Pickett’s Charge
— By Patrick Burke —
There are a number of times when we would just go and sit at the Bloody Angle, look across to Seminary Ridge and wonder what it must have been like. On our last visit, we planted ourselves on the wall and sat quietly listening for about fifteen minutes. I looked at Jack and said, “It’s a strange feeling … I can feel the ghost soldiers all around us, but it’s like they are waiting for something.”
Jack nodded his head. “The calm before the storm.”
I nodded in agreement, and then jumped at the sound of a single cannon firing.
“Holy shit!” Jack shouted. He asked if I heard the cannon firing.
I replied that not only did I hear it, but that just before I heard the sound, I saw a starburst of white energy erupt from the ground just off to our left.
Did we just experience the first cannon shot that opened the artillery barrage on Day Three of the fighting? Jack wanted me to ask a specific question based on what had just happened to us when I came out with the Double-Blind Ghost Box team, and I told him no problem.
Confederate General George Pickett led the main attack against the center of the Union line on the third and final day of battle. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
During our Double-Blind Ghost Box investigation of Wright’s brigade on Day Two of the battle (see chapter 11: A Study in Paranormal Archaeology), we had a moment when the ghost soldiers switched on us from Day Two action to Day Three action.
It happened near the forward position of Brown’s Battery, when one minute we were talking to the ghost soldiers of Wright’s brigade and the next minute Mary, who was standing near Dan and wasn’t listening on the ghost box, said, “Layered history.” Shawn, who had constantly been the Listener, stated that the ghost box was changing. He took off his headphones and I did the same. Shawn and Mary agreed that the vibration in the area was changing, a feeling that both Chris and I felt as well. I handed Mary the headset and asked her and Shawn to follow the direction the ghost box was taking them. Something was telling me that this was one of those rare times in an investigation when something completely unexpected was about to happen.
As with any haunting at a historical setting, you sometimes get what Jack and I call a “layered haunting” or “layered history.” This happens when you have ghosts from different time periods trying to communicate at the same time. On battlefields, it can also happen when you’re trying to communicate with the ghost soldiers from a specific time or date in a battle, but you may get ghost soldiers from a different action, different time, or different date. This is especially likely if the ground you’re covering saw more than one engagement from different units on different days. This was exactly the case in this instance; I wanted to check on Wright’s position coming up to Brown’s guns on the second day’s action, but the ghost soldiers wanted to jump into the third day’s action.
Mary and Shawn were the listeners in the ghost box investigations as I asked for the location of the Third Georgia. I wanted to see if our pausing to make a change from me listening to Mary listening would stop the layering. Shawn started in immediately with a stream of replies, “Six thousand men got shot.” Mary said the name “George” and I immediately asked if they were from Virginia. Dan quickly followed my question with his own, “Are you from Virginia?” Karen and Chris were still with us, and Karen, who isn’t known for her sensitive abilities, said, “Yes. She got yes.” Shawn continued, “I am an observer—Turned away—Confederates remain—Look forward!” Confederate Gen. George Pickett didn’t advance with his division and instead stayed behind and watched the entire conflict from Seminary Ridge … as an observer.
I asked if the fighting at the wall was bad. This was the question that Jack had asked me to pose if we found that the ghost soldiers from Pickett’s Division were active. “Desperate—Got ’em!” Dan asked how many men died and Mary and Shawn replied “607” and “The angle!—Gotta get outta here!—We’re losing!—They shot him!” At this point I knew we had stepped into the firsthand recounting of Pickett’s Division’s fatal charge on the third day’s fighting. Mary and Shawn both heard the name “Brume” and then Mary said “Eddie.”
Was the final string of words that Shawn and Mary uttered the last words of the Confederate soldiers as they burst over the wall with Gen. Lewis Armistead? Imagine the hell these men must have been going through. Seeing the fleeing Union soldiers at the wall, the rebels must have felt a quick jubilation, perhaps thinking they broke the line. Suddenly they realize they’re surrounded on three sides by Union infantry who are just pouring lead into them. Did we capture the last words of those brave men who jumped the wall? Let’s recap what was said and how it relates to the actual battle:
“The angle!”—The Bloody Angle was where Armistead crossed the wall with about 200 Confederate soldiers.
“Gotta get outta here!”—Realizing that they had no support, they frantically looked for a way out.
“We’re losing!”—The heart-wrenching realization that they weren’t invincible and then the final straw …
“They shot him!”—Armistead’s men see him go down at Cushing’s Battery and realize it’s over.
In all our years of doing paranormal investigations and all of the solid evidence we’ve accumulated, nothing can compare to the moment when you realize you may have heard and captured the final words of men in desperate combat. Although this session wasn’t in reference to why we were there, it was obvious that the ghost soldiers wanted their story heard and shared. We always feel a bit awed when we’re honored by those who gave their last full measure when they share a moment in history with us. From the actual participants of the battle … incredible.
