In 2005 I took a two week vacation with my Mother, daughter and cousin along the East coast. Our vacation started in Virginia, then Washington DC, New York City, Philadelphia, Rhode Island and Boston MA. Since many of the places we went to have so much history and reports of ghostly activity, I thought that I would do a blog series on that vacation. I will start with Newport News, Virginia, where my Aunts, Uncles, many cousins live, and where my Father grew up. On one of the evenings of our visit, several of my cousins came over and we chatted about our lives. I found out that one of my cousins was a Civil War re-enactor. He and many others would put on Confederate and Yankee uniforms and meet on the battlefields where all the action took place. He is a southern boy so he would wear a full Confederate uniform, from head to toe, with whatever pistols or fighting gear was necessary for the re-enactment. These battles were carefully orchestrated by historians and other Civil War experts. A distance away from the battlefields was the spectators or news media, watching the whole event as it unfolds. I think it would fun to watch them re-enact a battle. He told us the stories about the night before the battle that turned out to be just as fascinating as the battle recreations themselves. Some of the private owners of the plantation properties around the area, allowed some of the participants to pitch tents or sleep in the cabins that are on the property as long as they respect the land. (I'm sorry but I can't remember the name of the plantation that he stayed on and haven't seen him since 2005.) The cabins were where the plantation owner's slaves would live. It was well known to those that have camped on one particular property for several years. that one of the cabins near the back of one of the property is haunted. No one ever stays there because whatever is there doesn't want visitors and is not shy in letting them know. One time a new member to the re-enactment group was staying in the cabin next to the "haunted" cabin. There was lots of noise in that cabin and he couldn't sleep. He thought that someone was partying in the cabin and went over to tell them to be quiet. My cousin was staying in another cabin nearby and watched this all unfold. He saw the guy march to the cabin angry, go inside, and then ran out like his britches were on fire. The man said that someone or something told him to 'get out' in an angry voice but no one was in there. He never went near the cabin after that. My cousin said that the night was like a dead calm, eerie quiet and pitch black unless there was a full moon. While you are lying in bed, you were overcome with the feeling like you are not alone, almost like some unseen thing was in there with you. Some have reported seeing apparitions walking through the property, ignoring the living, moving around and repeating the same thing over and over. No one felt threatened by any of the spirits that may still reside on the property, so they didn't mind staying there. As for the "haunted" cabin, they just respected the angry ghosts wishes and stayed away.
On the day of the battle recreations, the feeling and reported sightings of ghosts have been witnessed on the battlefields as well. While the battle was going on, or after it was over, some say they noticed opaque soldiers on the field still fighting the battle. For some of the re-enactors they do this because they love it and others to honor those who lost their lives in the war, perhaps a family ancestor. With all the bloody deaths from the Civil War in Virginia, it’s not surprising that along with the human re-enactors that some of the ghost soldiers from the war are joining in on the fighting too.
There have been many sightings of battle scenes being played out by witnesses on many famous battlefields like Gettysburg. Many visitors have thanked the park managers for the wonderful and realistic re-enactments of battles or soldiers marching in formation for them. In every case, there was never a re-enactments going on. I would love to hear from anyone who has done battlefield re-enactments or has seen one done by ghosts of the battles' past.
--Julie--
