Fort Taylor's spirits

[Harry]

Fort Taylor has its share of--for a lack of a better word--spirits. So much so that a local company will begin offering candle light tours of our fort.

I've had a few encounters with things I could not logically explain. I've seen shadows moving between the dining halls in the administration building. I've been followed by something while walking in the casemates. A few months ago, a couple of us were in the fort at night. No moon. We wandered through the fortress shooting digital images in various rooms. We photographed numerous orbs. From the parade ground we saw shadows in the sally port that appeared to be walking a guard post. I stopped and asked my companion if I should call out to the shadow. She replied why not? I came to attention and called out the name of a soldier whose spirit has been said to remain. The shadow halted, did a left face and came to attention. My companion and I were in total amazement. I then told the soldier that the post was secure and to resume his guard post. He stepped back, turned and then we saw this light, which I have since learned is associated with energy, shoot straight up into the air. I had to go home and ponder this over numerous adult beverages. The next day I went to work and headed over to the fort to restock a brochure rack. As I turned to head back to the office, I heard a voice say "thank you." I looked around but didn't see anything or anybody. I am absolutely positive I was the only human inside the fort--this occurred before opening time.

[unionblue]

Harry,

I believe that all structures maintain an 'energy' for want of a better word, of those who have lived there before.

Your post above is well worth reading and not at all unbelieveable to me. I consider your very lucky to have had such brushes with that 'energy.' If you have any more stories or have heard of some, I and others would appreciate hearing about them.

Sincerely,
Unionblue

[Harry]

In the late 1960s excavations of Fort Taylor were started. It was known that hundreds of cannon, ammunition and other artifacts were buried in the south and west casemates. That's because in 1898 the Corps of Engineers removed the top two tiers of the fort, placed cannon and ammunition into the casemates and buried them with the rubble of the top two tiers. This was what they called the "modernization" of Fort Taylor based on the recommendations of the Endicott Board to modernize some Civil War era fortresses to accept larger seacoast artillery.

The man who was excavating had taken a break. It was hot in the casemate. He felt a presence standing next to him. He looked up and saw a soldier dressed in Federal Blue who asked "what be ya lookin' for?" The man excavating replied that he was in search of cannon. The spirit told our man where to dig and he would find cannon and much more. The spirit also identified itself to our man as an artillery sergeant who had died during the yellow fever outbreak of 1862. Our man was skeptical but proceeded to dig where the spirit suggested. He uncovered eight cannon almost immediately. He also located numerous cannonball of varied sizes. Once the information hit the press about the discovery of the artifacts and how they were found, our excavator had a visit from two people from the Boston, MA area. They wanted to personally thank him for uncovering what had happened to their ancestor who had died at Fort Taylor in 1862 from yellow fever. The "Sarge" as we call him is still within the fort. I believe it was he with whom I had the encounter a few months back.

[lrd89]

Thanks Harry, this is very interesting.

[gary]

Harry, with all due respect, you messed up. You had a free guard patrol and you dismissed him. Thanks for sharing that story. I'm sure the spirit of the solider is a lot happier.

[Harry]

You're absolutely right! No doubt, though, he was back on guard duty the following night.

[gary]

Wow. Well, perhaps next time tell him that he is dismissed and is discharged from service as the war is over.