The Daniel Lady Farm Ghost Excavation
The site is located on Hanover Road, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was the headquarters of Confederate General Issac Ewell. The barn was used as a field hospital during the Civil War. Approximately 10,000 troops were bivouacked around the farm, including “Stonewall Brigade”, “Maryland” Steuary’s Brigade, and the Nicholls’s Louisiana Brigade.
Wounded officers were attended to in the house while the other wounded occupied the barn. There are identified graves (located by cadaver dogs) located just outside the barn.
The Ghost Excavation was concentrated in three areas:
1) The upstairs bedroom where various scenarios were enacted with the children.
2) The area outside the barn in the vicinity of the burials. Women portraying family searched the area with lanterns for their wounded or lost loved ones. We also conducted a scenario where the men, bivouacked in a tent, were ordered to assemble and begin the assault toward Culp’s Hill.
3) Simulated amputations were conducted in the barn in the space (near the rear window where severed limbs were discarded) where they were performed in 1863. We also did various scenarios with wounded soldiers by fellow “brothers in arms” and “family and relatives” of the wounded. This included contextual dialogue, use of historical names/events, and harmonica playing.
Some of these scenarios are shown in the following photos and “sizzle” video. Besides EOC recordings of the wounded responding, we also recorded gunshots, screams, cries for help and assistance, and shadows. There were also sounds of activity in the fields behind the house and barn (sound of horses, men marching, and gunfire/cannonade). After doing the scenarios in the house, and the home secured and locked (the lights turned off), a light was seen (approximately 25 minutes later) in the second floor bedroom window facing the barn. Shadow movement also appeared in this very same window, outside, while the amputation scenario was taking place inside the barn.
Our Ghost Excavation team consisted of: Renee Cannon, Alex Matsuo, Brandy Williams, Jonathan Williams, Brian Parsons, Matt James, James Castle, Mike “Herman” Stevenson, Mary Becker, and John Sabol. All photos are credited to Mike “Herman” Stevenson. Exceptions are the group shot (credit John Sabol/Mary Becker) and exterior shots of the house and barn (credit “The Travel Channel”)
