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...

The Ghosts of Fort Mifflin

After the release of my third novel, “Spirit of the Revolution,” (A ghostly, paranormal romance, concerning the same) I decided I would share some of the fascinating stories of restless spirits from America’s fragile beginnings. So come back often and see what’s new!

First up: Fort Mifflin...

Fort Mifflin  by pwbaker

Fort Mifflin is located on the Delaware River and its garrison was charged with defending the river approaches, holding off the advance of British troops, and buying time for Washington’s Continental Army during their retreat to Valley Forge.  A duty they performed most admirably.

And the ghosts?

Well, in this fort, the nebulous form of a young defender, known today as “Amos,” is often seen in the shadows cleaning his gun.  (Why you ask? I don’t have a clue. But I surely hope he has a few other things to do to keep himself occupied in the hereafter...)

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.

Janus... The New Year...And Making Resolutions...

New Year's Eve, Vienna by Wolfgang H. Wögerer, Wien, Austria

Janus is the Roman god who presides over all beginnings and transitions. He is the god of time itself. Blessed with two faces, this god can gaze both into the future as well as the past. In ancient times, he stood at the gates of Rome, protecting the city from the Italic mountain tribe known as the Sabines, enemies of early Rome. Our Roman ancestors worshiped him at the time of planting and harvest. They also acknowledged him at the time of marriage, birth and death. All invocations to the gods were preceded by a prayer to Janus, as he guards the gates and access to Olympus. The Romans revered him enough to name the month of January in his honor. Thus Janus (given the modern New Year is in January, not March as in times past) is the God of the New Year.

“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

Mistletoe and Christmas kisses....

Mistletoe

Sitting under the mistletoe

(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),

One last candle burning low,

All the sleepy dancers gone,

Just one candle burning on,

Shadows lurking everywhere:

Some one came, and kissed me there.

Tired I was; my head would go

Nodding under the mistletoe

(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),

No footsteps came, no voice, but only,

Just as I sat there, sleepy, lonely,

Stooped in the still and shadowy air

Lips unseen—and kissed me there.

(Walter de la Mare 1913)

Lovely tradition that...kissing underneath the mistletoe.

But did you know it originated with a Norse myth?  One telling of this myth states that the Goddess Frigg, queen of Asgard and wife of Odin bore a son named Baldr, known as ‘The Beautiful.’ Baldr reigned over vegetation, sunshine, and summer. Because Odin sensed an unknown danger that threatened the life of his son, Frigg visited all living things on earth and made them each promise to refrain from harming her son. For if something happened to Baldr, all life on earth would end.

Margaret Cochran Corbin... An American Hero...

Here in the United States, November is a time for giving thanks for all that we have. Our nation has also chosen this month to express our love and gratitude for those who serve and have served in the armed forces, for and in behalf of our beloved country, our democracy, and our freedoms.

So with that in mind, I decided to fill my personal blogs this November and each November thereafter, with a few of this nation’s heroic soldiers, who have fought in wars long past and all the way to the present. And, I thought it would be appropriate to begin this series with the Revolutionary War.