The Gettysburg Files
THE JENNY WADE MUSEUM
The first three days of July, 1863 brought about one of the bloodiest days in the history of war. It was during those three days that 53,000 casualties were incurred in the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Although the Civil War would continue for two more years, most historians believe that the battle of Gettysburg was the turning point in the war. The casualties would seem to back up that assertion. The carnage was incredible but perhaps the most incredible part was that there was only one civilian casualty.
Mary Virginia Wade was 20 years old when she was struck down by a bullet fired from the rifle of a Confederate sharpshooter on July 3, 1863. Needless to say, she was not the intended target. The bullet that killed her passed through two doors before striking her in the back. She died almost instantly. The shooter had no idea that he hit the young woman known to her friends and family as Jenny. For that matter, he had no idea that he hit anybody. But indeed he had.
At the time of her death, Jenny was baking bread in the kitchen of her sister’s house. Only a short time earlier, Georgia McClellan herself was almost killed by a stray bullet. That bullet passed through the bedpost, missing Georgia and her new born baby by a fraction of an inch. The bread Jenny was baking was probably meant for the Union soldiers. They often came to the small house for water and bread. By all accounts, Jenny was happy to do her part. She baked all day long in the oppressive heat of July in Pennsylvania. It was that baking that led to her death. Down the street, Confederate sharpshooters were watching the house. When they saw the Union soldiers gather around the house, they opened fire. The bullet that killed her was believed to have been fired from the Farnsworth House.
After Jenny was hit, a ten-pound artillery shell struck the house, knocking down a wall and lodging in the opposite wall. However, it did not explode. It was because of that shell that everyone was to be moved down to the basement. There was no telling when that shell may explode. It never did. A Union soldier wrapped Jenny’s body in a blanket and carried it to the basement. The body was placed on a bed in the left corner and covered. When the battle ended the next day, it was removed and buried. A few years later, the U.S. Government recognized her contribution to the battle by giving her family two thousand dollars. That was a considerable sum in those days.
We went to the Jenny Wade house after checking out of the Cashtown Inn on April 23, 2003. We had some time to kill before checking in at the Farnsworth House, ironically enough the place from which the bullet that killed Jenny was believed to have been fired from. We went into the house and saw the bedpost with the bullet hole from the shot that had almost killed her sister, Georgia. Then we went into the kitchen where she died and listened to an amazing presentation by a projection dummy. After that, we went upstairs and saw where the artillery shell struck. The next stop was the basement where her body was placed.
We entered the basement and sat down for a presentation by one of the guides. While he was talking, I took an occasional picture. In one, I saw a strange set of lights that appeared to come from the ceiling and draped the floor across the room. They covered a bed that was in the spot where Jenny’s body had been placed. I did not think much of it at the time. My assumption was that it was probably a natural phenomenon. Besides, I wanted to hear the presentation.
I did take an occasional shot however and was surprised to see that light in a couple of them. While I was looking at them, the guide mentioned some pictures on the wall that he believed were paranormal in nature. At that point, I stood up and walked over to the pictures. Sure enough, there were those same odd lights. I looked at the guide and told him that I had just gotten the same lights. He looked at the pictures and was amazed. He told us that he had never seen that happen live before. With that, we took many shots. Some had the lights in different places; most did not. I checked near the ceiling to see if there was any way that natural light was coming in. I could find nothing that accounted for the lights. Was this a present from Jenny herself?
The photographs amazed me. They were an unexpected surprise on a trip full of them. After that, we decided to go to the cemetery to pay our respects to Jenny. It seemed only right to say thank you for the pictures.