A visit to Antietam Battlefield

Like Gettysburg Antietam Battlefield in Sharpsburg Maryland saw it's share of death. The battle claimed more than 23,000 men killed, wounded, and missing in one single day, September 17,1862
I had heard stories of hauntings so I wanted to see it for myself
Some claim that Dunker Church is haunted by soldiers

One of the most impressive areas of the battlefield is an area called Sunken Road or Bloody Lane,
Things like gun fire, have been heard. Smoke has been smelled and voices heard in this area.

Farmers had used this road to travel and on the day of battle Confederate General Hill placed all of his men (about 2,600) on this road. When the Union Army arrived with 5,000 men the fighting was so horrific that the
It was told that the Blood was literally "flowing like a river". This battle was one of the bloodiest battles fought at Antietam. More than 5,000 men lost there lives here.

Another area of the battlefield famous for being haunting is Burnside Bridge

Sounds of phantom drums have been heard here, along with blue lights near the bridge at night.

Other places on the battlefield with reports of hauntings include the Pry house.

This home was used by General McClellan as his headquarters during the battle. General Hooker was also brought here and treated of wounds he recieved in the battle as was General Israel B. Richardson, Richardson died 6 months later in this house from his wounds.
Reports here include seeing a woman in old fashioned clothing walking down the stairs. Footsteps have also been heard going up and down the stairs and faces in the window of a woman.
It is a fact that General Richaardson wife came and took care of him on his death bed. Could this be her?
We will never know, but I left Antietam knowing I had visited yet another haunted battlefield.

Talking to Ben

As mentioned in my previous post we were able to use the "ghost box" while in Gettysburg with some results.
Of course being a true ghost hunter I wanted to wait until night to get out on the battlefield and choose one of my favorite spots. Sach Bridge
Sach Bridge ws used by the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to retreat into Virginia after the battle. It has also been report that three Confederate hangings took place from the bridge rafters. The area around the bridge was also used as a field hosptial and rumor has it that unclaimed bodies are still buried in the woods there.
We arried early just before dark and took a look around


As dark approched we met up with a friend of mine from Facebook who lived in town. Mary had been investigation the area often and we enjoyed  meeing her. It was also nice to have a third person along. This way we felt like if three of us heard the same thing on the ghost box that it wasnt our imagination
As we began walking around we took some photos

We also started asking questions.
First we ask if we could get a name...crackle...gibberish, then clearly we heard BEN
How old are you ben. 22 came the answer
Where are you from Ben,, more static..then JOHNNY REB, MA'AM
We ask things like are you trapped here YES
Do you have any brothers or sisters..SISTER
I ask do you know what year this is? We got the number FOUR, which confused me, because the battle was in 1863, I then said "Ben the battle was July 1863" I got answer FOUR, it then cccured to me that the Confederates crossed the bridge JULY FOUR,
We then ask..Ben are you tired, do you want us to go..NO WALK
so we walked..I wasnt about to argue with a ghost ha ha.
We went to the other side of the bridge where we took more photos, walked around ask a few questions. Just look how big this orb is between my husband and I in this photo that Mary took of us.

Then once again ask. Do we need to go. YES we got this time.
We thanked BEN for talking to us..Told him to stay there (you should always do this so they dont follow you home) and left. We went back into the bridge itself and took some more photos. Here are some of them

Notice the orbs in these photos
All in all it turned out to be an interesting night, and I am looking forward to going back to this location again.

Culp's Hill

Our trip to Gettysburg this time was on a more historic level instead of ghost hunting, but if you follow this blog at all you know I had to have at lest one experience. We did our day thing and then headed out to what I call the most creepy place on the Battlefield. Culp's Hill. This night's adventure left me still feeling the same way. Several other ghost hunters or "Casper Chasers" as some of the locals call us were in the area. I walked off in the direction of Spangler's Spring which is suppose to be haunted by the Woman in White. According to local legend, she is either a Civil War Nurse who comes to the spring in search of water for the wounded men, or a woman who commited sucide after being jilted by her married lover. I like to think she is the nurse, but no matter who she is, more than one person has claims of her existance.
I was standing near the spring taking my first photos. When I put the camera to my eye to look through the shutter I was startled by a white orb. At first my mind would not accept it, and I pushed the camera away. I quickly looked again and there is was, coming closer. Take the picture my mind said and I did just as it moved. This is the result of that photo.

After taking a few more photos I went over to talk to the other ghost hunters and was informed that "something" had thrown a large seed pod at one of them. She went on to tell me that she believed it was the woman in white who she claimed had played with her before. She said that in the past that she had thrown rocks into the woods only to have one thrown back.
It proved to be an interesting night indeed
Here are a few more photos that have orbs in them taken in the area of Culps Hill

Local History

Just a few miles from where is I live is the beautiful Lee Hall Mansion.Built between 1851 and 1859, Lee Hall Mansion was home to affluent planter Richard Decauter Lee. One of the last remaining antebellum homes on the Virginia Peninsula. Just three years after it was built the family had to abandon the home as the Peninsula became one of the first battlegrounds of the Civil War. Used briefly as the Confederate headquarters of Major General John B. Magruder and General Joseph E. Johnston a small skirmish was fought on the property. As far as we know there were no reports of anyone dying during this battle. What then has caused the rumors of haunting in the old house?  The policy is to not talk about any ghost, but I was told by a guide that voices are heard, singing, and a man talking in the house when they were there alone.  I  have personally witnessed a door opening on its own, and also know for a fact that there are reports of the town-homes next door having had strange occurances. They sit on what was once part of the plantation property. As far as I know no one has done a paranormal investigation in the house. I have made several trips there now and have never captured anything on film. Nor have I tried any EVP recordings. It is howver a beautiful place to visit and full of history.

Main House

\

Kitchen

The Camera's Eye

Now that things have settled down somewhat from my trip to Gettysburg a few weeks ago, I thought I would go back and talk a little about some of the ghost stories surrounding the area that the "ghost hunt" took us on. As I mentioned in the previous post we were taken out to an area called "The Grove" which is on the edge of East Cemetery Hill where much of the fighting on the second day took place. One of the units fighting that day were the Louisiana Fighting Tigers. These rough and tough men were not just your ordinary solider, but were made up of the worst of the worst. Most of the men were murders or worst and had been serving time in prison when the war broke out and were promised their freedom if they fought. You can only imagine the surprise on the Union troops when they came rushing at them out of the woods that day not only rifles but hammers, rocks, sticks, knives and bare fist. The union army struck back with anything they could find and the woods were full of dead and injured men when it was over. Like much of Gettysburg men were buried where they laid in temporary graves, until months and even years later they were removed and placed in cemeteries.
Fast forward to modern times: A new middle school is built along side the battlefield. Where the stadium now stands we know that several bodies had been buried. It was along this area that my blog friend Linda and her daughter Amanda, and Amanda's friend Darci, my husband and myself explored. With Linda's permission I am posting the photos that she captured that night

This strange mist showed up in one of the first photos. No one was smoking, it was not cold enough to see your breath, and nothing we can explain made this mist. We did not see it with our eyes. Only with the camera.

The next few photos are of orbs in the area.
Now I know a lot of people don't believe an orb is anything but dust, and yes some of this might be dust, but I do believe some of these are true orbs because they seem to hold there own light

See the orb at the top

This one is near the wall

Some of the stories of haunting of this area include woman being pinched..sounds of gun fire, smells of tobacco,

Here are some photos from my previous visits to the same area

Is this dust in every photo? Or could it be the energy of lost souls, still haunting the grounds of Gettysburg...
You decide

Guess What

Guess where I am going on Oct. 10 ? You got it. I am heading back to Gettysburg PA. for a few days, and you know what that means..MORE GHOST STORIES

Stay tuned.

A story from Gettysburg Ghost Walk

I promised to tell you one of the ghost stories that I heard on the ghost walk in Gettysburg. The one that stood out in my mind that night happened here.

The area you see here may not look like much now, but on July 4, 1863 this area was known as WILLOUGHBY RUN. It was all dirt with a creek running through it. During the combat, the Confederates used the seven foot banks of Willoughby Run both as an entrenchment and a place to get some relief from the blazing sun and the heat of the battle.
It's said that on the last day of the battle as the troops were pulling out that a sudden thunderstorm hit the area and cause a flash flood of Willoughby Creek (there actually was a storm like that on July 4th.) It trapped several troopers and drowned them, and you're supposed to be able to hear their cries to this day. The stream crosses town, and it's been reported that if you get too near a storm grate that ghostly hands will grab at your trouser cuffs in an effort to pull themselves out of the surging waters. We were told that the little stream and a footbridge were still there a few years ago, and that when the city went to close it off (as shown in the photo above) that they found both fossil type claw marks and human finger nails embedded into the sides of the dirt. We were also told that Some of the wounded soldiers were down in the entrenchment and that for several days after the battle that the water ran red with blood.
Now I don't know how true any of this is, but it made for a good ghost story, and I don't mind admitting I hurried across that area and on down the sidewalk.

As Promised

As promised I visited two of my favorite old homes today. The first is Endview Plantation. (Here is a brief history of the plantation)

Built in 1769 by William Harwood. By the outbreak of the Civil War, Endview had passed out of direct ownership of the Harwood family and was purchased by William’s great-grandson Dr. Humphrey Harwood Curtis. Dr. Curtis was one of two physicians in the county at this time. The 1860 census shows that Curtis owned $8,000 worth of real estate, $21,000 worth of personal property and 12 slaves. By 1861 Dr. Curtis was off fighting the Civil War, but returned home and retreated with his family to Danville VA. for the remainder of the war. Federal troops occupied the Endview property and remained in and around the area until the end of the war. In early 1864, the Federal government confiscated the plantation and relocated seven African-American families there to farm. The Curtis family returned after the war and within a few months regained possession of there things.


As you can see the farm and land has a rich history so it is no surprise that the home is also associated with hauntings.


Reports have said that a woman has been seen crossing the road from the cemetery towards the house during re-enactments that are held at the Plantation. This woman is known as the woman in white. Reports also show that the room, that was used as a nursery has curtains that open after they have been closed for the night. Civil War re-en actors who would stay in the cabins (built for them to stay in during re-enactments) have reported ghostly happenings. Doors open and close on their own, cold spots appear even in the summer, and many of them felt a presence when they were alone and heard disembodied voices.


With these stories in mind I arrived early and joined a tour. No photos were allowed in the home itself but I did get a lot of shots of the outside.






These last two photos are graves of the Curtis family. I may be mistaken but I believe the child's grave is their child (They had 11). It is documented that one child a girl age 8 died in the home. She was suffering from intestinal worms and the "cure" at that time was arsenic. Her father being a DR. administered the dosage and she was given to much and died.


After I walked around the grounds near the house, I went back a bit further to the natural spring.

It is a bit hard to see in this photo, but when I visited last summer it had quit a bit of water in it. We were told that this spring was one of the main reasons that soldiers stayed here on the property during the war as it was one of the only natural springs in the area.
I continued on and found the Hargrove Cemetery. Several children and adults are buried here, and it is believed that there are several more unmarked graves.





Beyond this area through a field is where the famous "haunted" cabins were. I had never been back there and must admit I was a bit nervous. After all I was the only one walking around the property and could not see the house from where I was at. It is the dead of winter and this place looked creepy...I wondered how long it would take anyone to find me if something happened ha ha..
I took a deep breath and moved forward.







What I found back there were a bunch of old run down cabins that were once used for the re-en actors. It made me wonder why there are no longer in use. I felt very uneasy in this area and didn't stay long.
I had been at Endview awhile and knew I needed to hurry if I was going to make the tour at Lee Hall





I was very disappointed in this tour and will not waste your time talking about it. The tour guide was very brisk and rushed us from one room to another.
The only interesting part of this home was at the end. I met a lady and her daughter who had been on the tour with me at Endview. It seems that they were also interested in ghost and we started talking. It turned out this was the highlight of my day because the daughter (who is about 10) "see and feels" ghost. The mom "senses" things and together they were a lot of fun. The daughter said she felt a friendly presence there at Lee Hall. She mentioned this to the tour guide. Of course she phoo phoo the idea and within a minute of us talking to her the men's bathroom door swung open on it's own and hit me in the leg. We all started laughing and the daughter told the tour guide...well the ghost you don't have just went into the bathroom. I loved it.

Anyway and the mom, daughter and I started talking we of course turned the conversation back to Endview. I asked them if they had walked the grounds to the old cabins and they had said no, then the daughter told her mom she wanted to go and told her mom that she wanted me to come along..

Since the two homes are on the same road it took less than five minutes to return to Endview where we were told we only had a half hour before they closed, so we hurried to the back area where I once again took some photos. Both mom and daughter felt creepy and the mom said she felt as if someone was there. I am far from psychic but had to agree. I don't think it had anything to do with the cabins, but more with the land. Perhaps it was the spirits of the slaves or the soldiers of long ago. I suppose we will never know. While there the mom and daughter both turned on the recording area of there cell phone. Mom asked...Is someone here, Can you tell me your name, why are you here (with time between each question to hear an answer)
Then she played it back. If I hadn't been there I wouldn't have believed it, but clear as a bell when asked CAN YOU TELL ME YOUR NAME..I heard a clear whisper..STEVEN
We had a name..Steven..


One my first trip to this plantation I did not especially feel like it was haunted. Now I am not so sure. I suppose it depends on what you believe. Do spirits linger? Can they interact with the living?
Here is one thing that did happen that I haven't mentioned...
Take a close look at these two photos






Do you see the difference?
Yes the door is open..
The first photo was taken at 1:23
The second one was taken at 3:36
Could someone have come down the path in those two hours and opened the door? Of course they could have. We can always debunk the photos. After all I wasn't the only person to take a tour that day...but maybe, just maybe it was STEVEN, going out for a walk...

Getting the history

They say that the first step to any good investigation is getting the history of the place you are about to investigate. I thought this might be a really good way to learn the history and hear the ghost stories about Gettysburg ahead of time
The first THREE volumns in this series are in route to my house and should be arriving in a few days. Thank you amazon.com for used books! Once I get through these I will order the other two.