There are some reports of hauntings at the Fort. How could there not be? Among the more common ones are sightings of a British soldier in uniform standing guard near one of the gates and a woman who is spotted near the officer’s quarters from time to time. One of the more unusual hauntings, however, are not human ghosts. Occasionally, someone hears or sees the ghosts of... horses.
The horses belonged to Lieutenant Colonel Francis Battersby. Battersby was the commander of the Glengarry Light infantry in the War of 1812, and served with distinction during the war, including the Battle of Stoney Creek and the Battle of Lundy’s Lane, the bloodiest one day battle fought on Canadian soil. With the war over, the unit was sent back to Fort York until it was demobilized in 1816.
Battersby had two horses he loved well and cared for greatly, but, for various reasons- cost, or perhaps concern over exposing them to the rigors of another Atlantic crossing, due to their age or other reasons- he was either unwilling or unable to bring them home with him. But he also found he could not leave them here in Canada either, where the horses that bore him well and served him in war would be forced to pull a plough, and suffer the lash from a farmer, or being made lame from overwork. Despite many offers of purchase, he could not bear the uncertainty of the treatment they may face at hands of those who loved the horses less than he. And so, instead, one morning, he lead his horses to the burying ground at Victoria Square, and there, with a heavy heart, he shot them himself, and had them buried among the soldiers and officers. And so, despite all the dead buried and covered over at the burying grounds, the only hauntings that are regularly reported, even to this day, are the occasional sounds of horse’s hoofs.
1 comment:
How sad, but tender, at the same time. He loved his horses.
I am a believer in ghost stories, but then, I owned a house built in 1850, and I bet most people who own old houses understand there are things that happen that cannot be easily explained except by a supernatural answer. Here are a few.
My terrier going to the edge of the bed and whining at the ceiling, she had never done that before. In a straight line through the house, things happened. Right after we moved in, about day 3, the fairly new stereo we had suddenly blasted up to full volume. I was in the room, on the other side of the room. Or candlesticks that would just fall, holder and all, onto the floor. Or a sudden, musty smell that permeated the living room, and then ended never to return.
We dealt with it by putting crucifixes in most rooms, saying the name of Jesus, and sprinkling holy water in every room. Not another thing happened.
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