Climbing the Walls
— By Patrick Burke —
At the western end of Devil’s Den lies the Triangular Field, into which the phantom soldiers described above seem to have disappeared. The stone wall at the top of this down-sloping field has changed little since local farmers built them in the days before the Civil War. When clearing this Pennsylvania field for crops, they hauled the stones to the side, forming the walls that soldiers later used for protection during the fierce fighting that took place. In retrospect, it did little to lessen the carnage.
On the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the Confederates routed Union troops and drove them back through town, but the Federals managed to keep hold of the high ground to the south and east. When the sun rose on the morning of July 2, both were entrenched, but the Army of the Potomac had formed its troops in a hook-like formation that ran from Culp’s Hill and Spangler’s Spring all the way to Little Round Top. Emboldened by his army’s success the previous day, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee attached little importance to this topographical disadvantage and launched the Army of Northern Virginia in multiple attacks against the Union flanks.
After a lengthy delay to assemble his forces and avoid detection in his approach march, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet attacked with his First Corps against the Union left flank. As part of this en echelon (diagonal) style of attack, a division under the command of Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood was ordered to assault Devil’s Den and Little Round Top. In order to accomplish this, General Hood had to first maneuver several of his regiments through the Rose Woods and up the slope of the Triangular Field.
A seasoned soldier who understood that achieving his objective would play a key role in General Lee’s efforts to dislodge Union forces, Hood selected some of his best fighting men to lead the attack. At approximately four thirty p.m., the Third Arkansas and the First, Fourth, and Fifth Texas, as well as the Second, Fifteenth, Seventeenth, and Twentieth Georgia, began their advance. When lead elements of the First Texas reached the stone wall, a deadly onslaught of Union artillery and rifle fire awaited. The effect was devastating. Men screamed as each side fired their muskets at point-blank range. As thick smoke filled the air, their breathing and vision became limited. Those who had bayonets stabbed at fleeting shadows; others used their rifles as clubs. Smoke lay on the field like a blanket, but small eddies of air cleared the way for a brief view of the violence that had taken place just moments before.
A soldier who was there recalled the fighting: “Roaring cannons, crashing rifles, screeching shots, bursting shells, hissing bullets, cheers, shouts, shrieks, and groans were the notes of the song of death which greeted the grim reaper, as with mighty sweeps he leveled down the richest field of grain ever garnered on this continent.”
As one can only imagine, the Triangular Field is replete with encounters of ghost soldiers still fighting the good fight. Many battlefield visitors have experienced camera malfunctions while trying to take pictures of it. A few years ago, one man took some video footage near a grouping of rocks in the middle of the field. He said he was drawn to the spot and felt overwhelmed with sadness once he got there. When he returned home, he played the videotape and heard a loud, prolonged moan as if a man was writhing in agony. Impossible, he thought, remembering that he was alone in the field when he shot the video.
People have reported seeing Confederate sharpshooters crouched behind the rocks at the bottom of the field. To their utter dismay, some visitors have actually seen impressions in the grass actually moving toward them, and Union soldiers have been sighted and photographed at the gate entrance. Others have heard spectral sounds, including cannon fire, gunshots, screams, moans, and the galloping of horses.
In the fall of 2001, video cameras with infrared capability had just become available, and only a handful of paranormal investigators were using camcorder systems to capture images in the dark. After doing some research on Gettysburg, I decided that the Triangular Field would be an ideal place to shoot some infrared video. On this particular visit, two friends accompanied my family and me to the battlefield for a weekend campout. Both Dennis and Charles had served in the military, and I told them about my theory on capturing historical moments on film. After a nice campfire meal, we left our families and ventured out onto the battlefield.
We started at the Devil’s Den parking lot and climbed up through the boulders to the top of Houck’s Ridge. I stopped at the Union battery monument, and I could almost feel the sense of apprehension that these artillerymen must have felt as they saw their infantry comrades dying on the field below. As I walked toward the upper wall of the Triangular Field, I turned on my camcorder and began to film. I asked permission of any spirits present to capture their images on my camcorder—or to at least record what the battle sounded like. When I got to the wall, Dennis proceeded to climb over and lean on it. Charles stood just behind my left shoulder as I called out for the boys to come forth and join us.
Within seconds, a series of energy signatures sped across my LED screen. I told Dennis and Charles to head into the field while I filmed from behind the wall. As Charles moved over the wall, I saw a man dressed in a white shirt and black pants walking about halfway up the slope of the field toward the wall. At this point, my senses were at full alert, as the energy in the field was intense, and I knew something was going to happen.
As I filmed the man walking, I saw a movement behind him and suddenly felt a rush of wind go by me. I refocused on the area to his left where Dennis and Charles had gone to sit down. Feeling drawn to that side of the field, I looked to my right and filmed along the wall. I swept the field briefly with the camera but had an overwhelming urge to film to my right again. I turned and saw the man from earlier getting closer to the wall, so I steadied the camera on him. As I focused, I heard a little voice in my head say, “Hold steady. You’re not going to want to miss this!” So I fixed the camcorder on him until the feeling dissipated about a minute later.
While reviewing the footage later that night, we knew immediately that we had captured something extremely rare: a full-bodied, detailed apparition moving on video. In the playback, as the real man walks toward the wall, another individual—semitransparent and in Civil War uniform—manifests in front of him, running frantically toward the wall. Without slowing down, he jerks his leg up and over as if trying to jump it … an astounding visual to say the least. Stunned, Dennis and Charles asked me what in the world I had just taped. Trying to be as logical and objective as possible, I concluded that we may have just documented one of two things: 1) a residual haunting in which we captured the playback of a soldier actually running toward the wall during the battle; or 2) the spirit of a soldier who honored my request to show us what the battle must have been like that day.
These three video captures show a ghost soldier crossing over the stone wall in the Triangular Field in front of an investigator. Photos by Patrick Burke.
In either case, this video footage remains one of the most profound and compelling pieces of evidence we’ve ever captured. The implications are staggering. When analyzed objectively, it leaves little wiggle room for debunkers. There, in plain view for everyone to see, is a full-bodied apparition whose appearance and actions tie in directly to the location in which the video was shot—a Civil War soldier running for his life. The only thing the video doesn’t convey is the horror that this poor young man must have been feeling.
But how could my video camera capture something I didn’t see while shooting it? Many contemporary paranormal researchers believe that ghosts exist as some form of electromagnetic energy, and science dictates that all energy is traceable in the light spectrum. When I first decided to investigate battlefields, I wanted to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that lost souls still roamed the places where they died tragically. I could attempt to capture ghostly images by using an ultraviolet filter on my 35mm camera, but that would only work in the daylight and I would only be capturing a still image. Ideally, I wanted to capture an apparition in movement, and to do that I needed a camcorder.
Although there’s no official manual that describes how to use a camcorder to capture ghosts, I believe that you can increase your chances of success. As a sensitive, I use my intuition when attempting to record the past and listen to that little voice inside my head that always leads me down the right path. We all have it; some of us just listen more intently to it than others. By quieting the mind, I’ve learned how to gather information from both residual imprints and direct telepathic communication with discarnate spirits. This method can be applied to obtaining video evidence by allowing yourself to be immersed in the energies that surround you—or, as some would say, tuning into the frequencies associated with paranormal activity.
I’ve found that the best way to connect to other realms is to slowly ramp up your skill through measured exercises. As the old adage goes, practice makes perfect! For example, find a comfortable chair that allows you to sit with your back straight and your feet firmly on the floor. Close your eyes and take a deep breath through your nose for a long count of four, expanding your diaphragm to the maximum. Next, breathe out to a count of three. Repeat this three or four times as you attempt to clear your head of all thoughts and quiet the noise in your mind. Once you’ve achieved this, count to ten. Remember, the only thing that you should be focused on is the current number—nothing else. For example, if you think to yourself as you’re focusing on the number three, “Wow, this is easy,” or “What should I make for dinner tonight,” you failed to be fully focused and need to start over again.
How can this simple exercise help you to capture paranormal evidence on a battlefield? Communicating with the spirits of those who have passed on requires an enormous amount of focus, and these mental exercises will help you with that. If you can tune in to the energies around you, you’ll be able to locate those areas that are more likely to “host” a paranormal event. Therefore, you’ll have a better chance of capturing historical moments with whatever equipment you might be using. Clearing the mind is the first step to being able to feel the spirit energies around us. And remember, always ask permission to interact with them (or capture their image or voice) so that you can share their stories with others and keep their memories alive.