Civil War Ghosts

7. Spangler's Spring

Gettysburg, PA

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Spangler's Spring was hotly contested during the second and third days of the battle of Gettysburg. Many soldiers died in the woods and around the Spring. There have been so many sightings of a certain apparition at Spangler's Spring that the Spring and it's apparition have become legendary. Many who have visited the cool, gloomy and damp springs have instantly felt a presence full of sadness. Some report seeing the 'Woman in White', who appears as a fluid column of white shadow that seems to hover over the grounds of the springs and at times stops to inspect the ground. There has been much speculation over who exactly is 'The Woman in White'. Many people seem to agree that she is some sort of itinerant nun that came to the battlefield just after the fighting ended in early July 1863 to assist the wounded soldiers and to pray for the deceased. Many witnesses of the roving spirit seem to feel that she is bending down to attend to comfort a wounded man. There are other theories as well. Some think that she is a slighted lover, and that in life she held secret trysts with a man, and that perhaps both of them already had previous emotional attachments, but so deep was there love for one another that they continued their secret meetings at Spangler's Spring. Until one day, when her secret lover came to her at the Spring and told her that he could no longer meet with her anymore. She was so heartbroken and distraught that she committed suicide right there in front of him. It is said that whenever a promise is broken near Spangler's Spring she comes and visits the ground, weeping at the sadness of human love and loss. No one knows for sure who the woman-spirit is or why she still haunts the grounds at Spangler's Spring, but with so many reports and sightings of the 'Woman in White', one can be sure she is there.