The Ghost Hunter’s Field Guide to Civil War Battlefields: Fredericksburg & Chancellorsville

By Mark Nesbitt
Illustrated, resources, endnotes, 128 pp., 2007. Second Chance Publications, P.O. Box 3126, Gettysburg, PA 17325, $10.95 plus shipping.

Reviewer: Blake A. Magner

Blake A. Magner is the Book Review Editor of Civil War News. He makes his liv­ing as an editor, writer, car­tographer and photographer of Civil War history. He is author of At Peace With Honor: The Civil War Burials of Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.


Review:

If you pick up this volume expecting a book of ghost stories a la Ghosts of Gettysburg you are apt to be disappointed. But if you take the time to read this interesting volume and are interested in trying to find your own ghosts, you will get a good introduction to ghost hunting.

The volume begins with an overview of Fredericksburg, its history, the Civil War and a comment on the town and the paranormal. Author Nesbitt then goes into what a ghost is, including a classification of the different types of hauntings and why ghosts exist.

He then goes into how to investigate the paranormal. This includes the hunter’s research, the hunter’s attitude and the equipment used in the search, which includes everything from cameras and recording devices to scanners, electromagnetic field meters and beyond.

Now that the enthusiast is equipped, Nesbitt takes him out onto the Fredericksburg battlefield. He provides directions to a possible haunting site and tips to follow once there. After searching Fredericksburg, the author provides the same information for Chancellorsville and Salem Church, though the majority of the volume focuses on Fredericksburg.

That’s not to say that there are not a few ghost stories and sightings included in the book. These stories focus on the town and are from earlier time periods. Some of them are pretty good.

For those seeking information on how to look for ghosts as opposed to just hearing stories about them, I highly recommend this volume. It will not only provide readers with the basics of getting started, but will lead them to more detailed sites in its researchers section. 

Mark Nesbitt has done a nice job of adding to our investigations of the paranormal with his The Ghost Hunter’s Field Guide to Civil War Battlefields.