The Great American History Blog: Virginia's Civil War Ghosts

Do ghosts from the American Civil War still walk amongst us, or are reported spectral visions and unearthly things that go bump in the night the product of over active imaginations? Virginia experienced twenty-six major battles and four hundred smaller engagements on her soil during the course of the war, giving ample opportunity for the creation of disgruntled spirits among those who died in battle.

The Spotsylvania battlefield is one place that the ghosts of Civil War soldiers appear. A fierce battle raged around Spotsylvania Court House on and off from May 8 through May 21, 1864. Over four thousand soldiers were killed. The Bloody Angle was the site of the longest, most savage hand-to-hand combat of the Civil War. In recent years, American Battlefield Ghost Hunters Society has investigated paranormal activity around the Bloody Angle, often sprinkling the area with pieces of beef jerky and chewing tobacco, which would have been luxuries at the time of the Civil War, to lure the spirits of dead soldiers to the spot. The group claims to have recorded the sounds cannonballs and musket fire, and has photographed misty figures said to be ghosts.

The Manassas Battlefield, in Prince William County, is also home to a number of Civil War spirits. During the Second Battle of Manassas, in 1862, the 5th New York Volunteer Infantry [Zouaves] sustained devastating losses. One veteran wrote, “Where the Regiment stood that day was the very vortex of Hell. Not only were men wounded, or killed, but they were riddled.” One of the dead may still haunt the area. A phantom Zouave soldier has been seen repeatedly on the battlefield’s New York Avenue Field. The phantom beckons the onlooker to follow him into the woods. To date, no one has taken the ghost up on the offer.

Near the New York Avenue Field, a structure known as the old Stone House is also said to be haunted. Originally a tavern, the house served as a field hospital during both the battles of First (1861) and Second (1862) Manassas. Strange lights have been seen in the house at night, although it is locked every night by park rangers. Strange sounds, like screams and groans are also said to come from the house.

The Cold Harbor Battlefield in Hanover County is said to top the list of haunted battlefields in Virginia. Here in 1864, thousands of Union troops were killed as wave after wave of men were repeatedly thrown in frontal assaults against fortified Confederate positions. Today, some visitors claim to have felt the thunder of artillery and to have smelled burned gunpowder while exploring the battlefield. Once again, the shouts and cries of unseen combatants echo through the woods. Visitors report the sudden appearance of a dense fog on the battlefield, which just as quickly disappears. The ghostly fog has driven away many who seek the safety of their cars, even as they hear unearthly footsteps behind them and sense unseen eyes upon them.

Hauntings are also reported in buildings used during the Civil War as hospital. One house in Brandy Station, Culpeper County, was used as a hospital after the Battle of Brandy Station (June 9, 1863). The patients scrawled their names and other thoughts on the walls, thus the house is now known as the Graffiti House. So troubling were the ongoing ghostly occurrences at the Graffiti House that the Virginia Paranormal Institute was called in to conduct an investigation. One investigator felt an unseen force tightening around her wrist. Another person saw a picture frame move on its own. The team’s electrical instruments raced out of control.

Another Civil War hospital of long standing was set up in Gordonsville, Orange County. Gordonsville Virginia’s Exchange Hotel opened in 1860 and provided an elegant stopping place for passengers on the Virginia Central Railway. In March, 1862 the Confederate army transformed the hotel into the Gordonsville Receiving Hospital. Dr. B.M Lebby of South Carolina was the director of the hospital and its operations continued under his leadership until October 1865.

The wounded and dying from nearby battlefields such as Cedar Mountain, Chancellorsville, Brandy Station, and the Wilderness were brought to Gordonsville by the trainloads. Although this was primarily a Confederate facility, the hospital treated the wounded from both sides. By the end of the war, more than 70,000 men had been treated at the Gordonsville Receiving Hospital and over 700 were buried on its surrounding grounds and later interred at Maplewood Cemetery in Gordonsville.

The Exchange Hotel Civil War Medical Museum, as the structure is known today, has experienced more than one ghostly occurrence. Screams and groans are heard, doors close on their own and eerie orbs appear suddenly in rooms. Some have claimed they have encountered nurses, garbed in black, wandering the halls.