You're lucky it was still daylight when you stopped, because this CW battlefield area is reportedly a hotbed of paranormal activity.
Ghosts of Droop Mountain
The Droop Mountain Battlefield has so many ghost stories associated with it that Terry Lowry, in his 1996 book Last Sleep: The Battle of Droop Mountain November 6, 1863 devotes the final chapter to "The Ghosts of Droop Mountain." He offers this explanation:
While it is fairly common for ghost stories to arise out of Civil War sites, Droop Mountain probably ranks near, or even at the top, of such areas to spawn wild-eyed stories of ghosts, apparitions, headless soldiers, illusions, and the like. Due primarily to its somewhat isolated, rural location, Droop Mountain battlefield has been the scene of many unexplained happenings since the Civil War battle that took place there in 1863. This is not unusual, considering fog "often rolls over the mountain in waves, there one minute, gone the next," creating an eerie atmosphere conducive to tales of ghosts and the supernatural.
The Snedegar Poltergeist
The oldest and most highly-embroidered ghost story from the Droop Mountain Battlefield is summarized by Terry Lowry in Last Sleep: The Battle of Droop Mountain November 6, 1863.
The earliest known episode of a supernatural occurrence at Droop Mountain took place in 1865 when Betty and Nancy Snedegar, residents of the west side of Droop and the daughters of James C. and Rebecca Kellison Snedegar, walked to the east side of the mountain to pick berries. On their return trip they located two guns, apparently lost during the battle two years earlier. As the two girls "started to carry off the guns, rocks were thrown at them but they saw no person. They went on home. As they went to milk, more rocks and clubs were thrown at them. At the house rocks came down the chimney and knocked the lids off the pots. Rocks came through the log walls, but left no holes. There were sheepskin rugs on the floor which started rarin' up..." Another account claims the sheepskin rug would stand erect and bawl. The Snedegar sisters then "gathered all the rocks and threw them in a sinkhole several [hundred?] feet deep. The rocks all came flyin' back out." One version of the story claimed "dog irons would come out of the fireplace and race around the room." Reportedly, an uncle came to visit and two rocks hit him in the arm and head, after this he quickly departed. Finally, the guns were returned to their original location and all the problems ceased.
Fence Row Stand-Up Man
Seebert - Pocahontas County
Visitors to nearby Watoga State Park report seeing an exceptionally tall bald-headed man suddenly spring up along the fencerow next to a cornfield. The tall, glowing figure appears on especially foggy nights about midnight and stares intensely, moving only his head and not his body as cars pass.
The man doesn't stand up, as one would from a lying position, but rather springs straight up, without bending his knees in a perfect arch. The figure is at least 6-1/2 feet tall, bald and has an eerie halo-like glow around his entire body that almost illuminates the fog.
The Droop Mountain area near Seebert was home to the state's largest Civil War battle, so it is possible this ghost is related to the violent events there. Or is it something else?
Droop Mountain Mounted Cavalry On Patrol
Edited by: Slaire / WVGhosts.com Editor
Around the year 1960, while attending the Marlinton Middle School, some classmates and I interviewed a local man about a ghost sighting he experienced.
The man told a story about when he used to drive a pulp wood truck to Covington, Virginia and back. Late one evening, something bizarre occurred on his return trip that would leave him shaken for life. He claimed that as he drove into the "Renick valley area" on the south side of Droop Mountain, he came upon approximately six horsemen in the road. They did not yield right of way for him and he had to completely stop the truck to avoid striking them. They were in single file formation moving at a slow pace, and he was able to see that they appeared to be dressed in civil war uniforms. He opened the driver's side door and stepped out on the running board to tell them to move. That was when he noticed that the horses and men would utterly "disappear" when exiting the beam of the truck's headlights. There was no one around after the last one exited the lit area.
I found the elderly man highly believable, and noticed how visibly distraught he became just retelling the story. I am guessing at the year because all of my notes from that interview burned in a house fire leaving me to rely on memory as to what all was said.....This story is brought to you by W V Ghosts Dot Com By: Brian Martin
