Weird question.....

[Dullknife]

So has anyone felt that they have experienced anything supernatural at a Civil War site? Feelings, sightings, anything?

---John
PS....who wishes he could actually see a ghost someday at a battle site colonial or post colonial....

 

[Crazy Delawares]

Not me. I even stayed at the Cashtown Inn last November...nothing.

 

[Sheltowee]

No. Been to a few ghost walks- including one at Perryville. No.

Have you?

 

[Cato3rd]

So has anyone felt that they have experienced anything supernatural at a Civil War site? Feelings, sightings, anything?

---John
PS....who wishes he could actually see a ghost someday at a battle site colonial or post colonial....

Oh yeah I've experienced things at Gettysburg and Antietam. I have my own theories on why certain people can perceive the paranormal and why some cannot.

Creepiest Gettysburg experience: Back in July of 2010 I was staying in Gettysburg for a week with my girlfriend at the time. We went out to the battlefield at dusk and we parked near Devil's Den area to try to do some ghost hunting with her digital camera. While we were walking over the parking lot to the boulders, I see a line of 4 guys dressed up in confederate uniforms, with the lead older gentleman holding a lantern, walking silently next to us. I remember saying to her jokingly that she should call one of them a "farb" since one of them had a belly. We were snapping photos and looked to see if they were still next to us because we didn't want to accidentally get them in the photos but they vanished. No noise, no guys getting into a car/leaving or wandering around just gone within 5-10 seconds. The picture I attached is where we saw them. We were walking on the right, the soldiers on the left. That's not my photo but the best view of the area of where it happened I could grab off google.

Glitch in the matrix story: My ex-girlfriend was on vacation in Williamsburg, Va with her family in the early 2000s. As everyone knows here, Williamsburg has a lot history to it including Civil War. They went out at night for a ghost tour of the town with a guide. My ex-gf brought her camera and was taking pictures of the insides of the old homes through the windows hoping to capture a ghost or an orb. She was showing the tour guide the pictures on the camera to see if the guide could see anything. The guide stops my ex on a photo of a staircase in a house. She tells her that staircase hasn't existed in that part of the house since it was renovated in the 19th century. They go back to check and there wasn't a staircase. I didn't believe the story until my ex's mom showed me the photo they had of it on their old desktop computer. I forget the house but I remember later visiting Williamsburg with my ex and her pointing out the house to me.

 

[rebelatsea]

I'm one of those who are "sensitive". I went to Avebury in Wiltshire UK, famous for it's stone circle - and could not stay in the circle for reasons I cannot explain, apart from the sensation that I should not be there. My friend and I walked the length of the old Somerset & Dorset Railway in stages. We visited Winsor Hill tunnel, now blocked by a rifle range and mushroom farm, but on the hill itself was /is a former prisoner of war camp. During WWII it housed Italian PoWs many of whom died as a result of typhus which spread before it could be controlled. There is an overwhelming sense of sadness and grief and, like Avebury I could not stay there.

 

[H. J. Durgin]

The one place that truly touched me was the Ford #1 cemetery within the Pea Ridge National Military Park. I have visited the Park on numerous occasions and always had a enjoyable time. You have to walk a little ways to the cemetery. This place is where people of the local communities were/are laid to rest. I was by myself as my wife decided to stay in the truck and once I entered the cemetery my whole mood changed. It was extremely strange as I had been super focused on the battle and park layout. I won't go into great detail but when I entered I felt totally different than I had just moments before. Tears seemed to come to me to easily as I walked by the limited gravestones. I took my time and once I left I still felt attached to this place and still think of it today. I have felt many emotions on our cherished fields of Glory but nothing that still reminds me that special out of the way graveyard in northwest Arkansas. Funny little extra. I always drive and I mean always. After this time of returning to the truck I let my wife drive and she knew something had happened to me.

 

[damYankee]

The one place that truly touched me was the Ford #1 cemetery within the Pea Ridge National Military Park. I have visited the Park on numerous occasions and always had a enjoyable time. You have to walk a little ways to the cemetery. This place is where people of the local communities were/are laid to rest. I was by myself as my wife decided to stay in the truck and once I entered the cemetery my whole mood changed. It was extremely strange as I had been super focused on the battle and park layout. I won't go into great detail but when I entered I felt totally different than I had just moments before. Tears seemed to come to me to easily as I walked by the limited gravestones. I took my time and once I left I still felt attached to this place and still think of it today. I have felt many emotions on our cherished fields of Glory but nothing that still reminds me that special out of the way graveyard in northwest Arkansas. Funny little extra. I always drive and I mean always. After this time of returning to the truck I let my wife drive and she knew something had happened to me.

I visited Pea Ridge in 2010, it was a very moving experience to me. I have only been to a few battlefields and have only had what I can only describe as a darkness at Brandywine and Pea Ridge.

 

[TerryB]

A girl I knew many years ago told a story (don't remember if it was first hand or retold) about seeing a Union soldier under a tree at the Franklin battlefield. All I remember was that he was sitting under a tree like he'd been wounded and was dying. Someone she knew had bought a farmhouse there, and I believe she was recounting something they told her.

 

[Kurtlg]

Nothing really supernatural. Many years ago I was walking the Wheatfield on a hot July morning. It was early and the only person I saw was a jogger. Suddenly I came across a flank marker for the 61st NY. Someone had put a plastic rose next to it. Suddenly I got very emotional and actually had tears in my eyes. That kind of thing is not like me and I looked around to make sure no one had seen me. I was embarrassed by my reaction. A few years later I learned I had a great-great uncle in the 61st. However, he did not join until well after Gettysburg. If he has joined several months earlier I may have considered it supernatural.In any case , to this day I am not sure why I had the reaction I did. I have visited many, many historic sites over the years from the French and Indian War to the Civil War and have never had a reaction like I did in the Wheatfield that hot July morning .

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

I have my own theories on why certain people can perceive the paranormal and why some cannot.

Please do share.

 

[LoyaltyOfDogs]

I visited Pea Ridge in 2010, it was a very moving experience to me. I have only been to a few battlefields and have only had what I can only describe as a darkness at Brandywine and Pea Ridge.

I'm not sensitive to paranormal phenomena, though I've had two experiences with strange feelings unrelated to the Civil War. Though I'm a bit skeptical, I'd never discount someone else's experience. But many a strange sound, smell, sudden chill, can possibly be explained by topography and air currents. Three people whom I consider reliable witnesses have told me of their own experiences, one involving Gettysburg. Years ago, a co-worker who had toured the battlefield said the guide mentioned historians' uncertainty about the direction some troops had come from. I don't remember the location. My co-worker said time suddenly seemed to slow down, and as she looked over the site, some movement of soldiers in slow motion caught her eye. The vision ended abruptly, and she said to the guide, "They came from over there." The other thing I recall about her account is she said she was of Welsh ancestry. I recall that because so am I.

My only experience of an odd feeling about the battlefield was on a walk past Pardee Field one bright sunlit morning. I was with friends and was walking a dog, who seemed to notice nothing unusual. I had a fleeting unsettling feeling of a brooding darkness and vulnerable exposure to harm. I hadn't yet learned about the battle action there or the 1st (now 2nd) Maryland's loss of their dog Grace. The feeling lasted only seconds, and I attached no significance to it.

 

[Kurtlg]

Please do share.

I would be interested to know as well. Over 40 years ago I heard footsteps in my great grandfather's old farm house. I was completely alone. This was a bit before 11:30PM. Years later a friend who was staying there heard the same thing. About 5 years ago I met a person who did ghost hunting and told her my story. I met her at the house and she and her son set up their equipment. They were able to record 4 footsteps at about the same time in the evening. She was disappointed because she had only recorded 4 footsteps. What I hadn't told her was that I and my friend had only heard 4 footsteps years before. So what is it ? Supernatural? By definition yes. Ghostly ? No. I think there is a physical phenomenon where things from the past can repeat or reveal themselves through a not yet understood physical process. In my case two people heard it and another recorded it , but over the years many friends and family members stayed there and no one else heard the footsteps

 

[Cato3rd]

Please do share.

I want to preface this because I'm not some crunchy hippy who collects crystals and lives in a van. But I do think the hippies of the 1970s were onto something talking about calcified pineal glands from modern diets /environments which were inhibiting people from experiencing spiritual things. The English writer William Blake, "Book of Urizen", talks about these spiritual emanations that pierce the mind. They're basically muses for artistic and spiritual inspiration. Even the idea of consciousness from David Chalmers, "philosophical zombie hypothesis", believes consciousness is coming from an external source into the brain. Maybe part of a healthy pineal gland in receiving consciousness is also responsible for perceiving the supernatural. I do think certain people are just born more sensitive to this stuff. I know my dad's whole side of the family is pretty sensitive to perceiving the supernatural. They don't like talking about it because it makes you sound like a schizophrenic in polite company. I do think some of these things "feed" off human energy, especially highly emotional times or people, to manifest. That's why you hear about a rise in supernatural activity when kids are going through puberty or why women on average seem to be more perceptive of this stuff. Think of Pennywise from the Stephen King book/movie IT. The monster purposely goes after kids because it's easier.

That's my 2 cents on the topic. I'm not totally sure to be honest. I wrestle with this question because I've heard/read others experiences along with my own. I have no idea if I have the right answer.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

But I do think the hippies of the 1970s were onto something talking about calcified pineal glands from modern diets /environments which were inhibiting people from experiencing spiritual things. The English writer William Blake, "Book of Urizen", talks about these spiritual emanations that pierce the mind. They're basically muses for artistic and spiritual inspiration. Even the idea of consciousness from David Chalmers, "philosophical zombie hypothesis", believes consciousness is coming from an external source into the brain. Maybe part of a healthy pineal gland in receiving consciousness is also responsible for perceiving the supernatural. I do think certain people are just born more sensitive to this stuff. I know my dad's whole side of the family is pretty sensitive to perceiving the supernatural. They don't like talking about it because it makes you sound like a schizophrenic in polite company. I do think some of these things "feed" off human energy, especially highly emotional times or people, to manifest. That's why you hear about a rise in supernatural activity when kids are going through puberty or why women on average seem to be more perceptive of this stuff. Think of Pennywise from the Stephen King book/movie IT. The monster purposely goes after kids because it's easier.

Thank for sharing.

Given my lifetime of vivid dreams, I would think my pineal gland is fairly healthy - at least with regard to melatonin production. And yet I've had absolutely no supernatural experiences anywhere.

The more emotional someone is, the less rational they are and thus the more likely they are to misperceive something, including to believe something they experienced was supernatural.

Conversely, the idea that something can only be perceived when people are irrational would essentially mean it would be impossible to study rationally and scientifically.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

I would be interested to know as well. Over 40 years ago I heard footsteps in my great grandfather's old farm house. I was completely alone. This was a bit before 11:30PM. Years later a friend who was staying there heard the same thing. About 5 years ago I met a person who did ghost hunting and told her my story. I met her at the house and she and her son set up their equipment. They were able to record 4 footsteps at about the same time in the evening. She was disappointed because she had only recorded 4 footsteps. What I hadn't told her was that I and my friend had only heard 4 footsteps years before. So what is it ? Supernatural? By definition yes. Ghostly ? No. I think there is a physical phenomenon where things from the past can repeat or reveal themselves through a not yet understood physical process. In my case two people heard it and another recorded it , but over the years many friends and family members stayed there and no one else heard the footsteps

I think that depends on your definition of "supernatural."

To me, there is a significant difference between unexplained and unexplainable.

Three people on three separate occasions heard what sounded to them like four footsteps. If they were in fact footsteps that is supernatural, but there may be something else about the house that causes noises that sound like footsteps.

Carysfort Reef Lighthouse in the Florida Keys was thought to be haunted a long time because of strange sounds heard over the years. Eventually it was determined the sounds were caused by an expansion and contraction of the iron in the tropical sun, perhaps in ways unique to the construction of that particular lighthouse such as being the only iron lighthouse built with non-galvanized iron.

 

[Cato3rd]

Thank for sharing.

Given my lifetime of vivid dreams, I would think my pineal gland is fairly healthy - at least with regard to melatonin production. And yet I've had absolutely no supernatural experiences anywhere.

The more emotional someone is, the less rational they are and thus the more likely they are to misperceive something, including to believe something they experienced was supernatural.

Conversely, the idea that something can only be perceived when people are irrational would essentially mean it would be impossible to study rationally and scientifically.

All good points, I don't know. I personally like the Thomistic view of metaphysics and epistemology to understand the world. The ability of "right reason" in humans can lead to an understanding of the unknown. I think there is a good amount of experiences that can be rationally explained but I don't know about that remaining part. I think anyone who is intellectually honest at least allows room for the unexplainable

 

[Kurtlg]

I think that depends on your definition of "supernatural."

To me, there is a significant difference between unexplained and unexplainable.

Three people on three separate occasions heard what sounded to them like four footsteps. If they were in fact footsteps that is supernatural, but there may be something else about the house that causes noises that sound like footsteps.

Carysfort Reef Lighthouse in the Florida Keys was thought to be haunted a long time because of strange sounds heard over the years. Eventually it was determined the sounds were caused by an expansion and contraction of the iron in the tropical sun, perhaps in ways unique to the construction of that particular lighthouse such as being the only iron lighthouse built with non-galvanized iron.

One definition is something beyond known science. As far as the footsteps , when I heard them it was a dead calm night in early June. It was not the house settling. It was distinctive steps I could hear coming up the short flight of steps that turned East off the main staircase. They were on the other side of the wall in the bed I was in. I was wide awake studying a county map book to find some feeder streams of a river I was planning on fishing the next morning. My first thought was that someone else was in the house. This is a fairly remote house in northern Michigan and at the time the road out front was gravel and you could hear another car coming a long way away. I knew I had locked the doors and even if I hadn't the front door stuck and you had to push on it very hard to open it . I did not share the story for many years because I knew everyone would scoff at it saying it was the house settling.AsI said it was absolutely dead calm that night.I could hear a barred owl calling at the edge of the woods over a hundred yards away. The friend who witnessed it after me was in the same bed and heard exactly 4 steps at about the same time as I did. I do not believe in ghosts or spirits but as I said I believe there is some type of time shift or other physical phenomenon that physicists may discover some day. I was a biology major and a history minor in college many decades ago and always consider things from a. scientific manner. I seek multiple sources and remain skeptical of things I haven't researched myself.

 

[Story]

Follow me on this - Gettysburg 1998 reenactment, I was wandering around with my 35mm capturing moments in the day(s) before the reenactment began. IIRC, I was standing on a big pile (of tailings?) overlooking the Confederate camp, downslope and extending away for over 100 yards (it was a big sea of tents).

I swung my camera left to right, taking overlapping shots as fast as I could manually wind it (3 seconds?) so I could get a panorama view of their camp.

[Point of clarification: I was looking perpendicularly down a 'street' between the considerable # of rows of tents]

Post-event, I've laid out the prints on a long rectatngular piece of cardboard and while checking the overlaps, noticed four Confederates in one print... but not the next.

Yup, they're there.

Nope, they're not there.​

Yup, they're there.

Nope, they're not there.​

Yup, they're there.

Nope, they're not there.​

The most likely explanation is that all four were reenactors who clown-car'd into one tent during the heartbeats it took me to wind and shoot.

The most interesting explanation was that I caught four Johnny haints in broad daylight wandering about shocked that the living would willingly subject themselves to camp life in the Pennsylvania weather of any given July.

​

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

So has anyone felt that they have experienced anything supernatural at a Civil War site? Feelings, sightings, anything?

---John
PS....who wishes he could actually see a ghost someday at a battle site colonial or post colonial....

Not at all.

 

[ColonelBuckwalter]

Over a period of a few days in the late 90s I went to Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, The Wilderness, abd Spotsylvania.

At the Wilderness I got a sensation of dread. Like I was walking into the very worst place on earth. Like I shouldn't have been there.

My wife and I went on a ghost hunt in St Augustine that made our hair stand on end, but thet is the closest I can say for a battlefield.