Gettysburg Unearthed:: The Excavation of a Haunted History

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© 2009 John G. Sabol. All rights reserved.

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First published by AuthorHouse 3/6/2009

ISBN: 978-1-4343-2594-5 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2007906938

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

Contents

Gettysburg Unearthed:

The Excavation of Its Haunted History

Preface

L’Envoi (2007):

The Philosophy of Research

A Reflective Pause: Looking into the Mirror of the Past

Introduction

The Transformation of Gettysburg:

from History to Myth

The Existing Data

The Gettysburg Excavations: The Historical Perspective of a Haunted Landscape

Spiritualism and the Birth of Gettysburg Battlefield Tourism: 1863-1900

A Survey of 20th c. Gettysburg Tourism Engagements

Ghost Heritage Tourism: The Ghost Tour/Investigation Package

The Excavation of Devil’s Den

Summary: The Current Gettysburg Marketing Image

Is Gettysburg Haunted:

A Preliminary Symmetrical Analysis and Excavation of the Gettysburg Landscape

Engagement and Immersion: The Re-enactor as Ghost Excavator

Lack of Variability in Sites of Located Haunting Phenomena

The Lack of Battlefield Acoustical Surveys

Lack of Specific Contextual Visualizations

An Unfamiliarity with the Liminality of Battle

Lack of Variability in Content of EVP Recordings

Lack of Local Ghost Narratives:

Unearthing the Flawed Ghost Mythology (Some Specific Considerations)

The Technology of Ghost Hunting:

Ghost Tech is not a Guarantee of Ghost Connect

The Ghost Hunters of Gettysburg: A Group Portrait

Other Data Problems

Future Diggings:

The Continuing Excavation of the Gettysburg Hauntscape

Introduction:

The Silences of Ghost Research

The Multiple Fields of Gettysburg Ghost Research

Battlefield Soundscape Surveys and Comparative Acoustical Analysis

Performative Activities at Specific Locations of Engagements

Specific Audio-Video Peripatetic Walks

Olfactory Residual Survey Walks

The Analysis of Acoustic Shadow

Ethnographic Survey of 1863 Culture

Folkloric Survey of the Gettysburg Landscape

Ethnic Regiments and Haunting Behavior

An Inventory of Battlefield Target and Trigger Objects

Other Avenues of Research

Post-Excavation Analysis: A Preliminary Interpretation of Gettysburg

The Future of Ethnoarchaeoghostological Research at Gettysburg

Appendix: The Investigator as Participant-Performer:

Bibliography

Gettysburg Unearthed:

The Excavation of Its Haunted History

Some eye that never saw the battle will select, and some pen will write what will be named the history

Frank A. Haskell (1908:181-182)

This is an alternative story of the battle. It is the history of the Gettysburg ghost soldiers. It is not so much an historical account, as it is a creation myth: the origin and development of a Gettysburg ghost mythology. The eyes and pens mentioned by Haskell (who fought at Gettysburg) are manifesting today in the narrative accounts of the ghost authors of contemporary Gettysburg. This is an analysis of their history of the battle, one that, according to their mythology, continues today at various locations on the Gettysburg landscape. This alternative history is for now the popular history of contemporary Gettysburg. This popular version of the Gettysburg experience is the basis of ghostly myth-building, because, it has been said, when popular history sings of events and makes them great, it transcends the realm of record and enters that of myth (McRandle 1994:53-54).

Gettysburg, as a sense of place, has changed through the years from one derived from historical and oral narratives to one of immersed embodiment. It is a transition from a re-enacted experience to a re-living of the past, as embodied in its perceived ghosts. This is a history of social engagement with the landscape that has evolved from description and passive (contemplative) experiences, to one of penetration and a personal intimacy with the past. This is bound up with remembrance and time. Its construction is tied into networks of associations and memories through a process called inter-animation, and is largely a subjective experience.

As humans create, modify, and move through a spatial milieu, the mediation between experience and perception creates and legitimizes the social reality associated with a landscape. But, at Gettysburg, is this social reality a haunted landscape?

It is the purpose of this book to excavate this alternative history in order to expose these ghostly presences to the reality of contemporary scientific practice, and one that is framed in its proper cultural setting. Here, at Gettysburg, myth and history intertwine freely on these fields of drama and it will take extensive excavations to unearth and separate each myth from history, by identifying their significance to the reality of a haunted Gettysburg battlefield.

Gettysburg Battlefield, July 1863

Preface

Invisible bodies, no doubt by definition, can be done away with much more easily than visible ones. Since…ghosts…take up no physical space in our empirical world, the liquidation of them involves no bloodletting, leaves no corpses, and calls for no official inquiry

William LaFleur, Hungry Ghosts and Hungry People…

The analysis of 21st c. engagements with the Gettysburg ghost soldiers, in contrast to the famous military encounter, involves an unearthing of the field of battle in which there is no need for re-interments. The stench, decay, and physical remains of death and destruction are contained, lost in the earth of yesterday. A new (alternative) approach to potential haunting manifestations is underway. In this approach, one does not assume, or prejudge, an outcome with any perceived or recorded encounter with the other side. This is no superficial search for the embodiment of, or immersion in, the past. The past and present are symmetrically-unfolding and co-terminus. This is a view of Gettysburg as it should be perceived in the reality of contemporary space. Through the use of a specific theoretical orientation, investigative methodology, scientific field practices, and contextually-controlled engagements, it is hoped that the battlefield dead will finally be laid to rest. This is an excavation that penetrates into the future image of this landscape, as the past is unearthed, and that history slowly unfolds into the light of day.

The Gettysburg ghost is developing a new sub-genre within the cultural haunting tradition. It is the recreation of a ghostly entity through the gathering together of a collective history of fragmented subjective episodes. It is the investigation of history as a side bar to the consequences of the battle. This is achieved through the immersion of a literal interaction between the living and the dead. It thus represents, in contrast to traditional ghost stories, a good form of haunting. It reinforces, at the same time, the importance of the battle and serves as an additional attraction to a segment of the population who might not otherwise have visited the area in search of the past. Finally, it provides a history lesson, albeit a haunting one, to those who might not be interested in history per se. Some people do historical research in order to make contact and communicate with historical (and not necessarily famous) figures. These are the ghost investigators. They study details often overlooked, and thus provide another interpretation of what happened on the battlefield. These investigations further alter the image of Gettysburg, such that future visitors may think, talk, act, and write about their experiences differently than we do today. Is this good? Are these interpretations correct, and do they reflect the ebb and flow of research engagements? The ghostly phenomena associated with Gettysburg are reported in fragments of largely subjective experiences, reinforced (and brought on by-?) prior subjective accounts. Where does the truth lie? Is Gettysburg really haunted by ghost soldiers? If so, is it as haunted as people’s accounts say it is. The truth needs to be unearthed, and this requires an excavation of the Gettysburg battlefield…..and an immersion into its haunted history.

"Sloped on the hill the mounds were green,

Our centre held that place of graves,

And some still hold it in their swoon,

And over these a glory waves.

The warrior-monument, crashed in fight

Shall soar transfigured in loftier light

A meaning ampler bear;

Soldier and priest with hymn and prayer

Have laid the stone, and every bone

Shall rest in honor here".

Herman Melville, Gettysburg: - July, 1863

Irish Brigade and Father Corby Monuments

Ghost stories, landscape legends….can be seen as multi-layered experiences and events informing us about the past from a different viewpoint and heightening awareness of ourselves and the world in which we live. Even a simple ghost story can tell us about the physical history of a landscape

Andy Roberts, Ghosts and Legends of Yorkshire.

This book is an alternative history of a particular battlefield landscape: Gettysburg. It is myth perceived as real historical narrative and event that is embodied today in the form of battlefield ghosts. Still, the accounts are first-person, and are based on individual experiences and the perception of physical presence. This is the story of symmetry, as the past unfolds and becomes part of the landscape of contemporary Gettysburg. As we become immersed in this alternative history, we soon learn that authenticity and reality may not be similar concepts in a mythological landscape. Because of this one needs to take careful heed and begin the journey by looking directly into the mirror, and discover that road which leads us back….to a contemporary presence and scientific analysis of a haunted history.

"Let us probe the silent places,

Let us seek what luck betides us;

Let us journey to a lonely land I know.

There’s a whisper on the night-wind,

There’s a star agleam to guide us,

And the wild is calling, calling….let us go"

Robert Service, The Call of the Wild

The Gettysburg Valley from Monterey-Blue Ridge Mountains

L’Envoi (2007):

The Philosophy of Research

This book is part of an ongoing investigative process into the analysis of reported haunted landscapes that is being conducted by the C.A.S.P.E.R. Research Center. The research center, located in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, is a focus area of serious inquiry that actively pursues both the development of theoretical constructs about ghosts and hauntings, and the testing of these concepts, via performance-based engagements, in the field. This book is the first part of a three part series of investigations into the reality of a haunted Gettysburg battlefield. Books 2 and 3 will follow the investigative guidelines of the present work, and will involve in-depth investigations and excavations at specific locations of the perceived Gettysburg hauntscape.

The C.A.S.P.E.R. Research Center serves as a liaison between the researcher/investigator and the empirical and scientific gathering, analysis, and representation of field data. We are not affiliated with (or sponsor) any particular group, organization, or individual investigator. We document, share, and redistribute data with all those individuals and organizations who conduct responsible, controlled, and contextually-based (cultural, historical, and environmental) investigations. We do not adhere to, or condone, any semblance of territorial parameters (exclusivity of rights to a site or its data) or a control of contact, association, or distribution in the ghost research field. We are always open to discuss our research and investigation of haunted phenomena and haunted locations. We also stress the critical importance of educational outreach programs as an effective hermeneutic tool for the general public.

We have long since transcended investigative ethnocentrism, and we follow a philosophy of cultural and methodological relativism. Subjectivity is not a particularly-useful concept to us because we base research and analysis on scientific practices, framed by humanistic performances in the field. We consider skepticism an essential methodological rule of conduct, guiding us to a critical examination of all field data regarding the existence (at particular locations) of ghosts and haunting phenomena. In this process of examination, we are willing to question – even if it resultsin a critical and/or negative image of the center and its investigators – any claim to ghost and/or haunting evidence, without asking for (and requiring) clarifications of definitions, consistency of field process, use of strict and controlled parameters, and adequacy of data sample. This means that we consider an investigation to be much more than a single visit to a haunted location. We do not promote the concept of ghost tour/investigation packaging as a scientific process for identifying and recording data of evidential or comparative value.

We maintain a methodological skepticism that is situated on a case by case basis, and defined within an analytical and cultural context. We are a research center that continually