Sharpshooter at Devils Den

[gary]

Martin, I enjoyed your article. I thought maybe you also had one on the Bleak House and Sanders.

On the rifle you examined, could that have been a "tube" sight?

[8thvacav]

Gary,
I didn't write that article and I've never seen the rifle. I found the article on the net. As to the Bleak House I bought a book from thr Tenn. Historical Soc. and I will look in it for the article.
Thanks guys for the list on books. BTW I was at the Bleak House about three weeks ago. They had a wedding going on so I couldn't go inside. I also saw the spot where Gen. Sanders was killed. If it was the sniper in the Tower at the Bleak House that killed Gen. Sanders it was a great shot.
Martin

[gary]

BTW, did you also visit the East Tennessee Historical Society in Knoxville? They've got Davy Crockett's first rifle on display there. It's a loaner and unfortunately, no post cards are available (can't take pics with the plexiglass in the way).

The Bleak House has one great docent (Margo or Margaret?) who is really well read on the battle. She's read everything there is on that battle and can converse for hours on end.

[8thvacav]

Gary, as my luck holds true about everything was closed when I was in Knoxville. I had a reenactor that I that I talk to on Chat on another board, give me a tour of Knoxville. He also works at the Bleak House. Here is one of his stories. http://civilwar.aaquaria.com/
Martin

[8thvacav]

Gary, Sorry that link will only take you to the board. Here is the story.Divided Loyalties is the book I bought.

Well last night I got to do something that I have been wanting to do for sometime with mixed results. I got to spend the night in Bleak House. This home is named after the Dickens book of the same title. During the second battle of Knoxville, Longstreet used this home as his HQ. The house did take fire and several soldiers were killed in the tower of the house. There may well have been others who died; the home was also used as a hospital. I got to stay at the house as a result of a local radio station. One of the radio personalities was dared to stay in a supposedly haunted house all night. Somehow or another someone they new had heard about the house. So in the end they ended up staying at Bleak House. I was invited to stay as well. They needed people to help watch the house while this was going on, and they new I wanted to stay in the house. Anyway, I have mixed feelings about how well the whole thing went off, but I did get to stay in the house. I actually slept in the tower. The house also got a lot of publicity out of it. Additionally I am now freed from having to worry about talking about ghosts in the house. Previously they were afraid of some of the people who might show up at nigh if the house had a reputation as being haunted. Therefore that kind of thing was not supposed to be talked about outside of those who worked there.

Sorry for not saying more, but I only got a few hours sleep that night, and my mind was dead. I volunteered at the house from my senior year in high school through the beginning of this semester. I had to stop working there because it interfered with school and paying work. I did not believe in ghosts before I started working here, but I am sure of their existence now. Because the house was afraid of some of the weirdoes who might start snooping around the house at strange hours they have tried to keep the ghost stories to a minimum. I was told that I should not talk about the ghosts outside the house. Generally when I have said anything about the ghosts at the house I have not told people where I was talking about. Because of this radio thing I no longer have to worry about it. The house has now decided to be more open about its ghost presence.

I may say more about my ghost experiences later, but for now I will just talk about that night. I said it was mixed results because of the radio people. I was glad to have the chance to stay in the home over night, but the two radio people there started to get on my nerves. The first thing they did that I did not expect was drink all night. They had so much alcohol it was not funny. Secondly, all they wanted to talk about was there work gossip and politics. They were also a little disrespectful in my opinion. The last thing was how they did the radio presentation in the morning. Most of what she said was a lie just to impress the audience.

Total six people were at the house that night. The two radio people slept in the room Longstreet used has his HQ. The lady representing the UDC slept on a couch in the front hall, a security guard who stayed in his car outside; this was necessary because this thing had been promoted on the radio and they did not want any unexpected guests, and one other reenactor and I who slept in the tower. I am not sure I experienced much of anything that night. I am familiar with the ghost there, and in some ways it is like I know them. I felt welcome in the tower that night. Additionally, I asked the ghosts to bother the radio people, not me. Hey, that is what they were there for and they deserved it. The radio lady in charge asked me in the morning if we had been up and down the stairs all night, we had come down once, but that was it. She said that they heard noises. I think the ghosts may have done their job lol.

As for the picture on the wall I am trying to put up a picture out of the book Divided Loyalties by Digby Seymore. If you want a good book on East TN and Longstreets trip west, this is the best you can get in my opinion.

I forgot to mention that the next morning the lady did one broadcast from the tower. She made a comment about how her equipment was acting funny. It just so happend that she was standing in the spot where one of the ghosts is commonly seen in the tower. The ghost in the tower are often seen in the same spots. I then asked her to stand just to the right of where she was and here equipment worked fine. I asked her to move to the one of the other spots where one of the ghosts is often seen standing and her equipment started acting up agaian.