Haunted Fort

From: Patrick Murphy (pmurphy@s850.mwc.edu)
Story type: Ghost
Location: 18th century Fort in New York
Source: Form Submission

This story is part folklore and was passed on to me by a close freind. My freind Jon does historical reinactments, playing an Native American during the French and Indian War. This story took place at an 18th century military fort in mid-New York. The name of the fort eludes me now (this story was related to me a year ago).

First let me give you some background. The Fort was built around the time of the revolutionary war. It borders a swamp on three sides and a hill on the fourth. It saw limited action after the revolution, and was used until shortly after the Civil War. During the Civil War, the old munitions chambers (long, brick chambers built deep within the fort which were designed to hold ahot and powder for the cannon), were used to hold prisoners of war. A commonly related sighting is that of two men, apparently tied together at the arm, running out of the wall of the fort and halfway across the swamp, then falling and disappearing. There are also repeated reports of hearing unindentified voices in the lower recesses of the fort.

My freind was visiting the fort for a reenactment, to take place nearby, and he and his freinds decided to tour the fort. The fort is currently an historic site and the munitions chambers are used for storage. They are not lit, so anyone looking through them must bring a lantern. As Jon and his freinds were walking around, they came across one of the old prisoner holding chambers. When they reached the end of it, Jon thought he saw something in the corner. He lifted his latern and saw what he described as a blue mist in the shape of the upper half of a man with his arms crossed and leaning up against the wall. At that moment, his latern went out. After a few minutes, he managed to get out to the hall and rejoined his comrades (who hadn't waited to leave), and has since never been back.

He believes in what he saw, and feels that the apparition represents some extreme trauma endured by one of the prisoners.