Well, here is my little story about the haunting of Gettysburg....
In May of 1976, me, my husband, our two boys aged 6 and 2, along with my mom and dad, decided to go back east from Chicago, where we all lived, in honor of the Bicentennial...we planned to visit Gettysburg, Jamestown, Yorktown, Williamsburg, Monticello, Ash Lawn and just soak in the history of the whole area...
We went in May...most schools were still in session, so we figured May would be a good time to go, as most of the tourists would still not be out in full force what with the kids still being in school...I just pulled my six year old out of school early, figuring the trip would be more educational than the last few weeks of school...
When we got near to Gettysburg, it was already evening time...so we camped in our tent, just outside of Gettysburg...the campground was fairly empty, ,as the tourist season was still not in full force...we all went to bed fairly early, so as to get an early start the next day...it was very, very quiet in the campground and had very few campers...
During the nite, I was awoken, by my husband screams, and him shaking me...he said we had to get out of there, as he heard what sounded like rifle shots and cannon blasts and men screaming and he feared for our lives...he said those sounds woke him wide awake, and even awake, he kept hearing those sounds...apparently he sat there for a few seconds or perhaps a minute, not believing what he was hearing...he swears he was wide awake, not asleep and dreaming...finally he says, the sounds dissipated...but to this day, he knows what he heard, he did hear, and he was wide awake...
What with my hubby screaming, he woke everyone in our tent up...my dad just told him to go back to sleep and he would explain things to him in the morning...in the morning, my dad said, my husband was not the first and certainly would never be the last to relate such a story...my husband is retired military, and not afraid of much of anything...but that night he was terrified, and my dad believed him...dad says, he believes that Gettysburg is haunted, and he thinks that my hubby, for whatever reason, was able to tune in to those hauntings, ,and did actually hear them...
I tend to believe, ,that whenever something horrible happens in a given place, that past act never really leaves the places...vibrations, or hauntings, or spirits, or whatever you want to call it, still remain...and some people seem able to tune into that...and certainly, given the number of men who died at Gettysburg, it was a horrible thing...
On another note...we had visited all the well known places...Gettysburg, Yorktown, Jamestown, Williamsburg, Monticello, Ash Lawn...but my dad wanted to visit a place I had heard of from his tales that he related to me and my brother when we were growing up...he grew up, hearing his dads(my grandfathers), family talk about their days in Virginia during the civil war...dads family had lived for generations in Virginia, before eventually coming to New Jersey, and Philadelphia in my dads time...the family always told the tale of dads ancestors during the Civil War, about the battle of Fraysers Farm, which was supposed to be part of the Seven Days War...they talked about how when the Union soldiers came by, on of my dads old women ancestors ran out with her pipe in her mouth, and her broom in her hand, trying to run the soldiers off of her land...(my maiden name is Frazier, and spelling on the Battle of Fraysers Farm is different, but I have seen various spellings)...but dads family has handed that story down through the generations, a story told from generation to the next...so I just surmise that the Battle of Fraysers Farm, did involve my ancestors in some way or another...
Anyway, dad wanted to find the site of the Battle of Frayers Farm...we had to get a local map, and sure enough, two Battle Markers were shown to designate the Battle of Frayers Farm....we went down little back roads, and twisitng little lanes, and for sure, I thought we would wind up lost...but dad was determined to find these battle markers...and all of a sudden one of them appeared...dad got out of the car, and had mom take several pictures of him with the sign....we drove on a little further, and all of a sudden, on this seemingly deserted back road, there appeared a little civil war museum...there were lots of cars and visitors there...so we of course, all got out, and visited this really wonderful museum...the kids loved it, and dad was pleased as he could be...not only did he find the markers pointing out the place of a battle that he had heard about his whole life, from his family, there was also a museum there, a place to visit...
That trip back east, was so memorable in so many ways...
Some folks can tune into it, some can't. There are some pretty remarkable stories about Gettysburg.
About ten years ago I was doing business with a photographer who also did oil paintings. I turned a corner in his office and came face-to-face with a painting he called "Ghost Riders of Gettysburg." It was the same vision I had when I visited the battleground--but I never made a mention to my companions--it was a moment that conversation couldn't allow.
I always regretted that I didn't buy that painting.
There is enormous drama and a kind of beauty in battle. Moments when thousands are moved in a singular purpose. Why should we be surprised when some of that energy remains?
Your story is better than mine. I am thinking of going out east later this summer. Gettysburg is definitely on my agenda again.