Investigating Gettysburg II: Sachs Bridge & General Thomas

A storm approaches the field next to Sach's Bridge

A thunderstorm was approaching us as we left Devil's Den. We made a quick stop by a path through the woods off of Brooke Avenue on our way to Sach's Bridge. At first I didn't feel anyone in the general vicinity of this path, but then all of a sudden there were two or three ghosts around us. I got the sense that the ghosts were interested in Emily - a young girl that would likely have been of an age that some of the soldiers would have taken interest in her when they were in their embodied form. As we walked back out of the woods, Emily was grabbed by the ankle so hard that she stumbled and nearly fell over! When I looked around there was nothing she could have tripped on. She later described feeling like a hand reached out and wrapped itself around her ankle.

Having this experience, we made a note and decided to return to the path after dark and headed off to the bridge. Rumor has it that there is a spirit that haunts the bridge, and we thought it'd be a good way to wait out the storm. Shortly after we arrived, the storm rolled in. As we waited out the storm, I sat down and tried to get a sense of who might be hanging out in the bridge. I wasn't getting a lot, which surprised me. I thought that thunderstorms actually gave spirits more energy. Experiences later that evening would lead me to think it's quite the opposite. I didn't get a sense of anyone hanging around in the bridge despite the rumors of the male ghost that supposedly haunts it. 

Shortly after we reached the shelter of the bridge, the skies opened up. Thunder, lightning, and pea-sized hail forced us to retreat further into the cover of the bridge. This delighted Emily, who gladly went out into the pelting rain. We waited out the storm, attempting to get measurements from the k2 devices. The only measurement I got was from a particular bolt on the bridge which seemed to emit its own EMF. None of the others did. A strange phenomenon considering most of the bolts in the bridge should have been installed at the same time, from the same batch. 

The storm finally subsided, and we decided to go do some souvenir shopping and then grab some dinner. We went to Gettysburg Eddie's where we were seated nearly immediately, in a room between the bar in the back and the front entrance room. The walls were mirrored on both sides - an interesting observation given the propensity for those in the spiritual world to believe that mirrors facing one another serve as a type of a portal. We hadn't been seated for long when I detected the presence of a ghost buzzing about. My crown started tingling and I could feel energy moving about the restaurant. A few minutes later, Paul reported having his hair pulled. Emily may have also reported getting touched, but I don't recall. The word "General" popped into my mind, and I knew the spirit was male. I told Paul and Emily that he likes to mess with the people who work there - he's a bit of a trickster. Paul said he got a sense of glasses flying off the bar when I said that. At some point, I asked our waitress if they had any unexplained happenings in the building. She immediately flashed a knowing smile. Evidently ghost tours come into the building and I guess get accounts of what goes on in the bar area. She said that the bar tender has reported tvs in the bar turning back on after being turned off for the night, and glasses unexpectedly shifting as they sat on the bar. I explained to the waitress that I was a medium and they have a male ghost present in the building. In response to that, she said she got chills. I told her he was harmless but did in fact like to play pranks on them.

As we waited for our food, the general continued to buzz around us. Once our food got delivered, I tucked into my burger and fries. The general, by this point I got the name of Thomas, would not leave me alone. I asked him nicely to let me be at peace so that I could eat my dinner, and then I would talk to him. He ignored my polite request, and instead violated my space. As best a description I can give is that it felt like he took his hand and ran it straight through my head from the front to the back. Well now it was on. I don't take kindly to ghosts violating my boundaries, especially after I have asked them to be respectful. I got the impression of this guy as a self-important, pompous ass. I had enough. I blurted out "leave me alone, m*therf*cker, and let me eat my food!" Talking with Emily and Paul after we finished our food, I explained to them that I'm sure he didn't take kindly to a woman speaking to him in such a vile manner. In fact I got "You are a RUDE woman!" from him, and he absolutely refused to engage with me thereafter. Paul said that it sounds like how someone from the mid 1800's would speak. I was like "uh, yeah. because that's where he's from!" Despite putting out the k2, and leaving the table for Emily and Paul to try to re-engage General Thomas, he refused to speak. As much as I would have liked to have gotten more information from General Thomas, I don't take kindly to entitled entities, living or dead. 

Later in the evening, we returned to Sachs Bridge. Paul got out his portal box and set it up so that we could hear anyone trying to communicate with us. At first, no one responded. Nothing was being registered on our k2s, though other investigators in the vicinity had their k2s and rem pods going off. I asked who was here and got the number 8. There were 7 soldiers and 1 random man hanging around the bridge. Paul, Emily and I sat in the darkness and asked a series of questions. A bunch of nonsense answers came through, but at one point there was an incredibly clear "Get out!" that came through on the portal box. By this point the soldiers had moved on - this would be a recurring theme throughout Gettysburg. The soldiers rarely seemed to stay in one place. It makes sense given their movements during the war. I asked my guides about the remaining spirit. My smart-alec guide Duncan gave me the message "bridge troll." I told this to Emily and Paul and we all got a huge chuckle out of it.