The American Civil War saw over 500,000 men die in four years. Major battlefields hold the remains of thousands of men who were killed in a matter of a few hours. Gettysburg is well known for being a site of the paranormal; there is a ghost tour that takes people to areas on the battlefield where ghostly sightings have occurred.
Gettysburg is not the only battlefield that is reported to be haunted. Several are noted for the sighting of apparitions and the sounds of gunfire and cannon. Some men could not drift away into the ether but stayed where they fell.
The Ghosts of Shiloh
Shiloh was one of the bloodiest battles of the war. Over 3500 men were killed during the engagement. We do not have any figures about the number who died of their wounds later. The battlefield area is reputed to be haunted, and there are several reports of spectral activity, including:
• Random gunfire
• A small pond that turns the color of blood
• The beating of drums throughout the grounds of Shiloh and cannon fire coming from the Hornets’ Nest area
• White, blurry images in photos taken within Old Shiloh Church
• A ghostly figure walking the earth near the Peach Orchard
• Unaccounted for screams and moans.
These suggest the sounds of battle and men dying. We have no idea how many of the fallen have made Shiloh their forever home.
Old Green Eyes
Chickamauga is a Cherokee expression meaning River of Death. It is a gruesome but accurate description of what occurred on September 19-20, 1863, when Confederate forces under Braxton Bragg surprised Union troops led by William Rosecrans. The battle killed approximately 4000 men, but there are historical estimates that as high as 70% of all the casualties died directly on the field or from their wounds afterward. The area that now is the Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park is noted for paranormal experiences. One of the specters reported to haunt the battlefield is Green Eyes.
Legend has it that Green Eyes is a soldier who lost his head because of a cannonball and is spending eternity trying to find his dislocated body. The legend of Green Eyes started soon after the war ended. Edward Tinney, a former historian, and chief ranger at the Park has the most riveting story about this ghost.
According to the old ranger, before dawn in 1976, Tinney encountered a man who stood out from ordinary tourists. The stranger was more than 6 feet tall and wore a long black duster with shaggy black hair. Tinney was afraid that the man would attack him and crossed to the other side of the road he was walking on. When the man came close to Tinney, he gave the frightened ranger a devilish grin with glistening eyes. At that moment, a car went down the road, and once its headlights hit the ghost, Green Eyes vanished. Tinney was not the only person who met this being from another world.
In 1980, Denise Smith took a shortcut home through the Park and drove down a foggy road. As she related her story:
“.. It was rainy and foggy, so I was going real slow. I was going through the S-curve past Wilder Tower, when I saw something big in the road about eye level, and all I could see were these big green eyes. I got closer and it just disappeared.:
Ms. Smith refused to be near the Park after dark since that encounter. However, other visitors have seen Green Eyes in other shapes.
These are not the only sightings that have occurred in the Park. Another apparition known as the Lady In White has been seen near Snodgrass Hill, dressed in a white wedding gown and looking for her long-dead lover. Snodgrass Hill has also been a place where battle sounds, and ghostly mists have been noted.
The Scariest Battleground in Mississippi
Vicksburg is said to be the most haunted battleground in the state of Mississippi. There have been unusual occurrences in the Vicksburg National Military Park. The Pennsylvania Monument in the Park features the faces of several Pennsylvania commanders, and these faces have been reported to cry tears of blood on occasion. Apparitions of soldiers, sounds of battle and shouted orders have been seen and heard throughout the park grounds. The city and Champion Hill, the scene of one of the bloodied engagements in the Vicksburg campaign, also report spectral sightings.
Are these shades real? We may never know in this life. Something to keep in mind is that many battles of the Civil War were fought in the countryside near marshes and wetlands. Some of these apparitions may be nothing more than fog or vapors rising from a nearby swamp. The sightings are riddles that do not have answers.
Many who died on the battlefield were cut down in their life’s prime. Some of these were teenagers who never had a chance to enjoy life, and their ghosts may feel cheated. If the paranormal specialists are to be believed, these lost souls wander around trying to relive their final minutes on earth. If spirits are roaming the green fields, they are the sad legacy of a war that ripped the nation’s soul.
Civil War Vacations! 