Little Round Top, Gettysburg

One evening, two sisters were visiting the Gettysburg battlefield. As dusk was falling, they hurried to Little Round Top so that they could see it before the park closed. When they got out of their car, a mist started to form in the air, though it had been a clear day. They started up the low hill, taking in the view of Devil’s Den and the Triangular Field below.

When the sisters got to the top of the hill they looked over the field below. Suddenly, they saw dozens of red, blue, green, and yellow flashes. The colors were about five yards away, and they moved closer to the sisters, as if related to walking people. When the sparks stopped, the sisters were already running back to their car. One of the women had been in the military and knew what the flashes were. They were discharge from weapons fired on July 2, 1863, when the conflict was fought on Little Round Top.

The battle between Confederate and Union troops began on July 1 and lasted until Confederate General Robert E. Lee withdrew his troops on July 4. The conflict had started with the confederates at the advantage, but on the morning of July 2 the Union men held fast to Little Round Top.

It was the best place for Union men to spot the Confederates in battle, and is now a good area to view their spirits.

One sultry summer afternoon a group of foreign dignitaries were touring the battlefield. In the valley below the spotted a group of men in Civil War uniforms. The visitors were impressed by the precision and authentic look of the troops. When the people returned to the visitors center, they thanked the National Park Service for such a fine display of history. The Park Service employees tried to hide their astonishment. No re-enactor groups were using the park or even visiting that day.

Re-enactors often have curious stories of their own. A group of men were visiting Little Round Top in their Union outfits. As they watched the sun set, they heard someone coming up behind them. An old man in a filthy Union private’s uniform was coming from out of the bushes. They detected the sulfurous odor of gunpowder as he approached.

“Rough one, eh boys?” the strange man asked, then handed one of the visitors a few musket rounds. When the men looked back to see the man, he had vanished.

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