Devil's Den- Gettysburg, PA
Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 1:00 pm
I've been to the Gettysburg battlefield in PA twice in my life. Once in 1999 with my family and again in 2005 with my old roommates. Both times, I've really enjoyed myself there. The historical significance alone is really inspiring... and, of course, the ample graveyards and ghost stories really made me feel at home.
You have to spend at least a day in Gettysburg. The battlefield is so extensive it takes a whole day to see that (if you do the self car tour)... the visitor centers and museums are really engaging too.
One place on the battlefield particularly piques my interest-- The Devil's Den (DD). The DD was a location of great casualties. Union soldiers were pinned in the massive boulders and confederates were up on the facing hill and down by the stream. It was quite literally a bloody mess.
The location itself is considered one of the many haunted hot spots on the battle field. There have been several reports of a union soldier who appears to be a reinactor on the hill who will pose for photos, but not be in the photo when it's developed. Others have had cameras break in this location. Film has been mysteriously exposed... electronic devices go on the fritz.
A lot of the camera difficulties have been pinned on the belief that because battle scene photographer, Alexander Gardner, moved one soldier's body from this location (Link to Photo) to this location (Link to Photo) , the ghosts are very hostile towards photographers.
In 1999, at the Devil's Den, my mom's camera broke when she was trying to take photos. Coincidence? Maybe. The camera was working fine up to this point... but suddenly, pressing the button would make the film go forward 3-4 photos at a time. The images are thus streaky and blurry. We didn't get any other photos on the trip at that time, so I resorted to purchasing post cards.
When we visited, it was around 6pm. The sun was starting to yellow and set. My sister and I were climbing the boulders, weaving in and out of the crevices and jumping over them. For me, it was the most fun part of the battle field... 'till my parents decided it was time to go.
Reluctantly, we piled into the car and drove up, around the back of the boulders. I looked out my window towards the boulders and, sitting at the side of the road, I noticed a Union Soldier reinactor taking an afternoon nap resting against the boulders with his slouch cap pulled down. I asked my dad to stop the car so we could talk to the fella, but he said it was getting late and we needed to get going, so he drove on.
I didn't really think about it 'till we did the Ghosts of Gettysburg walking tour later that night... our tour guide started telling the story of the Devil's Den. After the tour, we asked our guide if she knew if there were any reinactors up at the DD today. She said she didn't know... but she was surprised when I described in more detail the Union Soldier I'd seen that day. I don't know if it was a reinactor or not... I won't pretend to explain it away either.
In 2005, I revisited the battlefield with my roommates. It still held the same luster it did previously. It still took 1-2 days to see what we wanted to see. I made a point of going to the Devil's Den to take photos. Since the trip in 1999, I'd done some reading on the area. I'd heard if you ask for permission to take photographs, that you can usually have sucess without having to purchase another camera. So, feeling like a goob for talking aloud to apparently noone, I asked the ghosts permission to take photos and explained to them that I really loved this place and wanted a photo to take home. All my photos turned out (though, they're a little grainy because I took them at twilight).
Here are a few of the photos I took:
The Devil's Den
Rocks where the soldier was "moved" to
Where I saw the reinactor
After the 2005 trip, I was talking to my dad about the 1999 trip. I more or less said that I'd wished he'd stopped to talk to the reinactor and I asked him why he didn't. Very plainly, my dad told me that he didn't stop because he didn't see anyone there.
You have to spend at least a day in Gettysburg. The battlefield is so extensive it takes a whole day to see that (if you do the self car tour)... the visitor centers and museums are really engaging too.
One place on the battlefield particularly piques my interest-- The Devil's Den (DD). The DD was a location of great casualties. Union soldiers were pinned in the massive boulders and confederates were up on the facing hill and down by the stream. It was quite literally a bloody mess.
The location itself is considered one of the many haunted hot spots on the battle field. There have been several reports of a union soldier who appears to be a reinactor on the hill who will pose for photos, but not be in the photo when it's developed. Others have had cameras break in this location. Film has been mysteriously exposed... electronic devices go on the fritz.
A lot of the camera difficulties have been pinned on the belief that because battle scene photographer, Alexander Gardner, moved one soldier's body from this location (Link to Photo) to this location (Link to Photo) , the ghosts are very hostile towards photographers.
In 1999, at the Devil's Den, my mom's camera broke when she was trying to take photos. Coincidence? Maybe. The camera was working fine up to this point... but suddenly, pressing the button would make the film go forward 3-4 photos at a time. The images are thus streaky and blurry. We didn't get any other photos on the trip at that time, so I resorted to purchasing post cards.
When we visited, it was around 6pm. The sun was starting to yellow and set. My sister and I were climbing the boulders, weaving in and out of the crevices and jumping over them. For me, it was the most fun part of the battle field... 'till my parents decided it was time to go.
Reluctantly, we piled into the car and drove up, around the back of the boulders. I looked out my window towards the boulders and, sitting at the side of the road, I noticed a Union Soldier reinactor taking an afternoon nap resting against the boulders with his slouch cap pulled down. I asked my dad to stop the car so we could talk to the fella, but he said it was getting late and we needed to get going, so he drove on.
I didn't really think about it 'till we did the Ghosts of Gettysburg walking tour later that night... our tour guide started telling the story of the Devil's Den. After the tour, we asked our guide if she knew if there were any reinactors up at the DD today. She said she didn't know... but she was surprised when I described in more detail the Union Soldier I'd seen that day. I don't know if it was a reinactor or not... I won't pretend to explain it away either.
In 2005, I revisited the battlefield with my roommates. It still held the same luster it did previously. It still took 1-2 days to see what we wanted to see. I made a point of going to the Devil's Den to take photos. Since the trip in 1999, I'd done some reading on the area. I'd heard if you ask for permission to take photographs, that you can usually have sucess without having to purchase another camera. So, feeling like a goob for talking aloud to apparently noone, I asked the ghosts permission to take photos and explained to them that I really loved this place and wanted a photo to take home. All my photos turned out (though, they're a little grainy because I took them at twilight).
Here are a few of the photos I took:
The Devil's Den
Rocks where the soldier was "moved" to
Where I saw the reinactor
After the 2005 trip, I was talking to my dad about the 1999 trip. I more or less said that I'd wished he'd stopped to talk to the reinactor and I asked him why he didn't. Very plainly, my dad told me that he didn't stop because he didn't see anyone there.
before taking any photos of the Devil's Den.
