My most recent writing adventure brought two of my great fascinations together: the American Civil War, and the paranormal. The two have gone hand in hand for a long time now. Pound for pound, Civil War battlefields seem to be among the most haunted in the world; we certainly have more ghost stories from places such as Gettysburg and Antietam than we do from Mons, say, or Waterloo. One reason could be the fact that although the carnage was great in all of those places, there is something infinitely more tragic about a civil war, in which brother is pitted against brother, father against son, and uncle against nephew.
My good friends and fellow paranormal investigators Jason, Linda, and Catlyn joined me on a five-day stay at an old Civil War-era Confederate hospital a few miles outside Gettysburg. While there, we investigated the heck out of the place (that story is told in my forthcoming book, The Fairfield Haunting: On the Gettysburg Ghost Trail).
We were never going to miss the chance to investigate the battlefield itself though. As a youngster I was fascinated by places with names such as Little Round Top, Devil’s Den, the Slaughter Pen, and of course, Pickett’s Charge.
On the third day of the battle, both armies had taken a battering. General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, had spent the first two days attacking both the left and the right wings of General George Meade’s Union Army. It was July 3, 1863, when Lee made his last desperate gamble; against the advice of General James Longstreet, his “old war horse,” Lee ordered an assault against the very center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge, reasoning that Meade couldn’t possibly be strong everywhere.
Although named after the flamboyant Major General George Pickett, the attack was in fact carried out by three generals, who led some 12,000 men into the teeth of the heavily-defended enemy position. The Rebel soldiers were told to aim for a very specific clump of trees, which still stands on Cemetery Ridge today.
The photograph above shows that same clump of trees just after sunrise, the target of Pickett’s Charge. The many monuments that you can see were obviously not there at the time, and the entire ridgeline was full of Federal soldiers (many of them crouching behind a stone wall for cover) and cannon. Jason and I were standing at roughly the halfway point of the attack. On the afternoon of July 3, 1863, the ordinary-looking clumps of grass would have been a mass of dead and dying men clad in butternut grey uniforms. The ridge would have been wreathed in smoke, as blue-jacketed men poured a brutal stream of continuous fire into the oncoming Confederate ranks.
It was a slaughter. Although carried out with immense courage, the attack inevitably failed. Fully half of those who made the charge were shot down, leaving just 6,000 to make their way back to the Confederate lines in defeat. Thousands of men fell on this spot. For all Americans, it is truly hallowed ground, and Jason and I made sure to tread lightly. As paranormal investigators, we eached carried a digital voice recorder. With the greatest of respect, we asked questions such as, “Did you fall on this battlefield?” “Who was your commanding officer?” “What was your regiment, division, or corps?”
Nothing unusual happened at the time. It was a calm and peaceful morning, with very little wind to stir the trees and the grass. Except for the occasional car passing behind us on the Emmitsburg Road and one solitary jogger, we had the battlefield all to ourselves for over an hour. At around 07:30, we went back to the car and headed back to the Fairfield Inn.
Several weeks later, I was conducting evidence review in my home office. This is the least glamorous part of the paranormal investigator’s trade. It involves sitting for hour after arse-numbing hour in front of a computer with headphones on, analyzing audio and video recordings for the slightest hint of anything that may be construed as paranormal in nature…and then trying to explain it.
I was going through the audio files that I had recorded at Pickett’s Charge. It was, appropriately enough, getting close to midnight when something I heard made me sit bolt upright in my chair and play a particular section of the file over again. And again. And again.
Neither Jason or I were talking or moving at the time. There in the background was the sound of cannon fire. Neither of us heard it at the time, therefore neither of us reacted to it on the recording. Yet the sound of a rolling artillery barrage can be heard, punctuated by a metallic clanking that I also cannot explain. The morning in question is still fresh in my mind, and I set about trying to find a mundane explanation for the sound.
Could it have been the wind? Unlikely. Firstly, there was very little wind on the battlefield that morning, although it was very cold and overcast. Listening to the previous 35 minutes of audio, there was nothing in the way of gusting wind to be heard. I briefly considered that it could have been the rustling of my clothing, but that sounded very different on the recording, so I was able to rule it out.
What about the sound of a car or truck engine? There was some traffic on the road, but very little, and the engines of those vehicles sounded completely different. My last ditch effort was to wonder whether some re-enactors were up early and firing cannon…at 6:30 in the morning. Again, unlikely, and I am one hundred percent certain that one of us would have said, “Hey, is that cannon fire?”
In a vain attempt to soften the Union line up before the attack, Pickett’s Charge was preceded by a massive Confederate artillery barrage the like of which had never been seen on the continent before, blasting the Union line with as much shot and shell as could be spared. The Federal guns answered back, and an artillery duel commenced with hundreds of guns firing back and forth at one another across the deadly no man’s land between the two armies. So fierce was the cannonade that the earth literally shook.
After trying our very best to come up with a non-paranormal explanation, Jason and I have come to the conclusion that what we recorded that day could well have been the echoes of that violent exchange of cannon fire. It is probably a completely residual phenomenon, some form of natural recording that was played back when we were in exactly the right time and exactly the right place for my digital voice recorder to pick it up. This is hardly a unique phenomenon at Gettysburg; my friends Brad and Barry Klinge had experienced something similar while conducting their own investigation there, and many visitors have reported the same thing. Catlyn, Jason and I thought that we heard far-off cannon fire while standing on the summit of Little Round Top at dawn two days before this.
Gettysburg is a place where the veil between our own time and the year 1863 is very thin. The battlefield and its surroundings are replete with ghost stories, and I feel immensely fortunate to be able to add my own to the list. Here is the segment of the recording featuring the cannon fire. I invite you to judge for your yourselves whether we are mistaken or not. (It contains a car driving by, my footsteps, and my cough as well — this was obviously not recorded in a controlled environment).
29 Responses
Richard: Thanks for sending – this one has got to be a winner. We do enjoy reading your books – not only for their content but especially because of your writing style which is captivating to the reader.
Happy & Healthy New Year to you and Laura.
Cheers – Mike & Jane
Thanks very much for the kind words Mike and Jane, they are truly appreciated. It’s lovely to hear from you! – Best, Richard
Richard, very nice hearing you on Coast to Coast AM Sunday evening. After listening to your recording of cannon fire I realized there might be more to it. Adding to the spookiness, immediately after the boom at the 00:35 mark can be heard what sounds like an extremely faint, short yell. It seems as distant as the cannons themselves. Headphones might help pick out the sound. Just thought you’d like to know.
Dave
Hi David, thank you so much for taking the time to listen to the show and check out the EVP. I had not noticed a yell when doing my audio evidence review, so now I’m excited to go back and listen to see if I can hear it too. Jason and I most definitely did not hear a yell at the time, which was at sunrise, and I am certain that we would have heard it. I appreciate you letting me know about this 🙂 Cheers, Richard
check point :40 for two words
Thank you, I’ll listen when I get home from work.
I listen to your show this morning 12 Feb 2018. I had a personal ghost experience driving through the battlefield back in during the late 1990’s. I was driving home to Uniontown MD(along the Pipe Creek Line ) from my Battalion HQ in Carlisle PA, I was a member of the PA Army National Guard 108th Field Artillery. I was on Taneytown pike behind “Little Round Top” heading south toward my home .As I was driving I noticed in front of me ,what I thought was a re-actor standing on the road leaning over in front of me about 150 yards. The gentleman was looking as though he was picking something up off the road, I thought he was picking up a newspaper or something. He had a long black bread , long blue coat with brass buttons and high black boots. It was daylight around 4:30 PM in the spring. As I got closer to see better ( Traveling at 40 miles per hour) the man disappeared. He was in front of one of the Union Army Field Hospital sites. He was no where to be seen as I got closer . I have visited the Battlefield many times over my lifetime ( I am 65 years old) I have never seen anything as this before. There is definitely unexplained happenings at that hallowed ground. I assumed what I saw was a doctor tending to a wounded soldier or something like that.
Thank you for sharing your story, William, and also thank you for your service. I agree with you that there are many odd things going on at Gettysburg. It sounds to me as if you encountered the apparition of a Union officer, based upon what you described. What a privilege it must have been for you to see one of the participants of the battle on the same ground where it was fought.
Great show last night. Yes, I hear the yell also. It sounds to me as not one single man yelling but a large group yelling.
Thank you for the kind words, Tom. “A large group yelling…” Hmmm, yelling as they would have done in a charge, perhaps…?
Yep
Possibly a cheer.
Been looking back at some family history lately since I got my DNA analyzed this past year. I notice you were born in England per your bio page.
I didn’t listen on Coast to Coast last night although the “preview” on the website sounded interesting. I had initially planned to tune in.
Anyway, I didn’t have an ancestor at Gettysburg to my knowledge, but I did have a great-great grandfather who enlisted with the north as a young man. He came from England as a small boy with his parents and sibling — name Thomas Goodwin Bryant. I saw a xerox copy of his enlistment papers years ago, and heard that someone in the extended family has his gun. Sorry, I don’t remember his specific assignment, rank or anything. If you’re interested maybe you can find him in the archives. I’m sure you probably have other stories about “Englishmen” in the Civil War, but I thought I’d pass this one on.
I did visit Gettysburg as a kid on a family vacation. Also been to Vicksburg.
You have quite the fascinating family history!
What a great show last night! Listened to it in bed as it is on about 2 a.m. I have looked in our local library for some of your other books and did not find any. So requested your new one (The Fairfield Haunting: On the Gettysburg Ghost Trail) as i would love to read that one and think others would as well. Hopefully if they get a few copies of it in the library it might stir up interest so they will get more of your other bks in too 🙂 I also listened to the recording ..wow!
Hi Annette, thanks for listening to the show. “Fairfield Haunting” is due out in print at the end of this week (the ebook came out first) and I hope that you enjoy it.
I get to Gettysburg quite regularly. Two years ago my best friend and his son accompanied me. We were at the devils den area just before the park closed. We heard the exact same sounds that you recorded off in the distance. My friend thought it was thunder but it was a clear night and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It went on for a few minutes. Wish we had recorded it. Also, a visit to Sachs Bridge at 11:00 AM one morning last fall by myself with no one around, I walked into what smelled like horse manure at one end of the bridge. Later listening to my recording, could clearly hear horse hooves and a wagon coming across the bridge. We have caught some strange things in Gettysburg. Yours was a great catch.
Hi Bill, the atmosphere at Devil’s Den is really something, isn’t it? The bodies of Confederate soldiers were dumped into the gaps between rocks when the Union troops were cleaning up the battlefield in the days afterward. By all accounts they were simply left to rot. You had a fascinating experience with the cannon fire, which has been reported from various parts of the battlefield by multiple witnesses. It’s a real privilege to have such a window into the events of July 1-3, 1863.
I’m back. Just did a brief search via the National Park Service.
https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm?battleUnitCode=UMI0012RI
I’m not sure but he may be the one in the Michigan Regiment. I do remember hearing something about him going to Michigan to enlist. However I know his family had spent time in Illinois and Indiana, as well as in New York where they landed at the port, before finally ending up in Iowa. He is also listed in the list of soldiers for the regiment next to a Henry Bryant. That name was the same name one of his father’s brothers had, one who came to the U.S. However I don’t recall hearing anything about my great-great-something uncle being in the Civil War.
Bryant , Thomas G.
Battle Unit Name:
12th Regiment, Michigan Infantry
Side:
Union
Bryant , Thomas G.
Battle Unit Name:
75th Regiment, Illinois Infantry
Side:
Union
How amazing to be able to make a familial connection like that. This is how history speaks to us. If you follow your ancestor’s trail further, you may well find out more fascinating things. I hope that you are able to identify which Thomas G. Bryant was part of your lineage!
Yes, I hear a shrill yell between 00:36-00:37 followed by a group of shrill deathly yells as if a cannon fired into a group of soldiers. Sound enhancement would make this more clear. May all of the souls of Gettysburg find light and rest!
Clarification- the “group” of shrill deathly yells is made in UNISON as if one cannon shot hit a group of a soldiers simultaneously. Psychic imprints of the horrific energies spent at Gettysburg are recorded on an endless loop until the end of days. My God rest their souls in the hereafter.
I didn’t catch this during my early reviews. Now I will try to enhance the sound quality to see if I can bring it out a little more clearly.
I tend to concur
Yelling at 44 – 45 also. Just after the cannon fire
Heard you for the first time on Coast to Coast a couple of days ago. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to reading your books. I’m glad that others heard the sound of yelling as well in the recording. I appreciated your comments about the lack of “intelligent hauntigs” at Gettysburg. Like you I hope that they are at rest and have no need to visit the site of so much suffering and anquish.
Hi Bonnie, thank you for the kind words and for reading my books. It was a pleasure to speak on Coast to Coast, the listeners are always so nice to talk to. I agree with you about those souls who suffered at Gettysburg — hopefully they no longer linger at the battlefield reliving those terrible events. Best, Richard.
grew up in Philadelphia and a History student my uncle had a farm near Gettysburg and in july of 1963 nine years old ask if I could visit him and go to the battlefield 100years to the day he agreed and we walked the grounds much celebration and reenactments but we stayed through the night herd the canon saw many orbs and talked briefly to a grey uniform captain .have since been there several times but will never forget the time with my uncle. thanks for sharing with your coast interview and books, someone mentioned a book that was know to the area that I did not recall was it the devils angels please advise and again thanks! Patrick
Hi Patrick, that was an amazing opportunity and experience that you had in 1963. I appreciate the kind words. The book you are thinking of is probably the novel “The Killer Angels” by Michael Shaara. If you like fiction, I can also recommend “Cain at Gettysburg” by Ralph Peters. Both give an excellent sense of the “feel” of the battle without being textbooks. Thanks for stopping by.