HAUNTED BATTLEFIELDS GHOST STORIES AND GHOST
PHOTOS
Fredericksburg
and Spotsylvania National Military Park Ghost
Union and Confederate forces gathered around
the city of Fredericksburg, Virginia for
almost a month before the actual engagement
took place, but on December 12, 1862 the
Union forces crossed the Potomac River into
the City and into history. One of the bloodiest
battles of the Civil War, it, like Gettysburg,
spread out over the surrounding farmlands
and rustic homesteads. In the end, there
were 17,000 casualties of which most were
Union soldiers.
"Six times did the enemy, notwithstanding
the havoc caused by our batteries, press
on with great determination to within
100 yards of the foot of the hill, but
here encountering the deadly fire of our
infantry, his columns were broken and
fled in confusion to the town. ...the
last [assault] occurred shortly before
dark. This effort met the fate of those
that preceded it, and, when night closed
in, the shattered masses of the enemy
had disappeared in the town, leaving the
field covered with dead and wounded."
-- General Robert E. Lee, CSA
Our killed amounted to 1,152;
our wounded, about 9,000; our prisoners,
about 700, which have been paroled and
exchanged for about the same number taken
by us. The wounded were all removed to
this side of the river before the evacuation,
and are being well cared for, and the
dead were all buried under a flag of truce."
-- Major General Ambrose
E. Burnside
Official Report
December 17, 1862
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania
National Military Park is a unit of the National
Park Service in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and
elsewhere in Spotsylvania County, commemorating
four major battles in the American Civil War.
Fredericksburg Battlefield Cemetery ghost
image from Tara Glenn
The memories of the battle and the months
and days of apprehension that led up to
it have left their mark and visitors of
modern times have reported many strange
encounters and paranormal events.
The park was established as Fredericksburg
and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial
National Military Park on February 14, 1927,
and transferred from the War Department
August 10, 1933. It was listed on the National
Register of Historic Places on October 15,
1966. The park includes 8374 acres (33.89
km²), of which 7369 acres (30 km²)
are owned by the Federal government.
The military park encompasses four major
Civil War battlefields: Battle of Fredericksburg,
Battle of Chancellorsville, Battle of the
Wilderness, and Battle of Spotsylvania Court
House. It also preserves four historic buildings
associated with them: Chatham Manor, Salem
Church, Ellword, and the house where Stonewall
Jackson died. The ruins of the Chancellor
family mansion are included. There are two
visitor centers staffed by Park Service
rangers, one in Fredericksburg near the
foot of Marye's Heights, and another at
the Chancellorsville site. Exhibit shelters
are staffed on a seasonal basis at Wilderness
and Spotsylvania Court House.
The park was established as Fredericksburg
and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial
National Military Park on February 14, 1927,
and transferred from the War Department
August 10, 1933. It was listed on the National
Register of Historic Places on October 15,
1966. The park includes 8374 acres (33.89
km²), of which 7369 acres (30 km²)
are owned by the Federal government.
Fredericksburg National Cemetery, adjoins
the park and comprises 12 acres (49,000
m²). Civil War interments occurred
in 1867. The cemetery was transferred from
the War Department on August 10, 1933. Three
sets of verses from Theodore O'Hara's poem
Bivouac Of The Dead grace the grounds of
the cemetery:
The muffled drum's sad roll has beat
The soldier's last Tattoo;
No more on life's parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few.
No vision of the morrow's strife
The warrior's dream alarms;
No braying horn, nor screaming fife,
At dawn shall call to arms.
Rest on, embalmed and sainted dead,
Dear as the blood ye gave,
No impious footstep here shall tread
The herbage of your grave.
Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg
Virginia.
Fredericksburg Battlefield, Virginia Ghost
photo sent to us by Jan Clarkson..
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