Stones River National Battlefield

The Battle of Stones River from December 31, 1862 to January 2, 1863 had the highest percentage of casualties of any major Civil War battle. The Slaughter Pen and Stones River National Cemetery hold thousands of fallen soldiers.

The Battle of Stones River, fought from December 31, 1862, to January 2, 1863, produced the highest percentage of casualties of any major engagement in the Civil War. Of approximately 76,400 men committed to battle between Union General William S. Rosecrans and Confederate General Braxton Bragg, nearly 24,000 became casualties -- 3.8 percent killed, 19.8 percent wounded, and 7.9 percent missing or captured. The battlefield cemetery now holds roughly 6,800 graves, 2,562 of which belong to unidentified soldiers. That volume of sudden, violent death has left what witnesses describe as a permanent supernatural imprint on the landscape.

The most famous ghost at Stones River is the Headless Horseman -- the spirit of Lieutenant Colonel Julius Peter Garesche, whose death was as dramatic as the premonitions that foretold it. Born in Havana, Cuba, in 1821 to French Catholic parents, Garesche attended West Point, served in the Mexican-American War, and was recognized by Pope Pius IX as a Knight of St. Sylvester. He was described as 'without earthly ambition, half mystic, half saint.' Two separate incidents convinced Garesche that violent death awaited him: a cabin in Missouri collapsed into the river moments after he fled it, and his brother, a priest, prophesied he would die in his first battle.

The prophecy proved true on January 2, 1863. As Garesche rode beside General Rosecrans near the Round Forest, a Confederate cannonball struck him in the head, shearing off everything except his lower jaw and parts of his beard. Rosecrans was splattered with his chief of staff's blood and brain matter. General Hazen recovered the body that evening and later wrote: 'I saw but a headless trunk; an eddy of crimson foam had issued where the head should be. Upon one of the fingers was the class ring, that beautiful talisman of our common school.' According to witnesses, Garesche's horse continued forward with its headless rider still somehow seated in the saddle.

'Garesche is the star among all our reported sightings,' confirmed veteran park employee Bill Reese. Visitors, reenactors, staff, and even local law enforcement have reported hearing hoofbeats followed by the sight of a headless mounted soldier riding across the battlefield, particularly near the Round Forest and the National Cemetery. The specter has also been seen on foot, pacing near the cemetery without his horse.

But the Headless Horseman is far from the only presence here. Ghostly soldiers appear around reenactors' campfires, leaning against trees or standing in the shadows -- initially mistaken for fellow reenactors until they vanish without a trace in a matter of seconds when approached. Disembodied voices are heard frequently, along with footsteps that sound like a military march. Rangers report that tour stops four and six have the most concentrated paranormal activity, with unexplained cold spots, shadowy figures, and the persistent smell of gunpowder hanging in the air with no identifiable source. The sounds of phantom gunfire and cannon blasts echo across grounds that have been silent for over 160 years.

Park rangers say the areas around these tour stops are consistently colder than the surrounding landscape, and multiple visitors have reported the sensation of footsteps following them after dark. The national cemetery, where thousands of unknowns rest beneath identical white headstones, generates its own reports of spectral activity -- figures seen walking between the graves at twilight, then disappearing before they can be identified.

Stones River National Battlefield is operated by the National Park Service, open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The park also hosts Hallowed Ground Lantern Tours of the national cemetery, where the stories of the dead are told by lamplight among the graves they occupy.