The Ghosts of General Wayne Inn, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania...

So, as we continue our tour of lonely spirits and haunted places from America’s early history, we arrive at the former Wayside Inn (circa 1704), and/or the General Wayne Inn (the name the building acquired in 1793), built on land purchased by William Penn. Some call this place, “the most haunted house in America.” And indeed, the General Wayne Inn boasts an intriguing menagerie of otherworldly residents over its three hundred and eight year sojourn. 

 

Throughout the Revolutionary War, many battles were fought in the area that surrounds the Inn. According to various reports, during one of those battles, a British officer and two Hessian soldiers were fatally wounded very near the place. As the Redcoat lay dying, someone filched his prize locket. There are those who believe this officer has remained earthbound for the need to locate this locket. Several witnesses say the man even includes the living in his search. (So, if you're in the area, watch your pockets).

And what is a haunted house without the haunted basement door? There are numerous accounts of a Hessian soldier (either one of many, or this soldier is awfully busy) locked inside the basement room. He knocks, hoping someone will let him out. (Just as an aside, various mediums have counted up to eight Hessian spirits, haunting the Inn.)

Oh, and then there’s the unseen phantom who has naught but admiration for the ladies who visit the bar. Many of these patrons feel someone blowing on the back of their necks. Yet, when they turn around, not a living soul is there...

Morgan’s Rangers and “Spirit of the Revolution”

During his mortality, Mathias McGregor, the brawny, handsome hero of my paranormal romance, “Spirit of the Revolution,” (due for release May 31, 2013—big smile please...) belonged to a rowdy group of undisciplined, but very impressive soldiers, known as Morgan’s Rangers. Yes indeed.

Unlike musketeers in most military units, Colonel Daniel Morgan, a veteran of the French and Indian War, recruited a group of sharpshooting riflemen. The rifle could shoot farther and more accurately then the muskets used by the British and Hessian armies, and Daniel knew it. He organized his Rangers into small, highly mobile, light infantry units. These backwoods mountain men would target the British command structure, sniping officers, non-commissioned officers and artillery crews with great precision. As you can imagine, this affected British morale, eliminated leadership elements within their army, and reduced the effectiveness of their artillery crews.

“Spirit of the Revolution” and Our Amazing American Rangers...

Cover Art by Angela Anderson - The Wild Rose Press Graphic Artist

Blurb:

Only divine intervention could have guided Jolena Leigh Michaelsson to the doorstep of a ramshackle manor in Pennsylvania, bringing her face-to-face with the man she has waited her whole life to find. There is just one problem. Mathias McGregor died two centuries ago…

Mathias, Revolutionary War ranger and spy, battles his conscience and his heart when he finds himself falling for the beautiful violinist invading his home. Jolena is mortal and deserves far more than what he as a spirit can offer her.

When Jolena’s family motto leads them to unearth a valuable coded message—the very message Mathias died trying to deliver to General Washington—Jolena vows to unravel the mystery surrounding the cryptic document. But someone else wants the message, and he’ll stop at nothing to get it, not even murder.

Divine intervention brought them together—will it also allow them to find forever?

You know, until I wrote this book, I didn’t know that Rangers existed during the Revolutionary war. I thought they were far more contemporary. For me, Army Rangers conjured images from the movies. In Private Ryan, Tom Hanks led a group of Rangers to save—well—Private Ryan. In The Longest Day, Rangers fought their way up the cliff to destroy the German coastal artillery, only to find the guns had never been installed in the bunkers.  And of course, we have our real-life Rangers (heroes every one) during the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

During his mortality, Mathias McGregor, my handsome, ghostly hero in Spirit of the Revolution was a member of the elite Morgan’s Rangers. (He also involved himself in highly secretive missions of reconnaissance, facilitating espionage and conducting other covert missions for Major John Clark but that’s another blog altogether.) In my novel, Mathias served under the leadership of Daniel Morgan from the unit’s inception. Yet, the Rangers in the Americas have a long history even before the Revolutionary War began.

Colonel Daniel Morgan