More Phantom Cannon Fire!

Friday, May 2, 2008, 11:10 p.m.

I was sitting in the office watching t.v. and waiting for midnight so I could begin the audit.  I heard several loud blasts, in succession, of what I perceived to be cannon fire.  I actually felt the vibrations through the floor and watched the windows shake.

I immediately went to the front door and stepped outside to check the weather.  Another clear night with brilliant stars met me.  As I was standing outside, I heard two more very loud blasts at our location which echoed across the battlefield.

Once again, I watched the rooms to see if any guests came outside to investigate the sounds.  Not one guest appeared.

On the afternoon of the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, six artillery pieces from Battery "B" of the 4th U.S. Artillery (cannon), commanded by Lieut. James Stewart, were heavily engaged against Confederate infantry in the defense of their position on Seminary Ridge.  The hotel sits on Seminary Ridge and three of those artillery pieces sat where the west wing of our hotel sits today.

Just across the road (Rt. 30)  from the hotel, also sat Lieut. Benjamin W. Wilber's section of Battery L, 1st New York Light Artillery (cannon).   Just south of these guns were the six Napoleons (cannon) of Captain Greenlief T. Stevens' Fifth Maine Battery B, 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery.  Also, interspersed were four other cannon of Battery L, 1st New York Light Artillery, under the command of George Breck.

All in all, there were 21 cannon pieces lined up across the road from the hotel and on the hotel grounds.  Is it any wonder we hear phantom cannon fire?