Top 10 Haunted Military Forts And Battlefields
Whether or not you believe in the paranormal, you can probably agree
that some places are simply creepy. Old hospitals, abandoned insane
asylums, empty prisons, and most low end strip clubs immediately spring
to mind. And of course you have to include places like battlefields and
old military forts, where people were brutally killed or wounded during
insanely bloody battles. Lots of those places simply give people the
creeps, and after reading this list of 10 haunted forts and
battlefields, you’ll probably understand why.
10. Fort Meigs
Back before he was a United States president, William Henry Harrison was a general. During the War of 1812, he established Fort Meigs
just south of Toledo, Ohio, and successfully defended it against
British attacks for over a year before it was finally abandoned and
burned down. Because after all, who needs a fort proven to be highly
defendable?
These days, people claim to hear cannon fire, muskets, and the sounds
of fifes and drums being played, and no one can explain exactly what is
causing those sounds. Still more people have stated they hear footsteps
and, when walking around outside, have seen apparitions staring at them
through the windows. It’s believed that over 500 dead Americans,
British, and Indian soldiers are buried in unmarked graves around and
underneath the fort, which was reconstructed and opened to the public in
1974.
9. Fort William Henry
If you have ever read The Last of the Mohicans, or at least watched one of the movie versions, you are familiar with Fort William Henry.
Located on Lake George in upstate New York, it was a fort used in the
French and Indian War. Of course there is a chance you may have become
familiar with the fort through another means: an episode of the
television show Ghost Hunters, since rumor has it that Fort William
Henry is one of the most haunted military sites in America.
There are ghost tours offered at Fort William Henry, with reports
over the years of lights turning on and off as well as the sounds of
unexplained footsteps, as well as wind chimes sounding despite the
absence of any actual wind. The fort was home to a massacre during the
skirmish between Indians and British soldiers, with some believing that
the spirits from both sides of the conflict still roam the grounds.
8. Stoney Creek
Going back to the War of 1812, but this time hopping across the
border and into Canada, we move now to Stoney Creek. Located in Ontario,
Stoney Creek
was home to Mary Jones Gage and her family. Her husband, who had fought
for the British, had died during the American Revolution, and then in
1813 invading American troops stormed the home with the hopes of taking
it as their headquarters. The next day, the Battle of Stoney Creek broke
out with the Gage family holed up in the basement of their posh home.
Unlike most of our other entries on this list, the Stoney Creek home
once owned by the Gage family is not said to be haunted only by deceased
soldiers but by Mary Jones Gage herself, whose family had been at one
point held captive by American forces during that fateful battle. These
days it is believed Gage still haunts the grounds. She died in 1841, and
before she could be laid to rest her body and headstone disappeared. In
addition to Gage haunting the actual home, there have been reports of
misty figures who appeared to be soldiers marching in the area,
apparently headed to battle.
7. Battle Abbey
In 1066, the Battle of Hastings took place with King Harold II and
7,500 of his Saxons defending against the invading Norman conquest of
William, Duke of Normandy. William defeated Harold, and an abbey
was built on Senlac Hill with the high altar said to have been placed
on the very spot where King Harold perished. Apparently building an
abbey on the site of that much bloodshed was a bad idea, considering
that over the years there have been numerous bizarre reports.
Apparently, most of the sightings are of ghostly monks rather than
soldiers, with visitors claiming to have seen re-enactors dressed in
robes wandering the grounds only to be later informed that there were no
re-enactors employed at the time. There are some other claims, such as
the high altar bleeding and a soldier marching through the Great Hall
carrying a sword, but those tales are considerably less substantiated.
6. Fort Concho
Built in 1867 in San Angelo, Texas, as an outpost to protect the frontier settlers in West Texas, Fort Concho
operated for more than 20 years. Among the commanders who served there
was Pecos Bill himself, William Shafter, and today it is considered an
historical landmark sitting on 1,600 acres. It saw numerous battles over
the years, and its soldiers helped put down the Comanchero Movement,
which saw illegal profiteering between Mexican and American traders.
These days, however, it is more famous for being haunted by several
ghosts, including the spirits of James Cunningham, George Dunbar, Edith
Grierson, and Ranald MacKenzie. MacKenzie was the most famous commander
at Fort Concho, and visitors claim to have seen him appear as an
apparition throughout the fort, particularly in Officers Row, where he
lived for the duration of his time at Fort Concho. The other three,
including the spirit of 12 year old Grierson, have been spotted
throughout the facility over the years.
5. Marston Moor
The Battle of Marston Moor
was fought on July 2, 1644 during the First English Civil War. 4,000
members of the Royalist side were killed in what was a decisive victory
for the Parliamentarians, with Oliver Cromwell leading the victors.
Cromwell used the Old Hall in the village was used as a base of
operations by Cromwell, and according to legend, he’s there to this day,
haunting the grounds.
Oh, and that’s not even mentioning the fact that, apparently, the
spirits of the Royalists who were slain in battle still roam the area.
There have been reports over the years of phantom soldiers marching in
Marston Moor, including possible sightings in 1932, 1968, and 1992, when
people reportedly observed long haired, finely dressed soldiers
marching along the roads.
4. Cold Harbor Battlefield
The Battle of Cold Harbor
took place from May 31 to June 12, 1864 during the American Civil War,
and is considered one of the bloodiest battles in United States history.
Union general Ulysses Grant led his men against Confederate general
Robert E. Lee in what would turn into a bloodbath, with the Confederates
decimating Grant’s troops through the course of the two weeks of
fighting. It was one of the last battles for Grant, and one that he
would call one of his largest regrets.
The Cold Harbor battlefield is also believed to be one of the most
haunted military sites in America, with locals reportedly hearing sounds
of the battle to the point where cannon fire, gun fire, and the sounds
of screaming men are sometimes reported in the local newspaper. Tourists
claim to still smell gunpowder when they visit the historical landmark,
and both the Cold Harbor National Cemetery and the Garthright House,
located across the street, are said to be haunted by the spirit of a
young girl.
3. Dieppe
The Dieppe Raid,
also known as Operation Jubilee, was a precursor to the Normandy
Invasion during World War II. Consisting of primarily Canadian soldiers
along with some British and a few Americans, the operation commenced on
August 19, 1942 and between the hours of 5:00 a.m., when it began, and
2:00 p.m., when the battle ended, the attack proved to be a failure for
the Allies. The casualties numbered more than 4,000 before the Allied
forces retreated back across the English Channel.
Fast forward to 1951, when a pair of tourists were vacationing in
Puys, nearby to Dieppe, and at 4:00 a.m. they were awakened by what
sounded like gunfire, shouting voices, and other sounds of battle coming
from the beach nearby their hotel. For the next three hours, they
listened to the events unfold and documented all of the sounds they
heard, and later the Society for Paranormal Research determined that
their notes matched up almost to the second to the Dieppe Raid on that
exact same beach.
2. Antietam
The American Civil War was an incredibly bloody affair, to put it
mildly. However, nowhere was this more evident than at the Battle of Antietam,
which took place on September 17, 1862 on Antietam Creek in Maryland.
The battle lasted four hours in this tiny area, and the casualties were
astonishing. In that one small span of time, more than 23,000 men were
killed, wounded, or missing in action. Today, the small road near
Antietam Creek where the battle took place is known as Bloody Lane, for
very good reason.
Today, the sound of gunfire and smell of gunpowder is often reported
at Bloody Lane, and visitors have claimed to have both seen and heard
spirits in the area. Virtually everything surrounding the Battle of
Antietam has had reports of haunting, from Burnside’s Bridge, where
Ambrose Burnside’s Union soldiers pushed back the Confederates and where
the dead were quickly buried in shallow, unmarked graves, to the nearby
St. Paul Episcopal Church, which was used as a Confederate hospital in
the aftermath of the battle. According to the local legends, the
floorboards of the church are so stained in blood that not even
sandpaper will take it out.
1. Gettysburg
If Antietam was the bloodiest single battle in the American Civil War, Gettysburg
is the most famous and, over the course of several days, became one of
its bloodiest with more than 50,000 men killed, wounded, or missing.
Fought from July 1 through July 3, 1863 in the small town in
southeastern Pennsylvania, the Battle of Gettysburg is viewed as the
turning point for the Union in the Civil War.
And in the 140 years since the battle was fought, you’d be hard
pressed to find anyone who visited to Gettysburg who does not have some
spooky story to share. At the Daniel Lady Farm, which served as the
Confederate field hospital, it is believed that more than 10,000
deceased soldiers still haunt the grounds. Cashtown Inn, where the first
soldier in the Battle of Gettysburg was killed, also has some bizarre
tales, and the owners claim to have photographic evidence of spirits on
the premises, as well as guests reporting hearing knocking on doors,
lights turning on and off, and doors locking and unlocking themselves.
Those are only a small sampling of the alleged ghostly sightings, which
have also been reported at the Gettysburg Hotel and the Baladerry Inn,
as well as on the battlefields themselves.
Tag :
History
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