While on a weekend getaway in Northern Georgia, I stopped by Prater's Main Street Books in downtown Clayton, where books meet ice cream. Attached to Prater's is a coffee and ice cream shoppe that serves Mayfield Ice Cream. Is there anything better than sitting outside on a sunny day eating a cup of Moose Tracks and leisurely reading ghost stories?
At Prater's, I had purchased a copy of Jim Miles' Civil War Ghosts of North Georgia (History Press, 2013). It seemed appropriate. A large portion of this thin-wafer of a book, gives accounts of ghost stories near the north Georgia battlefield sites including the Chickamauga National Battlefield. It also reminded me that the 150th anniversary of two day battle that raged on September 19-20, 1863 was just a day or two away. With nearly 36,000 Blue and Gray casualities, if battlefield ghosts exist, you would find them there.
Civil War Ghosts is a collection of local folklore, newspaper articles, and accounts from bored park rangers, over-imaginative Civil War re-enactors, and paranormal professionals. The book is mixture of Halloween like ghost stories, odd humor and a reminder of the horrors of the Civil War. My favorite example is the haunted Gordon-Lee Mansion near Chickmauga, which served as a hospital during and following the battle. Miles writes, “The mansion, said to be haunted by some of the men who died there, is available for weddings, receptions, luncheons and other events.”
Miles also includes battlefield sites of the Atlanta campaign such as Pickett Mill State Park, Alltoona Pass and Resaca. Miles also includes a few pages on the life of Confederate Lt. General James R. Longstreet, who was one of General Robert E. Lee's finest commanders. Although Longstreet fought mostly in Virginia, he did bring his troops to Georgia for the Battle of Chickamauga. Thanks to Miles, what I didn't know is that after the war, Longstreet settled in Gainesville, Georgia where he died in 1904 of battle wounds he suffered in 1864. Longstreet is buried at Gainesville's Alta Vista Cemetery.
Heading back to Atlanta after a restful weekend in the mountains, which included reading the Miles book, I stopped by Longstreet's gravesite. It seemed like the least I could do.
Comments