Chattanooga,
known as the "the Scenic City",
is the fourth-largest and notably haunted
city in Tennessee (after Memphis, Nashville,
and Knoxville of course), and the seat of
Hamilton County , in the United States of
America. Ghost stories sightings and encounters
fill the city's history since it's early establishment.
It is located
in southeast Tennessee on Chickamauga and
Nickajack Lake, which are both part of the
Tennessee River, near the border of Georgia,
and at the junction of three interstate highways,
I-24, I-75, and I-59. The city itself has
it's share of many a haunted ghost tales and
I have personally investigated several. From
the ghost that are said to haunt the lakes
and the highways. To those that travel amongst
the living in buildings and homes. It seems
like New Orleans, Louisiana there is something
that makes this area a haunted mecca to many
strange tales and urban legends.
With often
told accounts of Bigfoot sightings and mysterious
woodland crypto creatures the area is just
one of those place where the supernatural
seems to become quite natural. The area is
well known for it's many roadside or hitchhiking
ghosts, some date back even well before the
war between the states.
I lived in
the area of Ooltewah, Collegedale, Red Clay
Springs, and Choutta Georgia for over a ten
year period off and on and had the opportunity
to investigate its haunted locations firsthand.
The ghost of the great Civil War still roam
the area with Chickamauga being noted as the
area's main ghost central. Many believe it
to be one of the most haunted battlefields
in the USA only falling second next to Gettysburg.
Virtually every battlefield is said to be
haunted, but Chickamauga seems to be even
more haunted than most.
Reports of
spectral battles and the ghosts of man and
beast roaming the area or often told. To often
the smell of gunpowder the sounds of cannons
and gunfire, and often the awful moans and
cries of pain of the dying can be heard at
any time of the day or night.
Tennessee's
Real Battlefield Ghosts
There are so
many ghosts wandering the Civil War battle
grounds, that it would be impossible to catalogue
them all. Over the years, thousands have claimed
to have seen them and even spoken to them
directly. The first sighting may have been
at the battle itself, or even earlier.
During the
American Civil War on November 23, 1863, the
Third Battle of Chattanooga began when Union
forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant reinforced
troops at Chattanooga and counterattacked
Confederate troops. The next day, the Battle
of Lookout Mountain was fought near the town.
These were followed the next spring by the
Atlanta Campaign, beginning just over the
nearby state line in Georgia and moving southeastward.
The legend of Old Green Eyes, the ghost who
is said to haunt the battlefield in various
forms ranging from a Confederate soldier to
a green-eyed panther, has been a part of Chickamauga
Battlefield lore since the last shot was fired
at the bloody battle that claimed 34,000 casualties
Sept. 19-20, 1863. Green Eyes is rumored to
be a man who lost his head to a cannonball,
frantically searching the battlefield at night
for his dislocated body. There is also a soldier
who is supposed to walk the roads at night.
If he sees you, he is said to stare at you
until you leave.
The tales of Green Eyes and other phantom
sightings stem from the soldiers, who lived
through the War Between the States. Another
legend is quoted as saying that Old Green
Eyes roamed the area long before the Civil
War and was even seen moving among the dead
at Snodgrass Hill during a lull in the fighting.
Probably the most stubborn phase of the campaign
was at Snodgrass Hill which is some of the
roughest and hilliest terrain in the entire
park area.
Many people visiting the park near dusk have
seen two big glowing eyes approaching them
and have heard an agonizing groaning sound
which sent shivers up and down their spine.
Charlie Fisher, a forest ranger, says that
in the early 1970's two different people both
wrecked their automobiles against the same
tree. They both sworn to have seen Old Green
Eyes.
Ryan Prescott from New Mexico states that
he did see Old Green Eyes on several occasions
recently. He saw the ghost (or "Chattanooga
Ghoul" as some call him) in August of
this year. He said the shape was of a black
shadow like human with a glowing face with
a large nose, but it wasn't human, and it
had glowing green eyes. Prescott snapped this
photo below of what he believes to be the
only real ghost photo of Old Green Eyes to
date.
One of the earliest ghost sightings shortly
after the Civil War ended is documented in
Susie Blaylock McDaniel's book "The Official
History of Catoosa County." ALSO
SEE: THE TOP TEN MOST
HAUNTED BATTLEFIELD LIST Though
the battles have long ago ended and the sound
of cannons and muskets is but a distant memory,
there are some souls who are still waiting
for the call to “Retreat” –
and for them, it may never come! Make
plans to visit a Haunted Battlefield today!
<
VISIT HERE TO VIEW FULL
LIST >
The battle of Chickamauga
September 18-20, 1863 Catoosa County and Walker
County
Principal Commanders: Maj.
Gen. William S. Rosecrans and Maj. Gen. George
H. Thomas [US]; Gen. Braxton Bragg and Lt.
Gen. James Longstreet [CS] Forces Engaged:
The Army of the Cumberland [US]; Army of Tennessee
[CS]
Estimated Casualties: 34,624
total (US 16,170; CS 18,454)
ALSO
SEE: THE MOST HAUNTED
BATTLEFIELDS LIST HERE.
More
Chattanooga Ghosts And Surrounding Area
Lookout and
Signal Mountain have many ghost tales associated
with them. From strange balls of light seen
at night moving slowly up the trails to actual
ghost sighing's. Many of the Chattanooga train
depot seem to happen regularly. From the ghost
of a lost woman asking for directions to host
of ghost photos. The downtown area ghosts
are very often seen and heard like those at
the famous haunted Tively theater. And don't
be alarmed at the very real ghostly encounters
at nearby Moccasin Bend, Missionary Ridge
the actual ghosts of these locations are said
to be the most active in the area.
Chattanooga
in time of the civil war. Soldiers' tents
and supply wagons beside the city building,
1864. Lookout Mountain is visible in the background.
The first inhabitants
of the Chattanooga area were Native American
Indians with sites dating back to the Upper
Paleolithic period, showing continuous occupation
through the Archaic, Woodland, Mississippian
(900-1650 AD), Muskogean and Cherokee (1776
- 1838 AD) periods.
Chief John Ross has been quoted as stating
that Chattanooga was Cherokee for 'The Big
Catch' because of the fishing on the river.
In the 1875 publication 'History of the Army
of the Cumberland' by Thomas Budd Van Horne
and Edward Ruger on page 407 this is related:"Historians
have made effort to transmit to the future
the significance of the names which distinguish
the natural features around Chattanooga. It
is no pleasant task to leave groundless the
many pretty conceits which have so long passed
for facts; but he who would write the truth,
must not hesitate to dissipate a myth or disclose
a false hypothesis. With only occasional allusion
to the various interpretations of Cherokee
names, which have so long been accepted as
true, their actual meaning, as derived from
John Ross, the celebrated Cherokee chief,
and from Lewis Ross, his brother, are here
given. "Chattanooga," originally
was the name of a small Indian hamlet, situated
near the base of Lookout Mountain, on the
bank of Chattanooga creek. It means, in the
Cherokee language, " to draw fish out
of water," and hence was applied to the
collection of huts, which were occupied by
Indian fishermen. The humble hamlet disappeared,
and its name, at first suggestive and appropriate,
was inherited by the town of the white man,
with meaningless application. A somewhat similar
name was applied by the Cherokees to the cliffs,
rising boldly from the river above the town,
which was derived from "Clanoowah,"
the name of a warlike but diminutive hawk,
which was supposed to embody the spirit of
the tribe. These cliffs were the favorite
nesting- place of the bird, and hence a name
was given which expressed this fact, and which,
perhaps, has suggested the myth, that 'Chattanooga'
means 'eagle's nest.'"
The earliest Cherokee occupation dates from
Dragging Canoe, who in 1776 separated himself
and moved down river from the main tribe to
establish Native American resistance (see
Chickamauga Wars) to European settlement in
the southeastern United States. Occupation
of the area by members of the Cherokee Nation
dates from 1816 with the establishment of
Ross's Landing by later tribal chief John
Ross and ended with the forced relocation
of Native American Indians from southeastern
U.S. states to Oklahoma in 1838. Ross's Landing
was one of three large internment camps, or
"emigration depots," along the Trail
of Tears, the other two being Fort Payne,
Alabama and the largest at Fort Cass, Tennessee.
The Trail of Tears was the forced relocation
of Native Americans from their homelands to
Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) in
the Western United States. The phrase originated
from a description of the removal of the Choctaw
Nation in 1831. The removals were motivated
by U.S. desire for expansion and the desire
to save Native Americans from extinction.[dubious
– discuss] Many Native Americans suffered
from exposure, disease, and starvation while
en route to their destinations.
In 1830, the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw,
Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole (sometimes
collectively referred to as the Five Civilized
Tribes) were living as autonomous nations
in what would be called the American Deep
South. The process of cultural transformation
(proposed by George Washington and Henry Knox)
was gaining momentum, especially among the
Cherokee and Choctaw. Indian removal was first
proposed by Thomas Jefferson. Andrew Jackson
was the first U.S. President to implement
removal with the passage of the Indian Removal
Act of 1830. In 1831 the Choctaw were the
first to be removed, and they became the model
for all other removals. After the Choctaw
removal went the Seminole in 1832, then the
Creek in 1834, then the Chickasaw in 1837,
and then finally the Cherokee in 1838.
Vampires are said to being very much a part
of Chattanooga's past and present also. Not
Unlike New Orleans as far as the blood drinking
society goes.
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Often called the Ghost Hunter's,
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