Excerpt:The H.L.
Hunley
One of the Civil Wars greatest mysteries has been partially solved in
1995 when Author Clive Cussler re-discovered a murky hulk in the waters off Charleston
(The Hunley had been found earlier by Edward Spence but the location was not recorded.)
The enigma began in Feb. 17, 1864 when a top-secret Confederate submarine, H.L. Hunley,
slipped through under the waters of Charleston Harbor headed for the Union ship USS
Housatonic. The cigar-shaped vessel was hand cranked by an eight-man crew. The Hunley
succeeded in sinking the huge Union warship by means of a torpedo attached to a long pole.
But after signaling its success, the Hunley never reached shore. Most people believed it
was sunk along with its victim by the torpedo explosion. The sub had previously sunk
twice, each time killing its passengers, but was recovered and put back into service. This
time it remained on the bottom of the ocean until 2000 when it was raised. Its crew was
buried with honor in the Magnolia Cemetery on Saturday, April 17th, 2004 after a weeklong
round of ceremonies honoring the ship and its crew.
This was the last Confederate burial in history, obviously.
Many of
the men who took part in the burial as honor guards report paranormal occurrences
surrounding the Rebel sub. Re-enactors in Confederate uniform stood at attention guarding
the remains of the crew.
They
heard footsteps, a voice crying" "mother" and saw the shadow of a
Confederate soldier. The strangest of the Hunley ghosts was nicknamed "The
Adjuster" because they watched him adjust the positions of the straps on the
soldiers uniforms to more comfortable positions. They also noted also the smell of
fresh green apples. Steve Burt, the coordinator for the Honor Guard, believes the
crewmembers may have taken apples with them as a snack. The guard members felt light
touches and experienced a calm feeling of welcome from the spirits.
Randy
Burbage who was involved in digging for the crew members of the earlier sinkings believed
buried near Johnson Hagood Stadium, felt he was guided to dig in spots where he had been
told not to because he felt a
presence guiding him to those bodies. Each time he followed that guidance he found
another member of the Hunley. Five members had been buried at Hagood
Bill
Sharpe took a picture of the sub and later noted a crewman in it. He posted it on his
website only to discover the next day the crewman was gone. He hurriedly took the page
down.
Several
months later I was at a re-enactment and met one of the Sons of Confederate Veterans who
marched in the burial procession. He told me a fascinating story. After the burial, he and
some friends went to a local restaurant for lunch. They were in period dress and laid
their muskets down against a back wall of the restaurant. One of the group took a picture
of them sitting at the table. The rifles against wall were in the background. Someone else
was there. A shadowy figure of a Confederate soldier stood near the guns. It was not a
re-enactor. No one had been near the spot. No one mortal anyway. He showed me the picture
and, unlike some hazy ghost pictures this one was clear. There was no
mistaking the translucent figure as anything else but a Confederate soldier returned from
the grave.