The one time I visited Gettysburg, I was standing on the hill where Pickett’s Charge took place...It was a kinda foggy morning and very few people were near...A strange feeling came over me and it seemed like I could almost see the battle beginning...I almost could smell the rifle smoke and hear the firing of rifles and cannons...I found myself hardly breathing and looked at my wife...She was looking at me with a strange look in her eyes...
About that time, a couple of people came walking behind us and were talking...All of a sudden, the feelings, smells and sounds went away....
Later, she and I were at our car and she started explaining this weird feeling that had come over her on the hill and we discussed it...We BOTH had the same experience at the same time....
Nothing like that has ever happened again....
A lot of people have similar experiences at Gettysburg and other mid-Atlantic battlefields. I’d say Gettysburg and Sharpsburg are the worst but Brandy Station and all the nearby Culpeper battlefields will do it. The trick is, you have to be alone, and there not always easy to achieve at Gettysburg.
I had a similar, eerie feeling like that the first time I visited Antietam. Just a deep feeling of “dread.”
And that was before I did any deeper reading on the battle.