Haunted Gettysburg

My husband and I saw the sign for the Ghosts of Gettysburg Candlelight Walking Tour. Since he is something of a history buff and loves a good ghost story, we decided to add this tour to our Gettysburg itinerary. What could be spookier than walking across fields in the most haunted city in America? We decided to find out.

We were to meet at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at dark -- 8:00pm -- on the field where tens of thousands died.

Eight o’clock rolled in, following a thunderstorm that left the skies low and dark. Our tour guide, wielding a lantern, greeted the group of twenty or so adventurers ready to walk across this historical burial site. We were a mix of men and women, young and old, teenagers, couples and families. Some of us were historians, others knew nearly nothing about the Civil War. Our guide introduced himself and gave us a short background on the field where we stood, waiting for ghosts to appear before us.

The Battle of Gettysburg was a three day blood bath on July 1, 2 and 3, 1863. In that short period of time, approximately 40,000 young men died in battle, many of whom were brought to the lawn where we stood. The Lutheran Theological Society, then a Seminary, was turned into a makeshift hospital. Our guide described the weaponry and the bullets, explaining the types of injuries these young men had sustained and why amputations were so numerous.


He pointed to the first floor windows of the building before us. More than a dozen stairs led up to the entrance and he explained that the amputated body parts were stacked against the building, reaching all the way up to the first set of windows. The basement was used to house the more seriously wounded, who had to be rushed out on July 4th as torrential rains began flooding the basement.

When it was all over, the bodies were buried here in the fields surrounding the Seminary until it was later ordered that they be moved to proper burial ground. Officials will claim that every body was removed. It seems an impossible claim to make considering the incredible number of casualties. Surely some soldiers were left to rest here.

Our guide explained that metal detectors are not allowed in most of Gettysburg. A reasonable rule, considering the varieties of metal that must be buried in the earth - rings, watches, bullets, guns, etc. The entire town of Gettysburg would resemble a sinkhole if people were allowed to search and dig.

I found all this fascinating. I'd never been a history buff myself. But now that we were hearing stories and seeing the buildings and fields where battles happened, history was brought to life for me. We didn't encounter any ghosts on our tour, but the stories we heard gave us goosebumps just the same. The walking ghost tour of Gettysburg whet our appetite for more ghost tours like it. It's a wonderful way to learn more about the history, people, and places of any given city. We've since taken ghost tours in Louisville, New Orleans, Salem, and Nashville, but Gettysburg remains our favorite.