Chickamauga Green Eyes
History has always been a treasure trove of fascinating folklore and tales of the unexplained, and one of the most popular breeding grounds for those stories is a battlefield. One such story that has captivated many over the years is that of Ol’ Green Eyes, the ghost that haunts the Chickamauga Battlefield in Georgia. With its origins dating back to the Civil War, this legend has been passed down for generations.
Chickamauga was home to one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, and the second largest. Across this swath of land, now largely public land, there are numerous mass graves and unmarked final resting places. It’s no surprise that the area is alleged to be filled with lost military spirits from that pivotal battle. One of the most famous among them is Ol’ Green Eyes.
According to legend, this green-eyed apparition is an unlucky confederate soldier whose head was blown off during the battle. Fellow soldiers allegedly buried his spirit without his destroyed body, and hence his ghost roams around the battlefield, searching for it. Others believe that he is a beastly spirit that haunted the area long before the war.
Some believe that the Green Eyes are seen in various parts of the land because his head was buried without his body, due to it being blown off by a canon. So, his ghostly head is forced to roam the old battlefield searching for the rest of him. However, other tellings of the tale claim Green Eyes existed before the Civil War and was a story circulated among the soldiers during the fighting, or that the spirit existed as early as the Native American occupation of the land where the battlefield is now located. Some believe the eyes are not human at all and are instead the eyes of a ghostly black cougar.
Edward Tinney, former historian, and chief ranger at Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park, spoke to The Rome News-Tribune and shared his encounter with a being in the park that Old Green Eyes is supposed to inhabit. “1976, about 4 a.m., he went to check on some battle re-enactors who were camping out in the park. He said that while walking near Glen Kelly Road, he encountered a man over 6 feet tall, wearing a long black duster, with shaggy, stringy, black, waist-length hair, walking toward him. From the man's body language, Tinney feared he was about to be attacked, so he crossed to the other side of the road, he said. When the man became parallel with Tinney he turned and smiled a devilish grin, and his dark eyes glistened. Tinney said he turned to face the man and began to back-pedal, as his companion did as well. At that moment, a car came down a straightaway in the road, and when its headlights hit the apparition it vanished, he said.” Although green eyes weren’t noted, could this be a more modern sighting of old green eyes himself, or, perhaps a fellow fallen soldier still stalking the battleground?
Mark Fults, author of Chattanooga Chills and psychic, believes that Green Eyes is a creature older than the battle, and older even than the Cherokee. In fact, he argues that Green Eyes is a sort of guardian and remnant of the worship practices of the mound builders. The intention of the apparition of green eyes is to scare folks away from sacred ground.
While some may dismiss the legends of Ol' Green Eyes as mere fanciful tales, many believe in their authenticity. Various visitors have claimed to have witnessed the ghostly figure roaming the battlefield from mere years after the Civil War Battle to today.
Many paranormal investigators have ventured into the park at night trying to find or make contact with Old Green Eyes or other spirits wandering the area. If you’re looking to get a good look at Old Green Eyes, or perhaps bump into something else, it is believed that Snodgrass Hill is the most haunted area of the park and is a place often associated when reports of something strange come in.
The legend of Ol’ Green Eyes is a captivating tale that has stood the test of time. Every version of the story adds an intriguing dimension to this ghostly entity, and the green eyes continue to remain its most distinctive feature. While historical evidence may be questionable, the mystery around the legend makes it all the more intriguing. Whether you’re a believer or a skeptic, a visit to the Chickamauga Battlefield is bound to give you goosebumps and make you wonder if Ol' Green Eyes might be hidden amongst the trees, waiting for you to witness its haunting presence.
The featured blog image is not directly related to the story. It is from Flickr user ₡ґǘșϯγ Ɗᶏ Ⱪᶅṏⱳդ The picture is entitled Let The Sunshine In. It is licensed in the public domain.
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