My Quest for the The Ghost of Gettysburg

I had an experience in Gettysburg in 1957, as a small child.... I saw a soldier jump out of a trench and run in front of the car my father was driving. I thought he was a real person. I yelled at my father to stop... but he hit him... only he didn't ...because he turned to look at me and continued to the other side of the road. . My father knew I had seen him. I described him and later learned that he was from the north, from the area where I grew up in NY. I still wonder what his name was and why I saw him so clearly... and why he turned to look at me... But he never frightened me

*Go to "GHOSTS OF GETTYSBURG (DOCUMENTARY)" on YouTube  ( The URL won't hyperlink)

The experience I had was definitely of a ghost. He jumped out of a trench and dashed in front of the car, and the car went through him . When I described him as wearing a red shirt, my older brother teased me and said this was the Civil war and the English wore red in the Revolution... But my father pressed me for whatever other description I could offer. I said that his bayonet was fixed and his rifle was very long... His hat was the style of the north... and his pants were rather baggy and dark... He was tall and lean...His hair was a sandy color and his eyes were a grey/blue,,,.

and just a few years ago, when my son was a firefighter, something prompted me to search on Google , and lo and behold.... there was the uniform I remembered... Zouave soldiers from NY...For whatever reason, I had always focused on THE BLUE AND THE GREY ... I never knew there was such a thing as a Zouave soldier until then... and they were FIREFIGHTERS who volunteered to fight!

"The second uniform was issued when the first, not made of quality materials, fell apart on most men.[13] This uniform was issued by the federal government, and to the disgust of the men, was not of the true Zouave style, but an American Zouave style. The new uniform had a dark blue Zouave jacket with red cuffs and red trimming with sky blue trimming inside the red. Blue fezzes with blue tassels were issued to provide greater flair to the uniform, as well as dark blue sashes, an issue of red overshirts (not firemen's shirts), and dark blue trousers.[11] Before the First Battle of Bull Run, most of the Zouaves left their jackets in camp due to the July heat, however, they all retained their blue and red fezzes, and their red blue banded kepis."

... I also read that most fought without their jackets on because it was July... one thing my father had told me... as he said to imagine fighting in that heat.... It was really hot when we were there ... the end of June 1957 , when I was 6 years old

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11th_New_York_Infantry

Years later, when I was 13 or so, and we had moved into a new house, I would stay up late and play my guitar and write songs after everyone else was asleep... and I began hearing what sounded like heavy booted footsteps coming up the stairs... Dad said maybe it was the soldier I had seen and that he might have followed me home... I hadn't even thought about that in years, but HE remembered... and a year or so later, we went on vacation, and when we got home there were black streaks up the stairs and down the hall and into my room...as if someone had dragged their feet a bit waling down the hall. (They didn't come right off either, although the floor was shiny and waxed.).As I looked in my room, I saw the impression of someone laying on my bed... It was there for a few minutes, but when I called to others in my family to come ans see it... it began to fade...

Weird? but true

And another few years passed and my mother caught sight of someone about to sneek up the stairs... He saw her as she saw him and he took long steps and dashed up... He had sandy color hair and was tall like the soldier was... She took him to be the guy I was dating at the time, until she realized .... he wasn't really there


Examples of Fire Zouaves 11th Infantry from NY with their red shirts and blue pants:
(Copy and paste to browser for photos)


https://www.google.com/search?q=photos+of+zouave+soldiers+red+shirts&tbm=isch&tbs=rimg:Cfz7eOlWGGIqIjhQVExU_1FklUnJ050GhCH7hl1-o5-xmjDtvYRbE3zK6Z-8ASzF1AevIi8etDrkAaG1zM5jQZ0LzaSoSCVBUTFT8WSVSER3reSwk7PiIKhIJcnTnQaEIfuERVGd5udedMxsqEgmXX6jn7GaMOxF8VuS1P7G4QSoSCW9hFsTfMrpnET87WubzIA8_1KhIJ7wBLMXUB68gRwu_1p0TuQtbIqEgmLx60OuQBobRGe3IXGiGkTDyoSCXMzmNBnQvNpEXDeremMmn7-&tbo=u&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOivGS7_faAhVum-AKHeanDnkQ9C96BAgBEBs&biw=1152&bih=602&dpr=1.25