Halloween is still pretty far, but that would not stop us from telling some of the spooky and chilling stories of the Civil War.
Silhouette of a person. (Source: Mads Schmidt Rasmussen/Unsplash)
Halloween is still pretty far, but that would not stop us from telling some spooky and chilling stories from the Civil War. The soldiers that fought in that conflict were long gone, at least in the physical world. However, there were many tales that those who perished were still with us, even when they were long gone.
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We might be familiar with who fought the American Civil War, what they fought for, and how the war ended. But, not every one of us has heard of some chilling accounts. According to some tales, some of these perished souls were still fighting the war that was long over.
“Thank God, I’m Saved”
St. Peter’s Catholic Church is an elegant structure built with native stone and beautiful Tiffany windows with impressive marble inside. The church was built in the 1830s and was restored in 1889. The church sits high above Harper’s Ferry in West Virginia. To the locals and tourists, the place was known as one of the most haunted places that survived the Civil War era.
West Virginia, St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church. (Nothereeither, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
St. Peter’s served as a hospital for the wounded during the war. One time, a young Catholic soldier was brought to the church due to his wounds. However, his wounds did not look as severe as the others, so he was placed outside. Those with painful wounds and injuries were prioritized. He waited outside until sunset and as life slowly dripped away with every drop of his blood. When he was finally carried across the church’s threshold, he whispered weakly, “Thank God, I’m saved.”
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However, the young soldier died.
Now at sunset, witnesses swore that sometimes, when the sun begins to set at the church’s threshold, they would hear a weak voice saying, “Thank God, I’m saved.”
One of the most sighted ghosts of Old Fort Jackson was of a Confederate private named Patrick Garrity.
According to stories, Garrity had issues with his superior, Lieutenant Geoge Dickerson. One night, Dickerson approached Garrity while on guard duty near the drawbridge. Without warning and unknown, the private assaulted his superior by bludgeoning him with his musket, cracking the victim’s skull in four places. Garrity immediately fled the scene and jumped into the moat, where he unfortunately drowned. On the other hand, Dickerson survived the attack, although he was forced to step down from his position.
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Today, a ghostly image is often sighted at the place where Garrity attacked Dickerson, with the apparition dressed in a Confederate uniform. He is seen walking along the parade ground or standing near the drawbridge. Sometimes, the image would only be from the waist up.
Garrity was not the only one. One time, a cleaning lady heard some strange noises, and when she turned around, she came face to face with a Confederate soldier glaring at her and standing in the doorway before vanishing.
The Devil’s Den
Gettysburg witnessed one of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War, so there’s no wonder why there were plenty of ghost stories surrounding the area. One of these stories was about the collection of boulders on top of a hill called the Devil’s Den in Pennsylvania.
During the war, the area was called Slaughter Pen due to the number of people who died there. About 3,000 died in that place, and the nearby creek turned red with the soldiers’ blood.
Today, reports said that a barefoot man wearing shabby clothes and a floppy hat would usually appear to provide directions to the tourists, saying, “What you’re looking for is over there.” The man’s description matches the appearance of a group of men from Texas who fought in the Battle of Gettysburg.
Devil’s Den, Gettysburg Battlefield. (Wilson44691, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)
If you’re interested to know more ghost stories, then you might want to read these chilling and hair-raising Vietnam War ghost encounters.
