Civil War Ghosts, Cold Harbor Battlefield

My other experience at a battlefield was at Cold Harbor. My father was within about six months of death and his apartment was literally on the battle site. He wasn't taking medication that should have affected his perception at the time, nor did his health. His stance on ghosts was that they existed, but what was the big deal of that? Not very imaginative, he wasn't prone to making things up.

One afternoon, while watching a basketball game, he started talking out loud, as though speaking to someone right beside him. 'Don't worry,' he said, 'your horse will always find it's way home.'  I asked who he was talking to and he said, 'That guy lying right there,' as he gestured beside him, 'I'm telling him not to worry, that his horse will find it's way back without him.'

I chose to just not react and went back to what I was doing at the time. A little while later, he again started talking to someone I couldn't see but he seemed to, this time telling them repeatedly to sit down. Again I asked who he was talking to and he said, 'That man standing right there, he won't sit down.'

At this point I said, Dad, there's no one there, focus on the basketball game. He looked a little confused, gave me a sort of 'how on earth are you not seeing them' look and went back to the game.

A few minutes later he kept looking just behind my shoulder, squinting some as though trying to see more clearly and leaning in as though trying to hear. I asked what on earth he was doing now and he said, 'I'm trying to hear what they're saying, they're talking and I can't quite hear them, it's like they'er mumbling.'

'They're probably talking about Abe Lincoln', I joked, 'you are on Cold Harbor Battlefield and keep seeing men standing around.'

'No', he said with certainty, 'they're talking about you.'