousands of visitors, as well as people who live in Gettysburg and around the battlefield, have had their own personal ghostly encounters with the ghost soldiers who still reside there. Gettysburg is a well-documented paranormal vortex. Everything from harrowing firsthand accounts to hard data—still photographs of apparitions, videos of walking ghost soldiers, the captured voices of the dead, and other paranormal activity—make Gettysburg the perfect location to explore haunted history.

  Patrick’s Story

  When I was fifteen, my mom and I spent the entire summer at our second home in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. There wasn’t a whole lot to do there, but a friend of my parents, known to me as Colonel Boyer, a venerable older gentleman who served through both World Wars, got hold of me when he found out I was in town and asked if I could help unpack and organize some of his books, which were too heavy for him to heft around. So of course I agreed.

  The Colonel’s book collection was outstanding—every book you could imagine written on military history was there. During the second week of organizing, I came across a box that was tucked away in a corner. The books inside had that musty, haven’t-been-read-in-a-long-time smell. I picked up the first book and discovered the wonderful world of Official Reports of the Battle of Gettysburg, and that summer I read the entire book of reports, which were written by Union and Confederate commanders who participated in the battle. I’ve been hooked on history—especially military history—ever since.

  Once I became interested in investigating haunted phenomena, I decided to follow my heart and focus on battlefields. There are several reasons for this. First and foremost, William Tecumseh Sherman, a well-remembered Union general, once stated simply, “War is hell.” If you accept this description as accurate and apply it to certain theories associated with paranormal phenomena, then battlefields represent the most likely places on which to capture paranormal evidence due to their association with profoundly traumatic events. In a haunted house, you’re usually dealing with strong emotions manifested by one or maybe dozens of people over several decades. On battlefields, unspeakable and horrific emotions emanated from thousands of men in a very short period of time. The bottom line, as Jack likes to say, is that “battlefields can’t be matched from an emotional intensity standpoint, and as such they represent the best ‘outdoor laboratories’ paranormal investigators have at their disposal to conduct valuable field research.”

  Another reason, perhaps stemming from a deeper spiritual urge as a sensitive to spirits, is that I honestly feel drawn to these ghost soldiers. The heroic and unfortunate souls who sacrificed everything on battlefields across the globe have stories to tell, and I want to share these stories with others in honor of their sacrifices. When visiting battlefields, I often wonder to myself, “What was it like fighting on this particular spot for these boys?” and “What horrors did they endure while trying to act courageously and survive at the same time?” For whatever reason, I feel compelled to know these things … maybe because we owe it to them in some way …

  to understand, no matter how sad or painful that knowledge might be.

  When I first visited Gettysburg as a young teenager, I was walking around the popular places with my friends from school when I had my first paranormal experience on a battlefield. Standing at the top of Little Round Top and looking down into the Valley of Death, I could see Devil’s Den. I asked aloud to my friend standing with me, “What was it like fighting here?” and I heard a deep voice say, “Hell!” I looked at my friend and asked if he said something. He shook his head “no” and walked off to catch up with our friends, leaving me standing alone, wondering who could have answered my question.

  The next time I went to Gettysburg was in 2000 to conduct my first paranormal investigation, and since that night I’ve visited the battlefield two to three times a year. Over the course of those visits, I’ve had incredible experiences and gathered some amazing verifiable evidence. I discovered at a young age that I was a sensitive, one of those people who could see, hear, and communicate with those who have left their mortal bodies behind. I didn’t really pursue developing my psychic abilities until I got out of the military years later.

  Now when I go to Gettysburg, it’s like a reunion for me. I feel like the ghost soldiers know who I am and know that I’m simply trying to capture a bit of their story, what I call “history through the eyes of the participants.” There have been certain spirits who wanted to “cross over,” and I’ve helped facilitate that process for them. Sometimes when I go back to areas like The Triangular Field, Bliss Farm, or Cemetery Ridge, some of these ghost soldiers pop in just to say “hey.” For me, Gettysburg holds a fascination that’s hard to explain. There will always be a part of me that resides there.

  Jack’s Story

  From the time I was a little boy, I’ve been fascinated with the American Civil War. In fact, when I was six years old, I remember my mom taking me to the library to check out the same book over and over again—American Heritage Battle Maps of the Civil War. The maps created by David Green-span in this particular collection captured my imagination, as I envisioned how incredible it must have been to live in that critical time in American history and fight in such grand battles. As I grew older and the realities of war became clearer to me, I still longed to know what it must have been like, but with a keener sense of the horrifying and senseless nature of warfare.

  In 1995, I had an experience at a haunted plantation in Louisiana that changed my life and catapulted me into the world of paranormal research. As I learned about the nature of hauntings and how to properly investigate historic locations, I began to understand more about the human condition. History, after all, is a reflection of humanity, and it became apparent to me that emotional imprints remain wherever strong human emotions were experienced. Whether in a house where a murder was committed, an orphanage where children were abused, or a battlefield where men were violently massacred, it’s always the same. Something lingers—an energy, a feeling, a spirit—that tells us something about the people who were there at specific moments in time.

  For me, Gettysburg represents the ultimate haunted location due to the man-made maelstrom that was perpetrated there during three days of carnage in July 1863. Excruciating pain, suffering, sorrow, hopelessness, sadness, paralyzing fear, and death overwhelmed that small Pennsylvania town and surrounding battlefield, scorching every inch of it with an emotional residue that remains there to this day.

  I feel fortunate to have spent time in Gettysburg over the years, immersing myself in its history and searching within it for answers to some of life’s most perplexing mysteries. From a paranormal research standpoint, it’s
a perfect field laboratory. From a personal standpoint, I’ve been touched by phenomena that still escape rational explanation, and I’ve grown as a person and expanded my perception of reality because of it. But mostly, I continue to be humbled by what more than 150,000 men experienced there in 1863 … humbled by their sense of duty and sacrifice. When it comes to Gettysburg, nothing has changed much since I was a little boy. My curiosity still drives me to understand more about what it must have been like for these men. Thankfully, as a result of the energies and emotions that still linger there, I feel like I’ve been able to catch glimpses of the past, and to know, at least partially, what it must have been like for those who experienced it.

  When we met at a conference some years ago at Gettysburg, we immediately knew that we were kindred spirits. We talked all night and into the early hours of the morning with a group of friends and associates. It soon became apparent, as one of our mutual friends and researchers pointed out, that we viewed the area of battlefield paranormal research from the same perspective. Add to that our mutual love of all things historic, and a fast friendship developed.

  At that conference, we had a chance to talk about our various theories and techniques for investigating battlefield hauntings. By the end of the conference, we agreed that attempting to communicate with the ghost soldiers, as well as experiencing the strong residual energies associated with battlefields, gave us a unique and very rare opportunity to “touch history.” We believe these anomalies act as time machines, enabling us to transcend time and space in order to touch the past.

  We also strongly believe that we can capture, and validate with the help of science, a genuine historic moment in time. We also feel that we can more accurately predict when paranormal phenomena might manifest by amassing a library of data that include details of the various conditions typically present before, during, and after the paranormal event occurs. By studying the patterns associated with ghostly phenomena, we feel it increases our chances of being at the right place at the right time; a luxury that field investigators don’t usually enjoy.

  With the writing of this book, our goal is to bring these historic moments to life and give readers the opportunity to experience living history through the eyes of both eyewitnesses to paranormal events and the actual participants of the battle! Ghost Soldiers of Gettysburg is a collection of experiences, many of which can be supported by verifiable evidence and further validated by modern-day scientific theories. By using various electronic devices, such as EMF detectors and natural trifield meters to gauge the electromagnetic field fluctuations; setting up infrared video camcorders in strategic locations; and taking still photos of the environment with both digital and 35mm cameras, we can best capture the kind of tangible evidence required to satisfy the scientific method. We also use digital audio recorders to capture the voices of ghost soldiers and utilize a method of capturing these voices with a technique called “The Double-Blind Ghost Box,” developed by our good friends Shawn Taylor and Dan Morgan.

  Based on our experiences, we feel it is just as important to acknowledge the benefit of having sensitives (aka mediums) on the team. People with the ability to recognize potential locations that are more prone to paranormal activity, and sensitives can help field investigators determine where to set up equipment and focus their attention. By bringing along those who possess a heightened awareness of the spirit world and who sometimes have the ability to communicate with the spirits of fallen soldiers, we dramatically increase our capture rate in regards to ghostly activity. Our documented evidence includes photographs and video recordings of apparitions and shadow walkers, sound recordings of discarnate voices and the sound of battle, and measured changes in both temperature and electromagnetic fields in the environment.

  From a research standpoint, we always start with the history of the battle. By knowing everything about the regiments that fought in a particular area, we not only obtain a clearer picture of the events that took place, but we can also attempt to communicate with the ghost soldiers on a more intimate level. Our research takes us to the individual men in the company. By reading their diaries and the letters they sent home, we gain a better understanding of their everyday lives as soldiers, as well as the intimate details associated with their strongest emotions felt in the heat of battle.

  The book is written in an easy-to-understand format. Each day of the battle is separated into parts that begin with a brief description of what occurred that day. This is followed in chapter format by the stories associated with that particular day. Each story is also set by specific location. We did this so that those of you who aren’t familiar with the details of the battle can easily follow the stories as they progress through the actual phases of the conflict. We also did this so that those of you who are brave enough can go to the locations where the paranormal events occurred and perhaps encounter the ghost soldiers for yourself.

  Our ultimate goal for this book is to share the evidence we’ve accumulated over the years in order to provide people with a better understanding of not only paranormal phenomena, but of the hardships and horrors tens of thousands of soldiers—many merely boys—experienced when they fought at Gettysburg for three days in July 1863. After all, they deserve to have their stories told.

  [contents]

  Chapter One

  Overview of Paranormal Phenomena

  This book focuses on the field research we have conducted on the Gettysburg battlefield. Our experiences support the idea that the best locations to collect evidence of ghostly activity are those where extreme violence and suffering has occurred. Unfortunately, the human tendency to search for spiritual enlightenment isn’t the only thing that has prevailed since the dawn of primitive cultures; our inclination toward violence and conquering others shares this dubious honor. As a result, a plethora of battlegrounds dot the surface of our planet. Nevertheless, if you’re interested in ghosts and plan to visit a battlefield someday, you need to know what to look for. Before you can understand the nature of an experience, you must first ask an essential question: What exactly is a ghost?

  One of the first things a paranormal field investigator learns is that a ghost isn’t so simple to define. Many factors can cause a house or battle-ground to be haunted, and supernatural episodes are fairly diverse in nature. Wise men often declare that knowledge is power, and in the case of ghosts this is quite true. The best way to fight the fear of the unknown is to embrace and understand it. By properly discerning what you’re dealing with, you’ll be better equipped to confront it objectively, regardless of how scary it may seem on the surface. This is sage advice for paranormal researchers, who deal with potentially frightening situations all the time. Having said this, battlefield haunts tend to come in several guises.

  Parapsychologists and researchers who remain open-minded enough to believe in such possibilities tend to define a ghost as an electromagnetic energy field containing a fragment of consciousness—or personality—of someone who has died tragically or traumatically. At the moment of death, the separation between the physical body and personality (soul) is hampered by a condition of emotional shock that prevents normal transition to the spirit world. As a result, the condition of death isn’t recorded in the conscious mind of the one who has died. Life as it was continues to exist in the mind of the deceased, and the personality to whom this occurs is unable to recognize reality. This is referred to as a genuine, or intelligent, haunting.

  Some parapsychologists believe genuine hauntings account for only a small percentage of ghostly phenomena and actually represent a telepathic connection between the minds of the deceased and the living witnesses. Physicality has been removed from the equation, so the witnesses aren’t really seeing or hearing anything in a physical sense. This theory remains highly debatable, as finding the cause of this telepathic link still eludes the most ardent researchers.

  An example of a genuine haunting might play out in this manner: You’re touring a batt
lefield with your family when suddenly all of you notice a ragged, tired-looking man wearing a tattered uniform walking toward you. He stops, verbalizes how thirsty he is, and asks your son if he has any water. As your son reaches for his water bottle, the man suddenly vanishes. You all stand there, flabbergasted. The fact that this ghostly apparition acknowledged your presence and attempted to communicate with your son indicates that your family just interacted with a discarnate entity.

  Location represents a major factor in determining who the intelligent entities might be in these cases. It has been theorized that spirits are connected to places through strong emotional bonds. In the above example, it can be surmised that this ghost soldier either can’t or won’t leave the theater of war due to the traumatic circumstances surrounding his death. He appears to be bound to that location by the emotional experience of the battle, and he’s at least somewhat aware of his environment because he noticed your family and even asked for some water. By rule, if a certain location is shrouded in history—meaning notable happenings took place there—the more likely it will be haunted in some way. In other words, if you discover your home was once used as a makeshift hospital during a Revolutionary War battle or was the site of a double murder/suicide, don’t be surprised if spectral energies abound.

  Another type of spectral event is known as a residual, or imprint, haunting, which occurs when the energy from an emotional or traumatic event “imprints” itself onto the surrounding environment. Theoretically, energy can be absorbed by rock, brick, wood, and concrete, as well as by trees, water, and the atmosphere itself. These episodes, or snippets in time, replay themselves over and over again much like a broken record or looped videotape, occurring whenever conditions become favorable or when you walk into the area of occurrence and trigger the haunting episode. Identifying these “trigger” conditions—whether atmospheric, psychic, or otherwise—remains a daunting, if not impossible, task.