Civil War Ghost Encounters?

[Desert Kid]

To bounce off an idea from the Sasquatch thread.

Were there any "encounters" during the war rather than after it?

 

[diane]

You know, that might be. When Jackson did his huge flanking movement at Chancellorsville, deer, rabbits, raccoons and birds came flying out of the woods before his men - I'm surprised Bigfoot didn't come loping out of there along with them! The Wilderness is his kind of place.

 

[UCVRelics]

In the South we call him Big Foot.

 

[General Casey]

Chamberlain wrote about seeing the ghost of George Washington during the march to Gettysburg.

 

[JeffBrooks]

Chamberlain wrote about seeing the ghost of George Washington during the march to Gettysburg.

Was he serious or was he just speaking euphemistically?

 

[Ole Miss]

A little "tanglefoot" could have 'em seeing Big Foot, the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny and other assorted personalities!!!
Regards
David

 

[General Casey]

Was he serious or was he just speaking euphemistically?

Well like anything with this category, it really depends on your belief and the evidence. Chamberlain is a fairly reliable person, in my opinion. He is not some random person who is spouting out to people about ghosts. He does write about it in one of his memoirs. Although he didn't personally see the ghost, it was relayed from brigade to brigade. I have also found another account of a veteran who mentions the same story in his writings.

Now, remember, in the 19th Century, people were more religious than today. Spiritualism - the ability to communicate with the dead - was on the rise throughout the country. Nowadays we take ghost stories and sightings with a grain of salt and examine them with a closed mind, dismissing it as something else entirely.

So it's tough to answer whether he was serious. I think he was. He was a respectable member of society, educated, a military man. I also think that probably the story got embellished over time (I've seen things about Washington was leading the charge down Little Round Top) or even as it was being passed from soldier to soldier.

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

It would have been a grand time for crisis apparitions.

 

[MRB1863]

Suppose they did...but remained quiet about it fearing ridicule. Ahem, the same scenario may exist today.

 

[diane]

Was he serious or was he just speaking euphemistically?

That one Stanton actually investigated. Members of the 20th Maine claimed to have seen a tall man wearing a tricorn hat riding a white horse (which would be Washington's white war horse Nelson) who directed them to Little Round Top. Chamberlain told Stanton, "We know not what mystic power may be possessed by those who are now bivouacking with the dead. I only know the effect, but I dare not explain or deny the cause." So...basically he didn't know what his men had seen but however it happened they were where they needed to be that day at Gettysburg!

 

[JeffBrooks]

That one Stanton actually investigated. Members of the 20th Maine claimed to have seen a tall man wearing a tricorn hat riding a white horse (which would be Washington's white war horse Nelson) who directed them to Little Round Top. Chamberlain told Stanton, "We know not what mystic power may be possessed by those who are now bivouacking with the dead. I only know the effect, but I dare not explain or deny the cause." So...basically he didn't know what his men had seen but however it happened they were where they needed to be that day at Gettysburg!

Do we have a solid source for this? I'm not trying to poo-poo the story, but I want more information.

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

Not proof but this link is interesting.

http://www.historynaked.com/joshua-chamberlain-ghost/

 

[Cavalry Charger]

Not proof but this link is interesting.

http://www.historynaked.com/joshua-chamberlain-ghost/

Great link @NH Civil War Gal . I have read this story in a collection borrowed from a virtual library. It really is a great story. How true it is we'll never know, but going by the number of witnesses you'd imagine there is some truth to it.

 

[Northern Light]

Was he serious or was he just speaking euphemistically?

Great link @NH Civil War Gal . I have read this story in a collection borrowed from a virtual library. It really is a great story. How true it is we'll never know, but going by the number of witnesses you'd imagine there is some truth to it.

He was serious and others mentioned it as well. The 20th Maine was marching towards Gettysburg and came to a fork in th eroad and were unsure which way to go. A mounted figure in a tri-corn hat motioned for them to take a certain direction, which was the right one. He roe with them for a while and then he disappeared. it was noted that he looked like GW. There is also a story that GW fell into a sort of dream in which he saw huge unfamiliar armies engaged in a terrible terrible battle that he thought was in the US. Some have suggested GW was time travelling to the Civil War.

 

[Northern Light]

He was serious and others mentioned it as well. The 20th Maine was marching towards Gettysburg and came to a fork in th eroad and were unsure which way to go. A mounted figure in a tri-corn hat motioned for them to take a certain direction, which was the right one. He roe with them for a while and then he disappeared. it was noted that he looked like GW. There is also a story that GW fell into a sort of dream in which he saw huge unfamiliar armies engaged in a terrible terrible battle that he thought was in the US. Some have suggested GW was time travelling to the Civil War.

OOPs, should have read the rest of the thread before answering!

 

[diane]

Do we have a solid source for this? I'm not trying to poo-poo the story, but I want more information.

It's mentioned in some biographies of Chamberlain and Stanton did investigate - he was just about the last person on earth to believe in apparitions of past presidents but, when his wife died he went looking for her spirit in the night with a lantern. Everybody's got a bit of it in them! One version is the one I posted - Chamberlain didn't see it but his men did, then later Chamberlain said he had seen it with a flaming sword. As far as I know, none of the 20th Maine wrote home about it...maybe neither they or their commander wanted to be asked what they'd been smoking up there!

P S
I believe Chamberlain and his men saw something - but like NH Civil War Gal mentioned, sometimes people see what they need to see at critical times. However, George had a way of turning up every so often during the Civil War... Sometimes posters ask what side he'd been on if he'd been in Virginia at the time of secession - judging by these sightings, he was for the Union!

 

[Cavalry Charger]

maybe neither they or their commander wanted to be asked what they'd been smoking up there!

 

[Northern Light]

After Gettysburg, GW apparently went further north.https://ghostsofny.com/2017/02/21/536/

 

[Northern Light]

Apparently he also made a visit to McClellan before Antietam. Well, of course he did!
http://ghostology.com/2012/10/17/ghostology-the-ghostly-history-of-george-washington/

 

[JeffBrooks]

Apparently he also made a visit to McClellan before Antietam. Well, of course he did!
http://ghostology.com/2012/10/17/ghostology-the-ghostly-history-of-george-washington/

Too bad McClellan made such poor use of his supernaturally provided information.