The Ghost of the Battle of Champion Hill?

major bill

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Aug 25, 2012
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As I might stop by the Battle of Champion Hill during our gathering in Vicksburg, might I see the Ghost of the Battle of Champion Hill. I understand there is supposedly a ghost there. What do I need to know about this ghost? If I do encounter him I kind of hope he is a friendly ghost.
 
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I've never heard of a ghost at Champion Hill, but I reckon every CW battlefield has such sightings. I know the Pleasant Hill battlefield in Louisiana has been the sight of many supposed hauntings, I know I seem to have experienced one.

A Confederate soldier walked up out of the fog and sitting down by the fire I was struggling to get going proper to dry me off after one of the worst storms I have ever seen and wanting to talk about the Bible at 3 a.m. didn't seem off to me during the reenactment, (this was only my third or forth reenactment), and he was curious about if I was enjoying reenacting, which at that point I wasn't, and he urged me on telling me I'd love it if I continued, and he urged me to read Job in the Bible and after talking about the Battle he walked off, I never saw him again.

The holy s**t moment came the next morning after two different people had seen me and were wondering why I was talking to an empty chair at 3 a.m. Funniest part of that story, when talking to this fella I asked about the ghost stories of Pleasant Hill and he just said "Well even the Bible says spirits walk the Earth.", bad part about it I thought his uniform looked "farby" at the time, I now know his uniform from what I could see, especially his hat, were proper Army of the Trans-Mississippi at the time of the Red River Campaign.

A lot of folks say I'm crazy or making stuff up, but as far as I'm concerned, I got ultimate bragging rights I sat and visited and bulls**ted with a bona fide Confederate soldier around a campfire!
 
Interesting 'ghost' story. I'd never heard this one.
What about you guys ? paging @alan polk ,@Championhilz.

Both song and story are from Champion Hill by Herb Phillips.

I never knew Mr. Herb Phillips, but I remember him well.
He was always promoting that area and his claim to fame was his cactus plantation.

Yep, you read that correctly . . . there was a cactus plantation near Champion's Hill for many years. :bounce:
 
Interesting 'ghost' story. I'd never heard this one.
What about you guys ? paging @alan polk ,@Championhilz.



I never knew Mr. Herb Phillips, but I remember him well.
He was always promoting that area and his claim to fame was his cactus plantation.

Yep, you read that correctly . . . there was a cactus plantation near Champion's Hill for many years. :bounce:
I remember a few folks talking about the ghost, but it was always discussed by people associated with Mr. Phillips. Even as a young kid, I always recognized Mr. Phillips as the quintessential salesman (he raised cacti in Mississippi for heaven’s sake) so I, accordingly, always took the stories in that light.
 
There were a coupla episodes of Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel back in 2017. One was on the McRaven House and the other at Champion Hill. Here is a thread about it.

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/vicksburg-hauntings-on-ghost-adventures.139230/
Yeah, I watched that and thoroughly enjoyed it. My favorite part was when the guys were out at night, in rural Mississippi, mind you, and they heard a gunshot somewhere from beyond the battlefield. The inference was strong that it was a ghost because, they said with dead seriousness, it’s illegal to discharge a weapon at night in Mississippi!!!!

I just hope all our coon hunters got the memo!!!
 
My favorite part was when the guys were out at night, in rural Mississippi, mind you, and they heard a gunshot somewhere from beyond the battlefield. The inference was strong that it was a ghost because, they said with dead seriousness, it’s illegal to discharge a weapon at night in Mississippi!!!!
:rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
Yeah, I watched that and thoroughly enjoyed it. My favorite part was when the guys were out at night, in rural Mississippi, mind you, and they heard a gunshot somewhere from beyond the battlefield. The inference was strong that it was a ghost because, they said with dead seriousness, it’s illegal to discharge a weapon at night in Mississippi!!!!

I just hope all our coon hunters got the memo!!!
I think I still have the recording of both those episodes. Need to watch them again if for no other reason than the location of the "Adventures".
 
I've never heard of a ghost at Champion Hill, but I reckon every CW battlefield has such sightings. I know the Pleasant Hill battlefield in Louisiana has been the sight of many supposed hauntings, I know I seem to have experienced one.

A Confederate soldier walked up out of the fog and sitting down by the fire I was struggling to get going proper to dry me off after one of the worst storms I have ever seen and wanting to talk about the Bible at 3 a.m. didn't seem off to me during the reenactment, (this was only my third or forth reenactment), and he was curious about if I was enjoying reenacting, which at that point I wasn't, and he urged me on telling me I'd love it if I continued, and he urged me to read Job in the Bible and after talking about the Battle he walked off, I never saw him again.

The holy s**t moment came the next morning after two different people had seen me and were wondering why I was talking to an empty chair at 3 a.m. Funniest part of that story, when talking to this fella I asked about the ghost stories of Pleasant Hill and he just said "Well even the Bible says spirits walk the Earth.", bad part about it I thought his uniform looked "farby" at the time, I now know his uniform from what I could see, especially his hat, were proper Army of the Trans-Mississippi at the time of the Red River Campaign.

A lot of folks say I'm crazy or making stuff up, but as far as I'm concerned, I got ultimate bragging rights I sat and visited and bulls**ted with a bona fide Confederate soldier around a campfire!
Wow quite a story yet I believe you saw it, there are too many accounts like this by people who have nothing to gain by telling it. But now I am afraid to turn off the lights.
 
Wow quite a story yet I believe you saw it, there are too many accounts like this by people who have nothing to gain by telling it. But now I am afraid to turn off the lights.

No sense in being scared, he was a friendly fella and this was on the original battlefield near the anniversary of the battle around 12 years ago. Now his insistence on me reading the Bible, specifically the Book of Job, like my life depended on it, and him knowing my name, that was scary the next morning after I realized it wasn't another reenactor who had heard my name or something and apparently one of the ghosts of that battle visiting me, he came out of the fog silently, sat to talk to a soaked and freezing 16 year old kid, (it had been a big cold front, it was early April and the temperature had dropped to 28 degrees, yep still remember the temperature because it got a lot colder after he showed up), apparently to offer advise on the future, and said, "Well I'm gonna get goin." and walked off disappearing into the fog from whence he came and after returning to Pleasant Hill many times since I've yet to see him again, although I will admit due to some unhappiness on my part of the direction of the event I haven't been back since 2015, perhaps I'll change that this year, that particular Louisiana reenactment has always felt like a home.

He was a nice guy, I'd love to sit around the fire and visit with him again and ask him questions about the War now that I know he was a real Confederate soldier. But seriously him knowing my identity was a bit scary till I realized no harm had been done and I had come away with a heck of a tale. Oh and bragging rights, mustn't forget that, one could say it was a blessing, as wet and cold as I was I couldn't stop shaking and he helped me get the fire going enough to warm me up. Its almost like he was a guardian angel that night, odd part was it was only my maybe third event, and I was contemplating quitting due to my, (I thought) suffering, and him urging me to continue and "read the stories left behind" and really learn about the War helped me make up my mind to keep on, before I realized he was a voice from the past I might add. Except for the bragging rights I've been joking about, (there's some other fellas I know with better stories, that'll really make your hair stand on end, specifically at Sharpsburg/Antietam when they could reenact on a portion of the original battlefield or right next to it I can't recall off hand), I have nothing to gain from telling it, heck I'm glad it happened, I wish it'd happen again lol! It was an influential happening though...

But now I'm curious about this ghost of Champion Hill.
 
No sense in being scared, he was a friendly fella and this was on the original battlefield near the anniversary of the battle around 12 years ago. Now his insistence on me reading the Bible, specifically the Book of Job, like my life depended on it, and him knowing my name, that was scary the next morning after I realized it wasn't another reenactor who had heard my name or something and apparently one of the ghosts of that battle visiting me, he came out of the fog silently, sat to talk to a soaked and freezing 16 year old kid, (it had been a big cold front, it was early April and the temperature had dropped to 28 degrees, yep still remember the temperature because it got a lot colder after he showed up), apparently to offer advise on the future, and said, "Well I'm gonna get goin." and walked off disappearing into the fog from whence he came and after returning to Pleasant Hill many times since I've yet to see him again, although I will admit due to some unhappiness on my part of the direction of the event I haven't been back since 2015, perhaps I'll change that this year, that particular Louisiana reenactment has always felt like a home.

He was a nice guy, I'd love to sit around the fire and visit with him again and ask him questions about the War now that I know he was a real Confederate soldier. But seriously him knowing my identity was a bit scary till I realized no harm had been done and I had come away with a heck of a tale. Oh and bragging rights, mustn't forget that, one could say it was a blessing, as wet and cold as I was I couldn't stop shaking and he helped me get the fire going enough to warm me up. Its almost like he was a guardian angel that night, odd part was it was only my maybe third event, and I was contemplating quitting due to my, (I thought) suffering, and him urging me to continue and "read the stories left behind" and really learn about the War helped me make up my mind to keep on, before I realized he was a voice from the past I might add. Except for the bragging rights I've been joking about, (there's some other fellas I know with better stories, that'll really make your hair stand on end, specifically at Sharpsburg/Antietam when they could reenact on a portion of the original battlefield or right next to it I can't recall off hand), I have nothing to gain from telling it, heck I'm glad it happened, I wish it'd happen again lol! It was an influential happening though...

But now I'm curious about this ghost of Champion Hill.
Thanks for the additional info, definitely spooky but I have heard of other instances and no doubt that is what was involved. I have heard the persons who have exposure to ghosts feel a cold sensation. Evidently Spotsylvania is also very a very eerie place for people.
 
No sense in being scared, he was a friendly fella and this was on the original battlefield near the anniversary of the battle around 12 years ago. Now his insistence on me reading the Bible, specifically the Book of Job, like my life depended on it, and him knowing my name, that was scary the next morning after I realized it wasn't another reenactor who had heard my name or something and apparently one of the ghosts of that battle visiting me, he came out of the fog silently, sat to talk to a soaked and freezing 16 year old kid, (it had been a big cold front, it was early April and the temperature had dropped to 28 degrees, yep still remember the temperature because it got a lot colder after he showed up), apparently to offer advise on the future, and said, "Well I'm gonna get goin." and walked off disappearing into the fog from whence he came and after returning to Pleasant Hill many times since I've yet to see him again, although I will admit due to some unhappiness on my part of the direction of the event I haven't been back since 2015, perhaps I'll change that this year, that particular Louisiana reenactment has always felt like a home.

He was a nice guy, I'd love to sit around the fire and visit with him again and ask him questions about the War now that I know he was a real Confederate soldier. But seriously him knowing my identity was a bit scary till I realized no harm had been done and I had come away with a heck of a tale. Oh and bragging rights, mustn't forget that, one could say it was a blessing, as wet and cold as I was I couldn't stop shaking and he helped me get the fire going enough to warm me up. Its almost like he was a guardian angel that night, odd part was it was only my maybe third event, and I was contemplating quitting due to my, (I thought) suffering, and him urging me to continue and "read the stories left behind" and really learn about the War helped me make up my mind to keep on, before I realized he was a voice from the past I might add. Except for the bragging rights I've been joking about, (there's some other fellas I know with better stories, that'll really make your hair stand on end, specifically at Sharpsburg/Antietam when they could reenact on a portion of the original battlefield or right next to it I can't recall off hand), I have nothing to gain from telling it, heck I'm glad it happened, I wish it'd happen again lol! It was an influential happening though...

But now I'm curious about this ghost of Champion Hill.
Have you heard the story about the artillery officer at Champion Hill? Not a ghost story but very heartrending. there is a thread about him on the Vicksburg threads. He was with the Point Coupee Artillery, the Confederate army was retreating at Champoin Hill and this young officer was ordered to hold his ground and the whole Yankee army was coming his direction. He was Alexandre LeDoux according to a member, and I did check it out and he was killed at Champion Hill. Just go to the Vicksburg threads and search Point Coupee Artillery at Vicksburg. Incidentally my ancestors were from Jackson county Texas, I visited Texas a few years back and it is a wonderful place to me.
 
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