By Pauli Poisuo
According to legend, people become ghosts because the violent, sudden, and unfair death they suffered keeps them from moving on. By this reasoning, there must be a whole lot of military ghosts around. After all, what else causes so much unreasonable death?
Some of the ghosts on the following list are menacing. Others are merely mischievous. But, in one way or another, their stories are all linked to the armed force that they served in life.
10. The Phantom Battle of Edghill
The Battle of Edgehill, in the October of 1642, was one of the most famous clashes of the English Civil War between the Royalists and the Parlamentarian ”Roundheads.” It was a three-hour bloodshed involving 30,000 soldiers, resulting in only death and humiliation. Not only was the battle indecisive, the dead were mercilessly looted and left on the battlefield to rot.
Unsurprisingly, such a pointless and humiliating death was said to make the dead soldiers less than happy. By Christmas of that same year, ghostly apparitions and noises started manifesting. Shepherds and other people passing through the area could suddenly find themselves witnessing two ghostly armies clashing in the night sky.
When the king heard about the phenomenon, he ordered an official investigation. The investigators ruled that the haunting was legitimate, a decision that remains the only official nod towards the existence of ghosts in British history.
Although the Christian burial of the bodies still scattered on the area somewhat stopped the hauntings, the two ghostly armies were said to re-enact the battle during its anniversaries for over 100 years after the actual conflict. The locals made a picnic out of the phenomenon, gathering to watch the proceedings from a respectable distance.
9. The Alamo Ghosts
The Battle of the Alamo is one of the most famous moments of the Texas Revolution, and the missionary site that is the battle’s namesake has since become one of the most legendary war memorials in the US. Incidentally, it’s also one of the most haunted. Stories of Alamo ghosts got their start almost immediately after the battle, when a Mexican general sent to demolish the building was said to have encountered six robed ghosts that brandished fiery swords and threatened his life if he touched the site.
As years went by, rumors of Alamo hauntings grew in variety: People witnessed spirits of Texan soldiers who fought the battle and eerie, inhuman shapes emerging from the building after hours. Perhaps the most famous of the supposed ghosts is the so-called Alamo Sentry, a usually invisible ghost soldier whose heavy footsteps patrol the building’s roof on rainy nights.
Incidentally, this is an particularly impressive feat for the “ancient spirit” since the Alamo didn’t have a walkable roof until quite recently.
8. Fort Pulaski
Fort Pulaski stands by the beautiful Savannah River in Georgia and is presided over by the National Park Service. However, it has a dark history that belies its current peaceful nature. It used to be a Civil War prison where over 500 confederate officers froze and starved in their cells over the hellish winter of 1864–1865. As such, Fort Pulaski is reported to have a hostile and ”heavy” air.
There’s also a stairwell with a particularly cruel history: When the fort saw battle, the wounded soldiers were unceremoniously dumped in the stairwell to die. These soldiers are said to still haunt the staircase, attempting to climb it despite their grievous wounds in order to return to the battlefield.
7. USS North Carolina
The USS North Carolina was one of the most powerful ships in WWII. It is also said to be extremely haunted by a number of entities, two of which stand out in particular.
One of the main ghosts is a cheerful presence, a young blonde man working on the ship even after his demise. He’s harmless but quite mischievous: The doors and hatches he opens and closes while he bustles about in its duties can be quite startling for those who encounter them. There have also been reports of other similar ghosts, but they are mostly minding their own business—they wordlessly continue the onboard tasks they performed while alive.
However, there is another, more malicious presence onboard: There have been reports of encounters with an angry, shadow-like entity that fills the room with anger and hate, sending the poor person facing it running in panic.
6. Chickamauga Battlefield
One of the most brutal battles in the American Civil War was fought for the control of Chattanooga, Tennessee. The main bloodbath of this battle took place in the Chickamauga battlefield. To make things worse, the site also witnessed the annihilation of the Georgia Cherokees by smallpox.
Today an unassuming National Park, the area still carries a trace of these brutal tragedies: Legend says it is one of the most haunted places in America. The field is often encompassed by a mysterious fog that disappears as soon as the visitor exits the area. Eerie lights and ghostly figures have been seen moving about, and sounds of ancient combat have been heard.
Perhaps the most frightening entity said to haunt the area is “Old Green Eyes,” a monstrous figure that stalks a particular hill. It’s a hairy creature with razor-sharp fangs and piercing eyes (that are indeed green). No one really knows what Old Green Eyes is. Some claim it’s a half-man, half-beast that is drawn to the site because of its murderous history. Others maintain that it’s a tortured specter whose twin brother was slain in the battle.
>>>Want to see the Top 5 Menacing Military Ghosts? Check out Listverse.com for the complete list!
