Ghost stories of the Manassas battlefield

The opening battle at Manassas was fought on 21 July 1861. Visitors and staff at the battlefield park now tell of ghostly soldiers and phantom gunfire.

The battle known as Bull Run was fought on 21 July 1861. It peaked at the Henry property, where Federal guns shelled the house to dislodge Confederate sharpshooters, with no idea civilians were inside. The shells mortally wounded the widow Henry, the only known civilian to die in the battle. At the Stone House nearby, Confederate soldiers took cover after falling back from Matthews Hill, and the house later filled with wounded men. Pursuing Confederate soldiers took many Federal soldiers prisoner there, and a surgeon's assistant got leave to tend the wounded afterwards.

The ghost stories are modern. Several visitors and others connected with the battlefield say some of those soldiers stayed on. Many report seeing spectral figures on the grounds and hearing noises like gunfire. These are claims by the people who report them, and none is tied to a date.