Published by Haunted America
A Division of The History Press
Charleston, SC 29403
www.historypress.net
Copyright 2015 by Mark P. Brugh and Julia Stinson Brugh
All rights reserved
Front cover: The Jacob Rohrbach Inn, Sharpsburg, Maryland. The inn occasionally experiences thunderous boot steps on a staircase that no longer exists as remnants of the murderer of Jacob Rohrbach in July 1864. Courtesy of owners Chris and Amy Vincent. Photo by the authors.
First published 2015
e-book edition 2015
ISBN 978.1.62585.459.9
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015943859
print edition ISBN 978.1.62619.924.8
Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This book is dedicated to our parents: Donald and Lenore Brugh and Dwight and Peggy Stinson. We are both fortunate to have had the very best, and we hope we make them proud.
CONTENTS
*Indicates a ghost story
PREFACE
SHARPSBURG, MARYLAND: AMERICAS MOST HAUNTED CIVIL WAR TOWN?
Perhaps. The conclusion is admittedly bold and yet may be justifiable because the volume of sightings of soldiers here is unlike any other American Civil War town. The number of phenomena and their frequency of occurrence in Sharpsburg are staggering and distinctly disproportionate to the population and the postage-stamp size of the town. You wont likely meet anyone from Sharpsburg without a story to share. Confederate soldiers are regularly and routinely sighted moving in every section of the town, on every street and every alley and in every block. Time of day does not matter, and regular sightings occur just after dawn, during midday, in late evening before dark and, of course, throughout the late night and early morning hours. Seasons do not seem to matter either, as regular occurrences and sightings in Sharpsburg are noted throughout the year, although they seem to be incredibly abundant in the period from mid-September to mid-November. There are single soldiers and troops marching, wounded soldiers, officers on horseback, wagons and carts, mules, caissons and artillery. The incredible volume and variety of reported sightings is enough to convince anyone that there are spirits here that never left when Lees army ended the fierce engagement at Antietam during the overnight period from September 18 to 19, 1862. The movements of the current sightings takes them in the same direction and along the same paths followed by Lees army when it fled to the west to cross the Potomac.
The carnage and desolation in Sharpsburg from the Battle of Antietam plagued the towns residents with disease, famine and death for months and years following the Civil War. Though today Sharpsburg appears peaceful and serene, a mysterious current of unrest lies beneath the surface and arises from time to time, particularly in late summer and fall. Do the spirits of hastily buried soldiers still linger in the streets and alleys looking for repose or a way home? Or are the bloodshed and terrors from long ago imprinted in the foundations and atmosphere of the village for all time?
This book, based on over thirty years of historical research, is a companion to the Gravediggers and Ghosts of Sharpsburg Ghost Tours. It describes events that unfolded in Sharpsburg and holds historical accounts of its citizens and connects them to myths and fables linked to peculiar happenings that have been reported.
What ever happened to the body of Charley King, the youngest soldier to die during the Civil War? Does Jacob McGraws ghost still haunt and stumble through the Ghostly Confederate Soldiers Passageway? Mark and Julia offer explanations for the origins of these mysteries and more.
For a shared experience, join them one evening on a tour of the streets and alleys. Tours are available year round by advance reservation. You can read more about and explore these mysteries, or schedule a tour with Mark and Julia by checking out their website at www.sharpsburgtours.com.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors gratefully acknowledge the hard work, love and support of our daughter, Christine Brugh. Christine managed writing production, kept us on a tight schedule and somehow overcame our inclinations to defer, delay and procrastinate. She is a highly tactical grammarian. The edits she made vastly improved our writing and the content. It was a privilege to watch her work through complicated paragraphs and awkward sentences, making them clear, understandable and logically written expressions. Any textual errors belong to the authors.
We are very blessed to have a wonderful circle of friends who indulged us as we dominated dinners, cocktails and porch conversations with details of our plans for this book from start to finish. Thank you all for cheering us on.
Troy Nowak and Kathryn Ryberg provided more useful advice and suggestions for historical text than we can possibly recall. They have our greatest appreciation for expert help on every level.
Lauren Winnings tackled illustrations we planned to use for important parts of the stories. She can never be fully thanked for or understand how valuable her services were to us.
Steve Kemmet and his staff at Captain Benders Tavern in Sharpsburg are due thanks for their enormous support of our tours. If you are in Sharpsburg, you must stop in for a fine meal and cold drink.
Our friend Chris Copley supported our efforts to start our tour from the very beginning. Chris and his lovely wife, Yolanda, toured with us through the deluge of Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 and then returned for a twilight tour in late December on a bitterly frigid evening. We shared many writing exercises and experiences with them, and for that we are better writers than we were before we met them. Both of us miss them here on the East Coast and will never forget their enthusiasm for our projects.
So many local historians helped us succeed in a difficult search for vintage, unpublished photographs of Sharpsburg: Ed Beeler and Vernell and Tim Doyle of the Sharpsburg Historical Society; Linda Irvin-Craig of the Washington County Historical Society; John Frye of the Western Maryland Room at the Washington County Free Library; Steve Recker of Antietam Battlefield Guides; Doug Bast, owner of the Boonsborough Museum of History; Stephanie Gray, curator at the Antietam National Battlefield; and Dr. Karen Gray, librarian for the C&O Canal, National Park Service.
Our most dear and longtime friend, Andrew Sasse of Hagerstown, spent many long hours walking the sometimes-cold streets and alleys of Sharpsburg to take a copious volume of very fine modern-times photographs for our use.
Chris and Amy Vincent, owners of the extraordinary Civil Warera bed-and-breakfast featured on the cover, the Jacob Rohrbach Inn, welcomed us in and shared their history of the home and details that helped us understand the events that led to the murder of Jacob Rohrbach.
