Ghost Soldiers of Gettysburg

by Patrick Burke

  We started at the Devil’s Den parking lot and climbed up through the boulders to the top of Houck’s Ridge. I stopped at the Union battery monument, and I could almost feel the sense of apprehension that these artillerymen must have felt as they saw their infantry comrades dying on the field below. As I walked toward the upper wall of the Triangular Field, I turned on my camcorder and began to film. I asked permission of any spirits present to capture their images on my camcorder—or to at least record what the battle sounded like. When I got to the wall, Dennis proceeded to climb over and lean on it. Charles stood just behind my left shoulder as I called out for the boys to come forth and join us.

  Within seconds, a series of energy signatures sped across my LED screen. I told Dennis and Charles to head into the field while I filmed from behind the wall. As Charles moved over the wall, I saw a man dressed in a white shirt and black pants walking about halfway up the slope of the field toward the wall. At this point, my senses were at full alert, as the energy in the field was intense, and I knew something was going to happen.

  As I filmed the man walking, I saw a movement behind him and suddenly felt a rush of wind go by me. I refocused on the area to his left where Dennis and Charles had gone to sit down. Feeling drawn to that side of the field, I looked to my right and filmed along the wall. I swept the field briefly with the camera but had an overwhelming urge to film to my right again. I turned and saw the man from earlier getting closer to the wall, so I steadied the camera on him. As I focused, I heard a little voice in my head say, “Hold steady. You’re not going to want to miss this!” So I fixed the camcorder on him until the feeling dissipated about a minute later.

  While reviewing the footage later that night, we knew immediately that we had captured something extremely rare: a full-bodied, detailed apparition moving on video. In the playback, as the real man walks toward the wall, another individual—semitransparent and in Civil War uniform—manifests in front of him, running frantically toward the wall. Without slowing down, he jerks his leg up and over as if trying to jump it … an astounding visual to say the least. Stunned, Dennis and Charles asked me what in the world I had just taped. Trying to be as logical and objective as possible, I concluded that we may have just documented one of two things: 1) a residual haunting in which we captured the playback of a soldier actually running toward the wall during the battle; or 2) the spirit of a soldier who honored my request to show us what the battle must have been like that day.

  These three video captures show a ghost soldier crossing over the stone wall in the Triangular Field in front of an investigator. Photos by Patrick Burke.

  In either case, this video footage remains one of the most profound and compelling pieces of evidence we’ve ever captured. The implications are staggering. When analyzed objectively, it leaves little wiggle room for debunkers. There, in plain view for everyone to see, is a full-bodied apparition whose appearance and actions tie in directly to the location in which the video was shot—a Civil War soldier running for his life. The only thing the video doesn’t convey is the horror that this poor young man must have been feeling.

  But how could my video camera capture something I didn’t see while shooting it? Many contemporary paranormal researchers believe that ghosts exist as some form of electromagnetic energy, and science dictates that all energy is traceable in the light spectrum. When I first decided to investigate battlefields, I wanted to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that lost souls still roamed the places where they died tragically. I could attempt to capture ghostly images by using an ultraviolet filter on my 35mm camera, but that would only work in the daylight and I would only be capturing a still image. Ideally, I wanted to capture an apparition in movement, and to do that I needed a camcorder.

  Although there’s no official manual that describes how to use a camcorder to capture ghosts, I believe that you can increase your chances of success. As a sensitive, I use my intuition when attempting to record the past and listen to that little voice inside my head that always leads me down the right path. We all have it; some of us just listen more intently to it than others. By quieting the mind, I’ve learned how to gather information from both residual imprints and direct telepathic communication with discarnate spirits. This method can be applied to obtaining video evidence by allowing yourself to be immersed in the energies that surround you—or, as some would say, tuning into the frequencies associated with paranormal activity.

  I’ve found that the best way to connect to other realms is to slowly ramp up your skill through measured exercises. As the old adage goes, practice makes perfect! For example, find a comfortable chair that allows you to sit with your back straight and your feet firmly on the floor. Close your eyes and take a deep breath through your nose for a long count of four, expanding your diaphragm to the maximum. Next, breathe out to a count of three. Repeat this three or four times as you attempt to clear your head of all thoughts and quiet the noise in your mind. Once you’ve achieved this, count to ten. Remember, the only thing that you should be focused on is the current number—nothing else. For example, if you think to yourself as you’re focusing on the number three, “Wow, this is easy,” or “What should I make for dinner tonight,” you failed to be fully focused and need to start over again.

  How can this simple exercise help you to capture paranormal evidence on a battlefield? Communicating with the spirits of those who have passed on requires an enormous amount of focus, and these mental exercises will help you with that. If you can tune in to the energies around you, you’ll be able to locate those areas that are more likely to “host” a paranormal event. Therefore, you’ll have a better chance of capturing historical moments with whatever equipment you might be using. Clearing the mind is the first step to being able to feel the spirit energies around us. And remember, always ask permission to interact with them (or capture their image or voice) so that you can share their stories with others and keep their memories alive.

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  Chapter Sixteen

  The Gift

  — By Patrick Burke —

  It was a cool and pleasant August evening in 2007 when Darryl “Smitty” Smith, Michael Hartness, and I decided to visit our old ghost soldier buddies at the Triangular Field. Mike, unlike many of us on the American Battlefield Ghost Hunter’s Society (ABGHS) team, had never experienced anything out of the ordinary at this location, but his luck was about to change.

  Mike desperately wanted to have a firsthand paranormal encounter, and knowing what kind of compelling evidence the team had captured in the Triangular Field on past visits made him even more anxious to experience something. The Triangular Field offers as good an opportunity to have a paranormal encounter as any other place in Gettysburg, as unsuspecting visitors have reported many strange accounts over the years. This makes perfect sense, as some of the most vicious fighting of the Civil War took place in this small field between Devil’s Den and the Wheatfield during the second day of the battle. The Confederate forces had to first assault and wrest the Wheatfield away from the Union troops. Then, once this area was cleared and secured, the Confederate troops could move on the Triangular Field and then assault their primary object, the Devil’s Den.

  As we approached the stone wall at the top of the field, I decided to stir up whatever paranormal energies I could. “Hey, boys!” I yelled out into the field. “We’re back, and it sure would be great if y’all would honor us with a bit of what happened here on July 2, 1863. I know Mike would surely appreciate it.”

  Smitty moved over to the gate at the upper wall and proceeded to film that area of the field. Mike and I walked down to the middle of the field, near the right side of the wall as you walk down toward the bottom. The Triangular Field is normally quite active with visitors and ghost hunters, but on this particular day very few people were present. I walked down the sloped field approximately twenty paces apart from Mike and turned my camcorder toward the undergrowth,
some of which stood more than six feet tall. Due to the height of the grass, I couldn’t see into the wooded area where the Third Arkansas and First Texas charged Houck’s Ridge during the battle.

  Suddenly there was a rush of air, and we heard what sounded like hundreds of people moving in the woods. We both looked at each other at the same time and asked simultaneously, “Do you hear that!”

  The noise got louder as this “attacking force” appeared to get closer to us. The air around us suddenly pulsated as if it had taken on a life of its own. I knew immediately that Mike and I had stepped fully into a paranormal moment, one of those rare moments when the very fabric of time “rips open” and reveals—albeit briefly—what happened long ago. Every one of our senses was heightened, and we could actually distinguish all the sounds associated with a mass of moving soldiers—rifle butts smacking low branches, canteens slapping hips, and the tramp of thousands of feet on dry leaves and twigs. I ran up the hill as Mike came toward me. We found a break in the grass, and as we turned down this path we were surrounded by the sound of men running. I could hear the sounds of labored breathing and muttering voices when a sudden flash in my mind’s eye showed a glimpse of the men before me. With our hearts beating faster than you could ever imagine, we ran toward the wall. I held the camcorder over my head, pointing it toward the woods in the hopes of catching something through the grass. When I reached the wall, I brought the camera back down. Finally, I thought to myself, I might be able to capture the actual historical battle on film. I seriously believed that elusive moment might actually be at hand.

  And then, a woman with a small group of people behind us shouted, “Hey! You find anything!”

  At that moment the paranormal event stopped, and the regular night noises returned to the environment. Mike and I looked at each other and laughed. We realized we had just been graced with the ability to view living history from those who actually participated in it—getting a glimpse of actual historic events as they occurred almost a century and a half earlier. At times like this, one is often speechless. We smiled at the woman and answered, “Nah, nothing here.”

  We asked for a personal experience, and we truly believe our buddies on the other side heard us and gave us an astounding gift. Whenever I have an experience like this on a battlefield, I feel extremely humbled. The fact that these brave souls feel connected enough with me to actually allow me to witness history as it really happened is just incredible, and I’m truly grateful for it.

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  The Valley of Death

  Chapter Seventeen

  High, Low, and Pretty Much All Over

  — By Jack Roth —

  Plum Run Creek, also known as Bloody Run, is a small stream that runs through a gorge known as the Valley of Death. This valley is located between Devil’s Den and Little Round Top, which made it a natural clashing point during the Battle of Gettysburg. The creek earned its infamous nickname after it ran red with the blood of fallen soldiers, mostly Confederates who were trying to overrun Little Round Top. On July 4, 1863, one day after the battle ended, heavy rains caused the creek’s shallow banks to overflow, and several Confederate wounded, who couldn’t move and had not yet been retrieved by their comrades, tragically drowned. Veterans of the battle described the valley surrounding Plum Run as littered with so many bodies that it took over a week after the battle ended for all of the fallen men to be buried.

  It all started at approximately five p.m. on July 2, 1863, when Union Brig. Gen. Samuel W. Crawford moved two of his Pennsylvania infantry brigades forward across the Valley of Death (which subsequently garnered the nickname the Slaughter Pen) against approaching Confederate infantry who were attempting to reach the summit of Little Round Top and flank the Union left. Between the Second U.S. Sharpshooters, who were stationed behind an insulating stone wall at the base of the hill and Union Capt. James Smith’s remaining cannons from his Fourth New York Battery, severe casualties were inflicted on Rebel infantry from both the Second Georgia regiment advancing along the creek, and the Fourth and Fifth Texas and Fifteenth Alabama regiments advancing toward the open south side of Little Round Top. The Valley of Death and Plum Run Creek became an inferno of gun and cannon fire, resulting in high casualties and forever entrenching these geographic landmarks into the tragic lore of the battlefield.

  Early one evening in the spring of 2004, while investigating Devil’s Den, a young couple in our group looked out of their car and saw what they described as bright flashes of light appearing randomly above the tree line just beyond Plum Run Creek. Most orb-like phenomena tend to be photographic in nature and are very controversial, but the fact that they saw these lights with the naked eye makes this a more unique encounter. It was a very clear night, and they were able to watch these flashes of light for approximately three minutes as they appeared to move lower and closer to them as time went by. As is often the case when witnesses have the time to carefully analyze what they are seeing, they were able to rule out some mundane possibilities. They stand by their testimony and remain adamant that these lights were not car or plane lights, flashlight reflections, shooting stars, or fireflies (aka lightning bugs).

  I immediately documented their description of the lights, and we stayed around Plum Run Creek for a while in case the lights came back. The lights did not return, but the witnesses managed to take digital photographs while observing them, and as a result captured glowing anomalies on just about every one of their shots. No details could be discerned from the photographs, but they did confirm the validity and location of the sighting. The following is their testimony:

  “It was probably around nine thirty p.m., around that time frame, and we were over by Devil’s Den, parked down farther to the right of the last few spots if you were looking down at the parking lot from the big boulders,” said Eric. “Almost everyone from our group was back on the other side of the parking lot heading over toward Little Round Top. There was also a bunch of other people who were walking up toward the top of Devil’s Den … moving up the hill with flashlights. We decided to stay down more toward the woods near the creek because it was much quieter down there.”

  Tammy added that they also got back into the car because they were cold.

  Dead Confederate soldiers in the Slaughter Pen. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

  Eric continued: “We were just kind of hanging out, and it was pretty dark over in that spot and we started noticing some flashes of light kind of up high over the tops of the trees.”

  I asked them what they thought these lights may have been at first, and it occurred to Eric right away that there could be a road back behind the wooded area and that they could be seeing car lights flashing through the trees as the cars drove by, but they ruled this out and then thought maybe it was a low-flying plane, and that they were seeing its lights blinking as it flew behind the trees.

  “But that just wasn’t right; it didn’t fit the description because a plane never came into view, and the lights didn’t flash in a line,” said Eric. “They were random in nature, and they covered a pretty wide area above the trees. At first they were up high. Right after we ruled out car or plane lights, we started seeing more flashes down low, and much closer to us.”

  “They were high, low, and pretty much all over, which was just very strange because they didn’t seem to look like any lights we had ever seen,” added Tammy. “They were more like starbursts than anything else.”

  “Could they have been the flashlights from the other people who were climbing up the rocks at Devil’s Den?” I asked.

  “No way,” Tammy quickly responded. “These lights were way too bright, and they didn’t move like someone was moving a flashlight around. I can say with certainty they weren’t flashlights.”

  “Right,” added Eric, “and they were all over, so we were able to rule out the plane theory and the flashlight theory right away. Then the last thing that occurred to us was that t
hey might be lightning bugs, you know, fireflies, but again it wasn’t a good explanation. These lights were much brighter and bursting.”

  “So they weren’t really floating around like fireflies do,” I said.

  “They weren’t pulsating as much as they were flashing,” said Eric. “In other words, there was no dimming up and down, just very quick flashes. You couldn’t see any kind of pulse like you would see from a lightning bug. And right about the time we ruled out just about everything ‘normal’ it could be, they started really flashing all around us.”

  I asked Tammy how she felt at this point, and she said she started to get very intrigued because the lights were moving closer to them. She wasn’t scared at all, but very excited.

  “Tammy jumped out of the car with the digital camera and started snapping a few photographs, and from what we could tell right at first glance, there are some round circular lights that showed up in them,” said Eric.

  Tammy showed me her digital camera, and these lights appeared every picture she took. Some seemed farther away then others, but a few were really close to them.

  Photo of one of the strange light anomalies that Tammy and Eric saw that night. Photo courtesy of Jack Roth.

  “It was so cool,” said Tammy, “because your intuition just tells you these things were not natural. They seemed other-worldly.”

  Eric reminded me that it was their first paranormal investigation, and it was the first time they had ever experienced anything like that.

  “It was very fun, very cool,” he added.