foreverwingnut
New member
I've always been fascinated with unusual stories connected to important events in our history, so I wanted to open the floor for members to present strange, historical oddities and tales. This thread might be considered by some to be better suited in "Open Discussion" forum, but I felt that presenting it in "Archeology" forum would keep the subjects grounded in history. So that you'll understand what direction I'm taking here, I'll pass along a truly chilling article from the book, "Ghosts and Haunts of the Civil War" by Christopher K. Coleman: "...Throughout the first of July, Federal forces on the field (of Gettysburg)...Pushed back to Cemetery Ridge and its adjacent hills, the Union line held. On July 2nd, it was the left flank's turn in hell. Heavy Rebel assaults pounded advanced Federal positions...forcing them back toward the high ground...The Twentieth Maine was posted to the extreme left of the Union line; Col. Chamberlain's down-east regiment became the anchor on which the entire Federal line rested... As the Confederates closed on their position, it was clear they were in large numbers... Chamberlain admitted that "it did not seem possible to withstand another shock like this now coming on."... Defeat was imminent and with it, the collapse of the whole Union line- perhaps of the very Union itself... Something happened that turned certain defeat into utter and complete victory... According to the official version... Col. Chamberlain ordered his men to fix bayonets and charge... The fresh, well-armed Confederate force simply threw down their arms and surrendered!... Soon after the battle, reports filtered out that during the crisis point... an apparition appeared. The (Federal) troops, it was said, beheld a pale rider... dressed in antique costume. It rode along the thin, blue line of the Federals, and everywhere it passed, men picked up hope... The Rebels seemed to have seen the appartition as well. A number of them were seen to fire on it... bullets had no effect on it. Soon, the phantom rider, with its tricorner hat and turned-back coattails, had spread dismay and panic among the Rebel ranks... Inspired by the apparition, the Twentieth Maine moved forward behind him (the apparition), and despite their lack of numbers (and no ammo) their counter-attack proved irresistable... In discussing the incident afterwards, soldiers reported that the phantom rider closely resembled portraits they had seen of George Washington... there are a number of alternatives for explaining the unofficial reports of the ghostly leader... More than four score years before there had been another crisis point in American history... The winter of 1777 was a bad one, particularly for the troops at Valley Forge. The army nearly fell apart save for the leadership of one man- George Washington. And by all accounts, an apparition appeared to him, too. Anthony Sherman had been with Washington at Valley Forge that terrible winter and was at headquarters one day when the general emerged from his quarters procalining he had had the strangest encounter. Washington was alone in his quarters when the room around him grew luminous. By all account Washington witnessed "dark manifestations"- black clouds, lightning, and the light of a thousand suns. The vision (if that is what it was) then began to become more specific. Washington witnessed the "thundering of cannon, clashing of swords, and the shouts and cries of hundreds of thousands in mortal combat." Researchers... have interpreted at least part of his vision as a remarkable premonition of the American Civil War..." Pretty spooky, huh? So, Raven members, are you ready to share some of history's eeriest tales?
Last edited: