Experience the beauty and historic allure of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania when you vacation at the Hilton Garden Inn Gettysburg hotel. Civil War landmarks including the famous Gettysburg Battlefield are just minutes from this contemporary hotel. Enjoy close proximity to numerous attractions including Liberty Mountain Resort ski trails, beautiful antique shops and local restaurants. Unwind in one of our spacious guest rooms and enjoy the latest technology and conveniences to ensure you make the most of your stay.

Camp Letterman

Located at this location was part of Camp Letterman. Camp Letterman was the first general hospital that was placed on the battlefield. Until then they were always in the major cities; they were wooden hospitals with barracks. This was a tent hospital and there were almost 4,000 Union and Confederate soldiers. One nurse called them the "dregs of the battle" - they were so bad they couldn't be moved by trains anywhere else. A lot couldn't take even the ambulance to Camp Letterman, they had to be carried by stretcher. They were in such bad shape. It started officially July 22, 1863, and closed November 20, 1863. 365 of those 4000 soldiers died. The nurses talked about the suffering the soldiers went through. One member of a militia from Pennsylvania said the screams were so horrible that from half a mile away he could hear them screaming. One soldier was wounded on July 1 and spent three weeks at the field hospital and two weeks at Camp Letterman before he died. They list him as having a penetrating wound of the left lung and a gunshot wound to the abdomen that perforated his liver and gallbladder. That's the kind of wounds they had there. And double amputees.

Photo by Marianne Donley (2013)

Photos from Library of Congress

One report we found about this location talks about how the "turned off" air conditioner/heater turned on by itself when those who were staying in one of the rooms were talking about the ghost soldiers of Gettysburg.

In a personal interview with an employee at the hotel, we were told about strange things that happen within the hotel all the time, such as lights flickering, strange sounds in the middle of the night, and cold spots felt throughout the building. Could this be spirits of some of the soldiers that passed away on this property?