Nain Rouge causes a bloody Civil War?

major bill

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Aug 25, 2012
This is more of a “ghost story” than a paranormal sighting.

Early in the Civil War a Michigan regiment was stationed at Old Fort Wayne Detroit. Late one night a strange figure appears in the woods around the fort. This strange figure moved about the woods howling, screeching and greatly frightened the guards. Now Irishmen were sure it was a banshee but another possibility existed. The Nain Rouge had returned! For those who are not aware, the Nain Rouge or Red Dwarf has been a harbinger of doom in the Detroit area ever since the founder of Detroit, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, encountered the evil gnome on July 30 1763 and struck at it with his cane. Ever since Cadillac’s ill-fated encounter, the appearance of Nain Rouge always beings Detroit great calamity, the evil gnome is still occasionally observed and Detroit suffers yet again from the Nain Rouge curse.

A search of the woods the next day did not discover a banshee nor the Red Dwarf. Instead the searchers discovered a naked insane women who had discarded all of her clothing had had spent the night wandering about the wood growling and howling. The mental condition of the women prevented her suppling either her name or the location of her home. The frightened men returned to their duties and the encounter was soon forgotten. The regiment’s destiny was to suffer unusually high casualties in a war of huge casualties. An insane naked woman or an evil trick by the infamous Nain Rouge? You decide.
 
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The crazy naked woman was widely reported in the Detroit newspapers of 1861. Here is a Wikepedia entry for Nain Rouge, and we all know that Wikepedai never lies.

The Nain Rouge, French for "red dwarf" or "red gnome" is a mythical creature that some believe originated in Normandy, France,[1] as a type of lutin. Contrary viewpoints speculate that the alleged creature is more closely related to the Algonquin myths of "Glooscap" who, it is said, created protective nature spirits and dwarves in the Midwestern United States.[2] Original legends tell of the creature being seen as a protector of Detroit, Michigan, but due to modern interpretations, is now feared by its residents as "the harbinger of doom."[3]His appearance is said to presage terrible events for the city. The Nain Rouge appears as a small childlike creature with red or black fur boots. He is also said to have "blazing red eyes and rotten teeth." (Skinner 1896)

The creature is said to have attacked the first white settler of Detroit in 1701, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac who, soon after, lost his fortune. The creature is also said to have appeared on July 30, 1763 before the Battle of Bloody Run, where 58 British soldiers were killed by Native Americans from Chief Pontiac's tribe. The small tributary of the Detroit River which still flows through what is now Elmwood Cemetery turned red with blood for days after the battle. It is said he was seen dancing on the banks of the Detroit River.

Famous multiple sighting occurred in the days before the 1805 fire which destroyed most of Detroit. General William Hull reported a "dwarf attack" in the fog just before his surrender of Detroit in the War of 1812.

Jane Dacy of East Elizabeth Street was at home performing errands one evening in October of 1872 when she entered a dark room and saw what the Detroit Free Press called a ghost. However, the description of "blood-red eyes, long teeth and rattling hoofs" seems more akin to the famed Nain Rouge than a mere specter. The fright of seeing the creature caused Dacy to faint and become bed-ridden.[4]

Another woman claimed to have been attacked in 1884, and described the creature as resembling, "a baboon with a horned head ... brilliant restless eyes and a devilish leer on its face." Another attack was reported in 1964.

Other sightings include the day before the 12th Street Riot in 1967 and before a huge snow/ice storm of March 1976, when two utility workers are said to have seen what they thought was a child climbing a utility pole which then jumped from the top of the pole and ran away as they approached.

More recently, in the autumn of 1996, according to an article in the Michigan Believer, the Nain Rouge was spotted by two admittedly drunken nightclub patrons, who claimed to both have heard a strange "cawing sound, similar to a crow," coming from a "small hunched-over man" who was fleeing the scene of a car burglary. The creature was described as wearing "what looked like a really nasty torn fur coat."

Detroit Beer Co., a brewpub in downtown Detroit, has as its signature brew a "Detroit Dwarf" lager, named in honor of the Nain Rouge.

In 2010, a community-based movement began a tradition of a costumed community parade in the Midtown/Cass Corridor neighborhood. Called the Marche du Nain Rouge,[5] this event is a revival of an early tradition in the legend of the Nain Rouge. At the conclusion of the parade, an effigy of the imp was destroyed, thus banishing the evil spirit from the city for another year. Each year, parade participants and spectators are encouraged to wear costumes so that when the Nain Rouge next returns, he will not recognize the persons who once again ousted him from the city limits and thus will not be able to seek personal vengeance.
 
I thought I might bump this account of the appearance of the infamous Nain Rouge at the start of the Civil War.
 
Well for those who believe the Nain Rouge caused the Civil War we should avoid another Civil War or any major problems this year. The brave citizans of Detriot appear to have had a successful Marche du Nain Rouge yesterday and the evil imp will not dare to show his face for another year.
 
Well the Nain Rouge never gave a reason he started the Civil War. Sadly a few of the brave souls of Detroit must use liquid courage to help them face the red imp. Either that or liquid courage is the only way to get grown men and women to dress up in silly costume and walk about banging on noise makers to drive out a red imp.
 
I am going to Detroit this week and hope to avoid seeing the Red Dwarf, well avoid seeing the dwarf not his Red Dwarf beer.
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The more I think of this the more I come to believe the Nain Rouge started the Civil War. But perhaps it is the Red Dwarf beer doing my thinking for me.
 
I am reading a book that includes a chapter or the Nain Rouge so this post came to mid.

I did not get to see the Nain Rouge this year. Sadly once every year Detroiters dress up in hideous costumes and scare the red dwarf out of Detroit and the Nain Rouge hides for a whole year. I am a bit concerned about where the red imp hides.

For our non Michigan forum members: On March 26 2017, 6000 brave Detroiters, often fortified with strong drink, dressed up in scary costumes and banging on noisemakers joined the Marche du Nain Rouge and banished the evil imp for yet another year.
 
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I missed the Marche du Nain Rouge yet again. I always wanted to go down and chase the old Nain Rouge out of Detroit for another year but did not find the time this year. For some strange reason donning a hideous costume and using a noise maker to scare the red dwarf away sounds like fun.
 
So yesterday at the Marche du Nain Rouge, several hundred people once again sucssfully banished the fiendish harbinger of doom from Detroit.
 
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