Perryville Battlefield

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The largest Civil War battle in Kentucky was fought here on October 8, 1862; at least 7,600 were killed or wounded. The corpses of the Confederate soldiers were left to rot on the battlefield, and many suppose this is why the field has so much ghostly activity. Apparitions of soldiers, some on horseback, and glowing balls of light are seen on the field.

If you've had a paranormal experience here, or have any additional information about this location, please let us know!



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    Geographic Information

    Address:
    Perryville Battlefield
    United States

    Get Directions »
    GPS:
    37.6767740763146, -84.96899557107093
    County:
    Boyle County, Kentucky
    Nearest Towns:
    Perryville, KY (2.1 mi.)
    Mackville, KY (6.8 mi.)
    Harrodsburg, KY (9.1 mi.)
    Danville, KY (11.0 mi.)
    Junction City, KY (11.4 mi.)
    Jackson, KY (11.6 mi.)
    Burgin, KY (12.3 mi.)
    Willisburg, KY (12.6 mi.)
    Springfield, KY (13.9 mi.)
    Bradfordsville, KY (16.0 mi.)

    Contact Information

    Web:
    http://www.perryvillebattlefield.org/

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    Comments (11)

    1. I drive through Perryville every time I visit my mother. For years nothing. One late night no one was on the street, cars or people. My husband and I smelled such a powerful odor of pipe smoke that I turned around and looked in the back seat! I contacted the battlefield and found out no one lit fires but there was a ghost tour. I contacted that group. No one smoked anything that night. In the year since that experience nothing has happened on my trips through Perryville.

      • My girlfriend and I used to attend the ghost tours you’re talking about that was hosted by team members of S.H.O.C.K. (Spirit Hunters of Central Kentucky). My girlfriend and I used separate from the group at the start of these ghost tours to investigate different locations of the battlefield and to eliminate contamination of evidence. On one ghost tour my girlfriend wasn’t able to attend with me, so I was investigating by myself. After experiencing one of the motion detectors alarming a few times and hearing some replies through the Spirit Box, I decided to go investigate the area where H.P. Bottom’s barn once stood. As I was walking the trail towards where the barn once stood, I started smelling the scent of burned wood. I hadn’t smelled this scent anywhere that night or during any of the other ghost tours. I know that there is a possibility that someone was burning some wood on their property in the distance, but it is a strange coincidence that I started smelling the scent of burned wood as I was approaching the area where the barn once stood. Prior to this night I had learned information about the battle and that during the battle some wounded Union soldiers seeked protection inside of the barn. Other Union soldiers were on this hill and near the barn exchanging gunfire with Confederate soldiers down the hill near H.P. Bottom’s house when a shell from a Confederate cannon struck the barn and set it a blaze. The wounded Union Soldiers couldn’t excape the fire and perished. This was the only time I have smelled a scent while on the battlefield.

    2. I have investigated several locations on the battlefield and inside the John Dye house during the ghost tours that S.H.O.C.K. (Spirit Hunters of Central Kentucky) used to host. I have witnessed several EVP’s being recorded and recorded them myself. I have recorded several replies that came through my Spirit Box, some while sitting in the car while it was raining. My motion detectors have alarmed when I couldn’t see a physical person there. My girlfriend and I have felt cold spots on a hot summer night that would move away from us and come back to us. I have heard a door open in one of the upstairs rooms of the Dye house while I and 4 others were standing in front of it. We heard what sounded like boots walking across the floor of the upstairs room across from room we were standing in. We heard a EVP of a man with a Boston sounding accent that said, “Get out of here”! My girlfriend had her vest tugged on while I went to the car to get something. My infrared game camera captured some anomalies in a upstairs room of the Dye house. My friend had his shirt tugged on while he was in front of where the John Russell house used to stand. My girlfriend captured a white orb during the day while using a digital camera without the flash on. She also captured several orb like anomalies that could’ve possibly been orbs. A lady captured this photo with her cell phone while on one of the ghost tours with the group.

    3. I found this photo online. It was captured by a team member of S.H.O.C.K. (Spirit Hunters of Central Kentucky) at the Confederate mass grave.

    4. I found this photo online. It is a thermal image from a FLIR thermal imaging video camera that Aaron Goodwin from the Ghost Adventures crew captured during their first investigation at the battlefield.

    5. Years ago I was camped on the battlefield as a Federal Re enactor. Around midnight on a dead calm muggy evening with not a breeze to be found went to bed. My buddy and I decided to have a cigar and a nightcap. As we were talking quietly the canvas tent flap on my side of the tent flew open with such a force it slapped on the outside of the tent. Staring into the darkness we both were stunned and called out “who is there”. All was quiet with no responses. Again “who is it who is there”. I said to my buddy screw this and began to get out of my cot. As I did so the tent flap closed as fast as it opened. The problem was it did not swing in past the upright post and stopped as a solid door would right at the post. I opened it and looked outside and saw nothing. Later that evening I heard someone saying “horse loose horse loose” I again looked outside to my right down the company street and faintly saw a figure putting a bridal on a horse. Not till breakfast in the morning did we realize there were no horses in the Federal camp. I have never forgotten this and share it with my friends around the campfire.

    6. Elmwood Inn is haunted by a school teacher. Witnessed when the Inn was a restaurant in the 70s. Many experiences seen and heard. Was an academy years ago. She was identified in old photo on porch. Stately woman with black floor length gown. Hair up in bun. Stands at base of staircase as she seems to greet guests. A welcoming soul.

    7. Charity Gilbert  |  

      My dad is really into Kentucky history, and as a kid, we’d go all over the place in Kentucky and the surrounding states when we were able, so we could visit historical sites. Dad took us here once when we were young, and we drove all the way to Perryville to see this battlefield. We left from the museum area and started on the trail through a field and back towards a house in the distance. Now, my dad has had paranormal experiences in his life and is more sensitive to the supernatural. The closer we got, the more uncomfortable he seemed, which was odd, as my dad is a big, burly man who isn’t afraid of much at all. Eventually, maybe 5-10 minutes after we’d started that way, he turned to us and insisted that we leave. He didn’t explain why, but me and my brothers were super bummed out that we had to leave. Now this was especially odd because my dad tended to not waste any money at all, so any money he put towards a trip, we’d get our money’s worth out of it, and he wasn’t one to just decide to leave, especially that quickly. Once we were back in the vehicle and leaving the area, my dad explained that something didn’t want us there and he could feel that they didn’t. He explained the farther we got along the trail, the more he felt like we needed to go and we weren’t welcome there. He thought perhaps the dead resting there wanted to be left to rest and be in peace, but he believes they might have felt that they couldn’t due to the place now being a sort of tourist attraction. It was really sad to think about all the souls lost on the battlefield who just want to find peace.

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    Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. HauntedPlaces.org makes no claims that any of the statements posted here are factually accurate. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends.