So have I; VERY true. Was a Reb re-enactor; THAT is a VERY haunted battlefield...
I’m going to start my own blog, writing creepy ghost stories, that I’ve personally encountered, as well as others. I have a paranormal Twitter account still, but lost all of my video footage off YouTube when I made my new metal detecting channel. I started out in 2008 with a metal detecting channel, then it grew in to the paranormal after one such siting that I couldn’t shake. As most have probably read on an old thread about the confederate soldier I saw while digging in the trenches I won’t get too far in to this one, but it goes as follows:
My late father, and son were hunting a confederate occupied camp, with my dad at the camp area about a good 200 yards or more away, I was on the ridge facing the north that had entrenchments dug every 10-12 ft across the northern edge of a bluff, facing a southern facing union occupied bluff. The union had cannons placed on top of the southern bluff, with the old military road cutting direction through the middle of both mountains, and lower valley. There was a small general store down in the valley, along the military road that had been ransacked by both union, and confederate troops. The owner of the store had a homestead as well on the upper northern facing ridge, along the road as well. With the watchful eyes of both union, and confederate commanders watching their opposing members side the union general, along with the confederate general both spotted one another along their fortified fronts. It didn’t take long before the cannons began firing from the south of the union army, as well as a few cannons strategically placed along side the confederate lines in hopes of keeping the union from advancing up the military road, and finding the confederates camp which was at a huge 180 acre farm, that had everything they would need. The confederate general had forced the farmer, and his family out, having food in the house, cows for milk, chickens, and even hogs, they had everything they needed, including the advantage of being the army with the upper hand because they held the highest position, as well as had trenches dug out just waiting for the right time for the men to begin firing, in case the union army began to charge the hill up the military road.
Cannons began to blast off, with the unions missing their targets, and the confederates hitting exactly as they had planned due to being at a much higher elevation as the union, and hitting their marks. The union began to abandon their fortifications, and do exactly as the confederates had hoped, they began running up the military road, and that’s when the confederates in their trenches began to lay a barrage of fire on them. To say the union weren’t prepared for that was a understatement, laying many men out in the road with the rest continuing to run up the hill, with another surprise waiting for the union once they reached the top of the hill.
As soon as the union army reached the top of the hill, and the few that strayed off towards the area of the trenches to take out those, they reached the summit, and into view of 8 confederate cannons waiting for them as soon as they hit the top of the ridge. As soon as the confederates saw them the Artillery commanding officer yelled “Fire”. The union army couldn’t see the cannons due to there being a small knoll in between them, and the cannons, but at the distance of the cannons the Artillery commander on his horse could see the union. The shells exploding above the heads of the union as precisely as the confederates had wanted. Upwards of 12-15 more union officers, and an estimated 20 plus horses were killed, along with 2-3 confederates who stayed behind watching the valley for more advancements.
In the end, their were approximately 18-20 union officers, staff, along with their horses killed, and only 5-6 confederates. The union army realized they couldn’t take the high ground of the confederate occupied hill, and ran back down the mountain to their side with the artillery still lobbing shells at them, and some more confederates chasing behind firing at them. Eventually the union ran approximately 2 more miles back to their main encampment, with numerous picket posts, along with a huge assortment of artillery. With the confederates winning that match the union army sat, and strategized for the upcoming battle within what would have been a few days.
Back to my story, dad was hunting closer to the camp, in a wooded area in the middle of a field, and as I left him to walk towards the trenches 200+ yards away from him, and out of view of one another due to woods, and that rise of the top of the mountain. I began to search each, and every trench listening for any signals even the faintest whisper of a signal I would dig. I found several on the outside of the trenches, with them hitting the berms in front of the dugout. As I began to get closer to another set that left a couple of confederates at a disadvantage due to their location watching another valley with their backs to the main military road I began to get a uneasy feeling like someone was watching me, or that feeling you get when your senses are alerted to something amiss. I shook it off as being uneasy due to not having anyone else around, and in the middle of the woods with thick foliage. As I headed to the 2-3 trenches that posed a risk to the soldiers who dug them I didn’t get any signals in or around two of them. I then hit the last one searching the outside, with no fired bullets in the berm, so I went in the dugout area, and found a dropped confederate sharpshooters bullet inside the dugout. As I began to concentrate a little harder in this one I began to really get the chills on the back of my neck. I looked around me, and didn’t see anything or hear anything. I got a very faint signal inside the dugout about a foot away from the next signal, it was about 10–12” deep, and very mushroomed out, and deformed beyond recognition of size other then seeing one recognizable ring at the bottom of that big blob. As I began to wipe it off I heard what sounded like a whistle, thinking it was my dad, I looked up out of the trench, and saw a soldier in a grey coat, with kepi hat on, dark colored beard, and grayish eyes. I sit there in awe, didn’t know what to do. His eyes weren’t fixated at me, they were as if he was looking off in the distance, and didn’t even recognize we were less than 100ft apart. He was completely recognizable from the waistline, with belt buckle on up. Below his belt he was more translucent. I thought “oh Sh*t”, I then thought maybe I’m just seeing things so I closed my eyes, opened them up again, and he was still there. I did it one more time, and he was gone. No noise, no nothing except a owl flying off from a tree in the same direction as he was standing.
I shagged a** towards where dad was at, taking me quiet a while because all my gear, also having to climb a hump of dugout dirt from a railroad that came through post civil war. As I neared my dad, I came up next to him, out of breathe, sweating, and he asked me what was wrong. I didn’t tell him at first, he then asked me “what did you find over there on the other side of me”? I said “ do what”, and he said “ I was digging a bullet, and I heard some leaves rustling over by the tree that sounded like someone digging with a shovel in the rocky soil”. I said “ DAD, I was 250-300 yards away from you until just now”. He said “ No, you weren’t because I asked you if you had a good signal, and you said yes”. I told him where I was at again, and we both put two, and two together, and decided well it’s time to get outta here for now.
Sadly we never got a chance to go back together. Dad was killed in a car accident about 3-4 months later, and I just never went back because it’s never felt right without him there, but hold that memory of what I saw, and the memory of dad, and I detecting out there together many, many times in the past, and have left that place as a solemn reminder of its past 150+ years ago, plus the memory of him, and I going on 2 years at that site. He’s been gone 5 years now, and I pass that place frequently, on the way to some other sites we hunt, and feel happy yet sad not being able to share all my new finds with him.
