Tales of
ghost
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...
s from the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
have been popularly shared since its end. Among the locales that have become known for Civil War ghost stories are the
Sharpsburg battlefield near
Sharpsburg, Maryland
Sharpsburg is a town in Washington County, Maryland. The town is approximately south of Hagerstown. Its population was 705 at the 2010 census.
During the American Civil War, the Battle of Antietam, sometimes referred to as the Battle of Sharpsb ...
; the
Chickamauga battlefield in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
;
Harper's Ferry, West Virginia
Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, where the U.S. stat ...
;
Buras, Louisiana
Buras is a census-designated place (CDP) in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, United States. Its population was 945 at the 2010 census, and 1,109 in 2020. Prior to the 2010 census, Buras was considered to be part of the Buras-Triumph CDP.
History
...
; and
Warren, Arkansas
Warren is a city in and the county seat of Bradley County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 6,003.
History
When settlers from the east began to arrive in south Arkansas, the land was inhabited by the indigenous ...
.
Gettysburg
The
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...
was the largest battle in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
. It has many ghost stories. The
Soldiers' Orphanage cellar is said to make
psychic
A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws, ...
s too afraid to enter the house, due to its legend. The Herr Tavern was built in 1815, but during the battle it was used as the first Confederate hospital at Gettysburg, where
amputation
Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indi ...
s often resulted in limbs being thrown out through the window to be collected later, only for many of the soldiers to die afterward. As a result, four of the guest rooms are said to be haunted, and the rooms are numbered so that there is no room 13.
The interest of ghosts and Gettysburg remains to the present day. In recent times, people have claimed to have seen ghost soldiers, and sometimes even ghost battles, in many places around
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Gettysburg (; non-locally ) is a borough and the county seat of Adams County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The Battle of Gettysburg (1863) and President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address are named for this town.
Gettysburg is home to th ...
. Eight separate companies offer ghost tours in Gettysburg—some seasonally, and some all year.
A book, ''Ghosts of Gettysburg: Spirits, Apparitions and Haunted Places of the Battlefield'', by Mark Nesbitt, detailed the reports of
ghost
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...
ly apparitions in the area where the
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...
took place in July 1863.
Other battlefields
A battle did not need to be major for ghosts stories to be made about it. A farmhouse in northern Georgia is claimed to be haunted by a ghost associated with The Battle of Kolb Farm.
One of the bloodiest battles was the
Battle of Sharpsburg
The Battle of Antietam (), or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union G ...
. Tales of Union and Confederate ghost sightings exist, that are reportedly seen placing and firing at each other with artillery on the battlefield.
Lincoln's ghost
![WILLIE](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/WILLIE.JPG)
Abraham Lincoln has long been said to haunt the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
.
First Lady
First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...
Grace Coolidge
Grace may refer to:
Places United States
* Grace, Idaho, a city
* Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois
* Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office
* Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an unin ...
, wife of President
Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...
, was the first to claim to spot Lincoln's ghost. She claimed to see Lincoln looking at the
Potomac River
The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...
sadly from the
Oval Office
The Oval Office is the formal working space of the President of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C.
The oval-shaped room ...
.
Carl Sandburg
Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg ...
claimed to have "sensed" Lincoln do the same as well. Both
Queen Wilhelmina
Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World Wa ...
of the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...
allegedly saw Lincoln's ghost during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
in the
Lincoln Bedroom
The Lincoln Bedroom is a bedroom which is part of a guest suite located in the southeast corner of the second floor of the White House in Washington, D.C. The Lincoln Sitting Room makes up the other part of the suite. The room is named for Presid ...
(Lincoln's office during the war); the Queen admitted to fainting after seeing Lincoln in his
top hat
A top hat (also called a high hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditionally m ...
.
Margaret Truman
Mary Margaret Truman Daniel (February 17, 1924 – January 29, 2008) was an American classical soprano, actress, journalist, radio and television personality, writer, and New York socialite. She was the only child of President Harry S. Truman a ...
heard a tapping sound attributed to the ghost so often that
Harry Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
ordered the White House renovated.
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...
's daughter
Susan Ford made a point of never sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom, out of fear of Lincoln's ghost.
Maureen Reagan
Maureen Elizabeth Reagan (January 4, 1941 – August 8, 2001) was an American political activist and the first child of U.S. president Ronald Reagan and his first wife, actress Jane Wyman. Her brother is Michael Reagan and her half-siblings ar ...
claimed to see Lincoln's ghost in the Lincoln Bedroom as well during the administration of her father,
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
. Others who have sensed or reportedly seen Lincoln's ghost were
Harry Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
and
Fala
The Armed Forces of the Liberation of Angola ( pt, Forças Armadas de Libertação de Angola) or FALA was the armed wing of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), a prominent political faction during the Angolan Civil ...
. Lincoln's ghost was reportedly seen outside of the White House as well. In
Loundonville, New York, Lincoln's ghost was said to haunt a house that was owned by a woman who was present at
Ford's Theatre
Ford's Theatre is a theater located in Washington, D.C., which opened in August 1863. The theater is infamous for being the site of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the theater box ...
when Lincoln was shot by
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838 – April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who assassinated United States President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the prominent 19th-century Booth th ...
. Other Lincoln hauntings included his grave in
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...
, a portrait of
Mary Todd Lincoln
Mary Ann Todd Lincoln (December 13, 1818July 16, 1882) served as First Lady of the United States from 1861 until the assassination of her husband, President Abraham Lincoln in 1865.
Mary Lincoln was a member of a large and wealthy, slave-owning ...
and a phantom train on nights in April along the same path his funeral train followed from Washington, D.C. to Springfield.
The last sighting of Lincoln's ghost was in the early 1980s, when Tony Savoy, White House operations foreman, came into the White House and saw Lincoln sitting in a chair at the top of some stairs.
[Belanger, Jeff. ''The World's Most Haunted Places: From the Secret Files of Ghostvillage.com.'' New York: Career Press, 2004. ]
Lincoln's son
Willie
Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to:
People Given name or nickname
* Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scree ...
died during Lincoln's presidency. A White House maid during
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
's administration reported seeing the ghost of the dead boy.
Elsewhere
The
Beauregard-Keyes House
The Beauregard-Keyes House is a historic residence located at 1113 Chartres Street in the French Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana. It is currently a museum, the BK Historic House and Gardens, that focuses on the past residents and associates of the ...
in
is said to be haunted by the ghost of Confederate general
P.G.T. Beauregard
Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard (May 28, 1818 - February 20, 1893) was a Confederate general officer of Louisiana Creole descent who started the American Civil War by leading the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Today, he is commonly ...
and an entire regiment of ghost soldiers reenacting the
Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh (also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing) was fought on April 6–7, 1862, in the American Civil War. The fighting took place in southwestern Tennessee, which was part of the war's Western Theater. The battlefield i ...
, perhaps Beauregard's worst defeat and a battle that took place 415 miles away in southwest
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
.
Fort Davidson Battlefield in Pilot Knob, Missouri is said to have some activity such as hearing cannons going off in the middle of the night, and spirits and shadows of soldiers walking or running by. This has been confirmed by multiple Civil War reenactors.
The Rossborough Inn on the
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
campus is said to be haunted by a Confederate soldier who camped on the college grounds, a man who lost a duel in front of the Inn, and most famously, Miss Bettie, who managed the Inn during the Civil War. The Inn served as the headquarters of
Confederate Army
The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...
General
Bradley Tyler Johnson
Bradley Tyler Johnson (September 29, 1829 – October 5, 1903) was an American lawyer, soldier, and writer. Although his home state of Maryland remained in the Union during the American Civil War, Johnson owned and traded slaves, and accord ...
and his cavalry brigade in 1864, while the nearby campus was occupied by both Union and Confederate soldiers.
See also
*
List of ghosts
The following is a list of ghosts:
African folklore
* Adze, Ewe vampiric being
* Amadlozi, Nguni spiritual figures
* Asanbosam, Akan vampire
* Egbere, Yoruban malevolent spirit
* Kishi, Angolan two-faced demon
* Madam Koi Koi, Nigerian gho ...
Notes
Literature
*Coleman, Christopher K. ''Ghosts and Haunts of the Civil War'' (Nashville: Routledge Hill Press, 1998).
*Coleman, Christopher K. ''The Paranormal Presidency of Abraham Lincoln'' (Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 2012).
*Nesbitt, Mark ''Ghosts of Gettysburg Vols. I-VIII'' (Gettysburg: self published).
*Roberts, Nancy ''Civil War Ghosts and Legends'' (Columbia, SC: Univ. SC Press, 1992).
References
*
*
*
*
{{Ghosts
Cultural history of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...