Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Joe Gillivan
Date: December 2, 2023
This 1847 fort on Cockspur Island was a Confederate Fort until the Union Army took control in April 1862. A total of 5,275 shells and shots battered the fort in 30 hours of bombardment. The Confederates surrendered because the Unions new type of experimental rifled cannons with new projectiles bored through the forts 7 ½ foot walls. In talking with the Park Ranger, he told us this paranormal story. The ranger was playing drums to the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” during a short ceremony within the fort. A spectator was videotaping the event and standing right beside the ranger. When they played the tape back a mystery voice hummed the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” song that the ranger drummed. The spectator said it was not him and the ranger knew it wasn’t the spectator nor himself. As no other person had stood near them. Who was the ghostly presence that hummed?
Joe Gillivan also related an unexplainable observation. Joe was completing hiking the Lighthouse Overlook Trail and approached the fort from the northeast side. Looking up at the area of the northeast bastion, above the 32-foot wall Joe saw a man in union uniform. The time was 5:30ish and Joe knew the fort closed at 5pm and no one should have been in the fort. Did Joe see a ghost of the past or was some park employee dressed in Union garb still inside the fort after hours? Are Union and Confederate spirits still on duty here? Photo #3 shows the northeast bastion from the inside of the fort where joe saw the soldier. This is also the direction the patron videotaped the drummer in the previous paragraph.
There are several other paranormal claims at the fort. There have been apparitions of poorly treated Confederate POW’s who died here during imprisonment of poor living conditions, a puny starvation diet, scurvy, and crippling dysentery. Some prisoners survived by eating rats, cats, and kittens. A total of 13 out of 550 prisoners died during the winter of 1864.
Also, there have been reports of guards of both the Union and Confederate troops who have been seen just standing here and just staring out over the grounds until they disappear.
