The Ghosts of Gettysburg

Between July 1-3, 1863, approximately 165,000 soldiers clashed at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War. When the guns fell silent, 51,000 men lay dead, wounded, or missing. The small town of 2,400 residents was left to bury 8,000 corpses and tend to 21,000 wounded. Today, Gettysburg is considered the most haunted location in America—a place where the dead still march, fight, and cry out in agony 160 years later.

The Battle

Three Days of Hell

July 1: Confederate forces pushed Union troops through the town and onto Cemetery Hill. Fighting raged through streets that became killing grounds.

July 2: Battles at Little Round Top, Devil’s Den, the Peach Orchard, and the Wheatfield produced catastrophic casualties. Little Round Top nearly fell, which would have lost the war for the Union.

July 3: Pickett’s Charge sent 12,500 Confederate soldiers across an open field into Union artillery. Less than half returned.

The Aftermath

The Dead:

• Bodies lay unburied for weeks in the July heat
• Mass graves were hastily dug
• Many soldiers were never identified
• The smell of death could be detected miles away

The Town:

• Every building became a hospital
• Blood stained floors and walls
• Surgeons amputated around the clock
• Civilians witnessed horrors no one should see

The Wounded:

• 21,000 wounded men remained after the armies left
• Many died of their injuries over following weeks
• The sounds of screaming and moaning filled every structure

This concentrated trauma appears to have left a permanent mark on the land.

The Haunted Locations

Devil’s Den

This rocky outcropping saw brutal fighting and became a sniper’s nest. Today it’s considered the most haunted spot on the battlefield.

Reports:

• A barefoot man in ragged Confederate uniform who appears in photographs
• The smell of gunpowder with no source
• Cameras and phones malfunctioning
• Shadows moving between the rocks
• The sensation of being watched from above (where snipers positioned)

The Texan: A distinctive ghost—described as a barefoot soldier in tattered clothes—has been photographed multiple times. He appears to tourists, points, and says “What you’re looking for is over there.” Then he vanishes.

Little Round Top

The Union’s desperate defense of this hill saved the battle. The 20th Maine’s bayonet charge has achieved legendary status.

Reports:

• Ghostly soldiers in both blue and gray appearing at dusk
• The sound of commands being shouted
• Musket fire heard when no reenactments are scheduled
• Cold spots in the heat of summer
• Apparitions of wounded men crawling up the slope

The Peach Orchard

The fighting here was hand-to-hand, with devastating casualties.

Reports:

• The smell of peaches (even out of season)
• Figures moving through the trees
• The sounds of combat
• A profound sense of sadness

Seminary Ridge

Site of the Confederate headquarters and Pickett’s Charge departure.

Reports:

• Soldiers marching in formation across the fields
• Drums and fifes playing
• General Lee himself, on horseback, watching his men
• Mass formations that appear and vanish

The Wheatfield

Changed hands six times in a single day. The wheat was trampled into mud mixed with blood.

Reports:

• Soldiers appearing in battle formation
• Screaming with no visible source
• Visitors feeling physically ill
• Photographs showing unexplained figures

Sachs Covered Bridge

Used by both armies during the battle. Three Confederate soldiers were reportedly hanged here.

Reports:

• Three figures hanging from the bridge beams
• Footsteps crossing the empty bridge
• Screaming at night
• Photos showing rope-like shapes

The Triangular Field

Scene of particularly vicious fighting between Texas and New York troops.

Reports:

• One of the most active areas for paranormal photography
• Shadow figures constantly visible
• Equipment malfunction
• Physical sensations (being touched, pushed)
• Voices calling for help

The Town

Gettysburg College

Pennsylvania Hall served as a hospital. The cupola was used by Confederate snipers.

Reports:

• Sentries appearing in the cupola
• Students seeing Civil War soldiers in dormitories
• Operating room sounds from the basement
• A phantom ambulance driver

The Elevator: The elevator repeatedly goes to the basement—where operations were performed—regardless of which floor is selected.

Farnsworth House

A Confederate sharpshooter operated from this house, killing Union General Elon Farnsworth.

Reports:

• Heavy footsteps in the attic
• A figure at the window where the sniper positioned
• Guests awakened by voices
• Items moved overnight

The Inn: Now operates as a bed and breakfast, with ghost tours acknowledging its paranormal reputation.

Jennie Wade House

Jennie Wade was the only civilian killed during the battle—struck by a stray bullet while baking bread for Union soldiers.

Reports:

• The smell of fresh bread
• Jennie’s figure appearing in the kitchen
• Children’s voices (her young nephew was in the house)
• Objects moving on their own
• Visitors feeling a female presence

The Orphanage

After the battle, Rosa Carmichael established an orphanage for children whose fathers died at Gettysburg. She was later exposed for horrific abuse.

Reports:

• Children’s screams at night
• Chains rattling (children were allegedly chained in the basement)
• Small figures in windows
• One of the most disturbing hauntings in town

The Phenomena

Types of Experiences

Visual:

• Full-bodied apparitions of soldiers
• Shadow figures
• Lights moving across battlefields at night
• Phantom armies on the march

Auditory:

• Musket and cannon fire
• Screaming and moaning
• Commands being shouted
• Drums and bugles
• Horses galloping

Physical:

• Cold spots
• Being touched, grabbed, or pushed
• Equipment malfunctions
• Photographs with unexplained images
• Intense emotional responses

Olfactory:

• Gunpowder
• Blood
• Decay
• Flowers (near monuments)

Witness Credibility

Reports come from diverse sources:

• National Park Service rangers
• Reenactors who know what’s “normal” at Gettysburg
• Tourists with no prior interest in the paranormal
• Ghost hunters and investigators
• Local residents who’ve lived with the activity for generations

Why Gettysburg?

Theories

Traumatic Imprint: The intensity and concentration of suffering left a permanent mark on the landscape. The land itself “recorded” the battle.

Unfinished Business: Tens of thousands of young men died before their time, many in confusion and terror. Their spirits may not know the war is over.

Mass Death Site: The sheer number of deaths in such a small area may have created a permanent paranormal hotspot.

Stone Tape: The granite and limestone in the area may have absorbed and retained the energy of the battle.

Collective Memory: So many people visit Gettysburg thinking about death and war that their expectations may manifest.

The Energy

Sensitives and psychics who visit Gettysburg consistently report:

• Overwhelming sadness
• Physical exhaustion
• Picking up on fear and confusion
• Feeling pulled toward certain locations
• Sensing mass death

Modern Investigations

Ghost Tours

Gettysburg has become a major paranormal tourism destination:

• Multiple ghost tour companies operate nightly
• Paranormal investigation weekends are sold out months in advance
• TV shows have filmed extensively at Gettysburg
• Apps track hotspot locations

Scientific Study

Some researchers have attempted to measure the phenomena:

• Elevated EMF readings at certain locations
• Temperature anomalies
• Audio recordings capturing unexplained sounds
• Photography yielding consistent anomalies

The Park Service

National Park Service rangers generally don’t discuss the paranormal officially, but many have had experiences they struggle to explain.

The Living and the Dead

Gettysburg raises uncomfortable questions: If the dead can linger, what does that mean for the 51,000 who fell here? Are they trapped in eternal conflict? Searching for something? Simply replaying their final moments?

Visitors often report not just seeing ghosts but feeling them—their fear, their pain, their desperate determination. To walk Gettysburg at dusk is to walk among the dead.

Perhaps the most haunting aspect is not the apparitions or the sounds, but the realization: these were real men, real boys, real human beings who died in agony on this ground. Their ghosts—if they are ghosts—are not entertainment. They are a reminder of the cost of war.

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Fifty-one thousand casualties in three days. The smell of death that carried for miles. The screams that echoed across the valley. Gettysburg has never fully recovered from what happened in July 1863. The soldiers still march. The wounded still cry out. The dead still wait for a war that ended 160 years ago. Walk the battlefield at twilight, and you might find that the past is not as past as you believed.