Civil War Ghosts

2. The Brickhouse Inn

Gettysburg, PA

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When the fighting broke out John Rupp fled to the basement of the Brickhouse Inn with his family. After the sounds of battle died down that evening, John took a chance and sent his wife and children away with his father. He then returned to his own cellar. In Rupp's letters, he described a pitched battle between Union and Rebel, with each occupying a different side of his home. The Union fell back, and the Confederate sharpshooters took up a position in what would later become the Brickhouse Inn. As the battle raged, John Rupp remained in the cellar of his house. After three days, the Union soldiers took the field and repelled the Confederate forces, allowing Rupp to come up from the basement. He found his house ransacked and shot full of holes. On his lawn lay the body of a single Union soldier, the blades of grass around him stained with blood. Across the street, the Brickhouse Inn had been hit with bullets, making holes that can still be seen today. Routed by the Union, many sharpshooters died in the fighting, and their compatriots were forced to retreat – but not everyone left the field of battle that day. Several patrons of the Brickhouse Inn have reported paranormal phenomena when they were alone. They heard hushed whispers, too quiet to understand but with a sense of urgency. The sound of heavy gear being moved, and the knock of wooden ammo boxes could fill the silence of the Inn. At the nearby Welty House, even stranger things have been reported. One woman spoke of an encounter with ghostly sharpshooters. When she awoke to a loud crack outside of her window, she bolted out of bed. After she investigated, she found that these occasional sounds had come from one of the old brick walls. Although she rationalized this – after all, old houses settle and creak – the sounds were in one of the house's more bullet-scarred walls. Suddenly, she felt a tall, imposing presence followed by a gruff whisper: "Keep your head down, ma'am." When she turned, no one else was in the room – just the scent of spent gunpowder. But not all spirits are this restless. In the "Illinois Room" of the Welty House, one can sometimes hear the soft sound of a harmonica, muted as if from another room. People say that they have woken to the figure of a man, standing at the front windows. They say that the figure stays still, except for a look in their direction and a small nod. People believe it is one more Rebel sharpshooter at his post, keeping a watch down the street for any Union patrols.