The Battle of Gettysburg was fought on the first three days of
July, in 1863.
Cannon at the Stone Wall - Gettysburg National Military Park
The three day battle resulting in over 50,000 casualties; including
8,000 American lives lost. 165,000 troops, 653 cannons, and more than 46,000 horses and
mules were used between both sides.
The legends of those who fought and the battlefields they fought
on loom even larger than these staggering numbers.
The names and places are iconic: Robert E. Lee, Joshua Chamberlain,
The Irish Brigade, Little Round Top, Pickett’s Charge.
Like many Americans, I’ve been infatuated with the Civil War
since I was a kid, and although I was born and raised less than a day’s drive from
the battlefield, it wasn’t until I was in my early 30s and living in California
before I finally made plans to visit the historic site of Gettysburg; in Adams County,
Pennsylvania.
I was making some routine plans to visit my folks in Kentucky during
the month of May when I decided to tack on a three day side trip to Gettysburg, prior to
arriving in the Bluegrass.
I took a Delta flight into Harrisburg, PA, where I rented a slick,
black Dodge Challenger, and drove it the remaining 40 miles south to Gettysburg.
Several weeks prior to my trip I did a little research online to find
a good hotel near the battlefield and found out that the town is peppered with inexpensive
little bed and breakfast houses.
I made reservations for two nights at a peaceful and well-kept B&B
called the Gaslight Inn located near what would be considered 'downtown Gettysburg'.
It’s within walking distance of the battlefields, but to really enjoy your visit a
set of wheels is a must.
There are more traditional hotels and motels around Gettysburg, but I
highly recommend staying in one of the several bed and breakfast houses the small town has
to offer.
It will certainly add to your experience as each location has its own
personality and way of doing things. For example, at The Gaslight Inn residents are given
a copy of the keys to the house to use if they are out late just as if they’re in
town visiting relatives.
The two mornings I was there I also signed up for the breakfast served
on the back patio where guests share a table, have a wonderful home-made meal, and get to
know each other a little better before going off on their separate ways.
This makes a for a great opportunity to meet people who are passing
through and exchange information about tour options, eateries, and other experiences
everyone may have had the day before or are anticipating later that day.
Instead of doing a blow by blow of the traditional tourist spots at
Gettysburg, I want to describe one of my more memorable experiences from the trip which
was my evening with a group of ghost hunters on a haunted tour of the battlefields with
the illustrious Miss Betty.
Miss Betty’s ghost tour was recommended to me by the hostess
of the Gaslight Inn so I called her up and made a reservation for the next night’s
tour.
A small group of maybe ten folks met up with Miss Betty in the nearby
elementary school parking lot. We packed into a small caravan of three cars led by Miss
Betty towards the outskirts of town where the old Sach’s Bridge is located.
Since I was the only person who arrived solo I rode with Miss Betty in
her little car where I discussed with her my longing to see supernatural phenomenon while
at the same time being a devout skeptic.
This point of view stoked her interest and she would check in with me
periodically throughout the rest of the evening to see if I had been convinced by anything
I had witnessed.
Our brief stop at Sach’s Bridge lasted through dusk and was
accompanied by several ghost stories from Miss Betty ranging from various atrocities
taking place there during the battle to local children seeing spirits marching up the
nearby road just a few months earlier.
72nd PA - Gettysburg
We were also encouraged to take pictures throughout the evening
because it was near these spiritual epicenters where floating orbs and spectral
manifestations would miraculously appear in photos even when they may not have been
visible in person.
I took lots of photos with my Canon XT, but I never captured any of
these orbs.
We made two more stops during the tour: a visit to a forsaken gazebo
near a haunted inn (which was possibly built next to a mass grave) and a field next to the
public school where several Confederate soldiers from Louisiana had been massacred.
The eeriness of the locations, the sweet but pungent odor of the
Pennsylvania grass, and the haunting tales weaved by the charismatic Miss Betty provided
for an unbelievably entertaining and inexpensive evening ($15 after the Gaslight Inn
discount).
If you go on your own you may even be able to ride with Miss Betty as
she drives from site to site. This woman knows her history of the battlefields and not
just the ghost stories but the traditional textbook stuff as well.
There also seems to be some limitations enforced by park rangers with
regards to people being out and about the battlefields after dark, and the official ghost
tours are a great way to be driving through the park at night without being harassed by
rangers.
Ghosts or not, the look on the faces of some of the innumerable life
size statues and memorials that decorate various parts of the park after dark is worth the
price of admission.
It’s wonderful theater how the car headlights drench those stone
faces in harsh shadows, and how you know for a fact that not too long ago, relatively
speaking, hundreds of men had probably been blown to bits right where you’re
standing, some vaporized in a red mist of sanguinary termination thanks to cannon fire.
These thoughts do make one pay close attention to the immediate
surroundings.
Prior to going to Gettysburg I felt I had a better than average
understanding of the battle. I had read several focused works on the battle as well as the
entire trilogy of Shelby Foote’s Civil War plus a recent reading of his Stars in
Their Courses.
I had watched the Gettysburg episode of the Ken Burns documentary four
times, and I had even recently watched the Ronald Maxwell film, Gettysburg, made in 1993;
starring Tom Berenger and Martin Sheen.
For those two days I was in Gettysburg before taking the ghost tour I
covered as much of that field as a person possibly could with self-guided tours, official
bus tours, hiking on foot, and driving my bad-ass Challenger all over the park.
I had a firm grasp of the traditional image and understanding of those
three brutal days in July.
But those brief treks that night, back and forth from one spot in the
park to another, with a full moon overhead and those empty stone eyes watching our every
move provided a different perspective of the area that I wasn’t quite anticipating.
“Have I convinced you at all, Jason?” Miss Betty asked, as we
were about to part our ways at the end of the evening.
I told her no, unfortunately, but I still had a hell of a time and
that I would highly recommend her to anyone I knew who would be visiting the park.
Sometimes an unconventional method to viewing something that we
thought we previously understood can reveal subtle details and different insights that we
never knew existed before.
By Jason McKenney.
About The Author
Jason
McKenney is a web developer living in California who loves to travel and write.
Related Links
Gettysburg Foundation.
Miss
Betty’s Ghost Tours.
Pennsylvania
Travel Notes.
Where to Stay in Gettyburg
Traditional choice:
Best Western Gettyburg Hotel:
1 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg - (866) 378-1797).
Unique choice:
The Gaslight Inn:
33 East Middle Street, Gettysburg - (717) 337-9100.
What to Eat
Farnsworth
House Inn:
Civil War fare served by period dressed servers in their dining room, garden or Sweney's
Tavern.
The Farnsworth House is the only Civil War themed restaurant in
Gettysburg. Located at 401 Baltimore Street - (717) 334-8838.
General Picketts
Buffet:
General Pickett’s Buffet offers terrific home-cooking, great service, and a family
atmosphere. They offer a lunch buffet-featuring home-made meatloaf, baked fish, baked
chicken and much more.
Located at 571 Steinwehr Avenue - (717) 334-7580.
Getting to Gettyburg
Harrisburg International Airport:
Gettysburg is 40 miles south of Harrisburg.
Gettysburg
Day Trip from Washington DC:
Journey into the picturesque countryside of Maryland and Pennsylvania on a day trip from
Washington DC devoted to the historic battlefield of Gettysburg. You'll gain rich insights
into an important part of America's heritage, and learn the story of the largest battle
ever fought on US soil.
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