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The smoke never clears, it is said, from the field of battles and skirmishes fought by brothers, cousins, nephews, and uncles…intent on killing each other over points large and small and even impertinent to the point of life itself. The War Between the States has this humble witness who feels obligated to make certain that these following entries into the line of Time so that the family who follows can know the truth of their family's past.
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The issue about our uncle (my great-uncle, your great-grand uncle), Norman Newton's Yankee hero older brother, Charles. Remember that the first Norman Newton was the grandfather of your father.
After finding a reference to Charles Newton as a fallen Union soldier, and reading about the battle, the location, the constructions, and the layout of New Salem and its church, the Post House, the Doctor's office and operating room, my digging instinct clicked in.
I also clicked around looking for an Episcopal Church in Salem, or Salem Church, or Salem Heights, Virginia…(all in the same place)…and found Saint Paul's….It has a nice web page...pretty unimaginative, thankfully. Unfortunately, the Church is only 150 years old. But, I was drawn into the rest of the narrative about things general and specific about Saint Paul's. It should be noted that after three attempts to communicate with a vicar, any person, at the Church in question, there has not been any response or notion of willingness to stoop to answer any inquiry.
Then there was this inclusion immediately below, matter-of-factly included in the descriptions of traditions, structures, bells, and other specifics about the Church. Please read this carefully.
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POST HOUSE GHOST?
Have you ever been in the Post House late at night and heard a window open and close and you're the only one in the building? It has been said by some that they experienced a cold draft late at night when all windows and doors were closed. It's been reported there have been occasions prior to the 1962 addition to the Post House when gas jets in the parlor fireplace would come on or go out without anyone controlling the regulator.
Roanoke College students studying in the parlor late at night have experienced these occurrences. Church members and staff have reported finding a ladder-back chair facing and within a few feet of the fireplace as if someone had been sitting there for warmth. Reportedly there have been times when a small table would be in the rooms center, a chair would be next to the table with a candle.
College students during the 1950's reported attempting to use the restrooms (at that time the restrooms were outside the Post House), but frequently the doors would be locked from the inside as if in use. After waiting they would try again to open the door, the door would open, the restroom would be empty.
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CONCURRENCE WITH THE NEWTON FAMILY?
To begin, it would help to point out that the Saint Paul's Church (Episcopal), and the Post House are quite close.
Legend has it during the War Between the States a Union soldier wounded during the Battle of Hanging Rock, (known as the Battle of New Salem Church by the Confederates) was left at the Post House. He was to be cared for by the Inn Keeper. The Union army was driven from the valley and did not return for the soldier. He soon afterwards died from his wounds. Could it be this lone Union soldier is waiting for his unit to return for him. (There is an understanding that the Doctor's office and operating area was either adjacent or quite nearby the Post House.)
There are those who discount these reports. However, this writer can attest to some of them. If there are those who do not believe that's fine, and Happy Halloween anyway!
The Post House is older than the structure of Saint Paul's Church. The Battle of Hanging Rock is what our side called the "Battle of Salem Heights (or Church)". Northern forces numbered about 19,000 and they were attacked by General Jubal Early's Division numbering about 16,000. The Union forces were involved in a tactical retreat, but Early did not want them to join up with the Union General Hooker's entire Corps as they structured a "receiving committee in northernmost Virginia and Maryland, should the Rebs launch the much feared "northern offensive"by the much feared Confederate war machine… anticipated for early July, 1863.
Much of this addenda and commentary by the author sides with those historians who began to conclude that the South could not sustain nor endure a long or draining war. Because of this, Bobbie Lee determined to give one last lashing to the Union Forces…ridding them from Virginia and Maryland, and then boxing them in, somewhere in the riverine and hilly stretches of the back hills of the the Appalachians…somewhere in Eastern Pennsylvania.
New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington D.C. would have all been cut off from land reinforcements. Small, regimental sized guerrilla bands could have harrassed the Union forces for two or more years…exhausting the will to re-build railroads and dams and watermills on an almost hourly basis. The much vaunted telegraphic systems would have been easy work for night fighters and quiet cavalry squadrons from Kentucky to Maryland.
A major Confederate Victory in that area would more than certainly brought a call for peace in the North, especially if there were a critical, crucial, and crushing defeat of Union forces somewhere in eastern Pennsylvania.
All of that seemed reasonable. There was only one problem. There was a confrontation underway in Memphis, Tennessee, on the mighty Mississippi, a thousand miles to the west, that would bring much to bear on the issues of strategy and will to fight of both sides.
Much of this addenda and commentary by the author sides with those historians who began to conclude that the South could not sustain nor endure a long or draining war. Because of this, Bobbie Lee determined to give one last lashing to the Union Forces…ridding them from Virginia and Maryland, and then boxing them in, somewhere in the riverine and hilly stretches of the back hills of the the Appalachians…somewhere in Eastern Pennsylvania.
New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington D.C. would have all been cut off from land reinforcements. Small, regimental sized guerrilla bands could have harrassed the Union forces for two or more years…exhausting the will to re-build railroads and dams and watermills on an almost hourly basis. The much vaunted telegraphic systems would have been easy work for night fighters and quiet cavalry squadrons from Kentucky to Maryland.
A major Confederate Victory in that area would more than certainly brought a call for peace in the North, especially if there were a critical, crucial, and crushing defeat of Union forces somewhere in eastern Pennsylvania.
All of that seemed reasonable. There was only one problem. There was a confrontation underway in Memphis, Tennessee, on the mighty Mississippi, a thousand miles to the west, that would bring much to bear on the issues of strategy and will to fight of both sides.
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I cannot help but feel that Uncle Charles has been guiding my hand.
He was wounded during the Confederate offensive by General Jubal Early, working under direct orders of Bobbie Lee. He had been taken to a private facility to be cared for by people who were simultaneously his enemies and his friends. He died there, and stayed behind because of the retirement of Union forces, in retreat back to Washington, D.C. Perhaps, the hospitality that he had received as he lay dying allowed him to "adopt" his new surroundings.
If, in fact, Charles Newton is this ghost, and therefore ours, he plays pranks every now and then, like your Grandfather Newton and Great-grandfather Peter Bonesteel Christian would always do while living, and some say, while dwelling in the beyond after life.
He was wounded during the Confederate offensive by General Jubal Early, working under direct orders of Bobbie Lee. He had been taken to a private facility to be cared for by people who were simultaneously his enemies and his friends. He died there, and stayed behind because of the retirement of Union forces, in retreat back to Washington, D.C. Perhaps, the hospitality that he had received as he lay dying allowed him to "adopt" his new surroundings.
If, in fact, Charles Newton is this ghost, and therefore ours, he plays pranks every now and then, like your Grandfather Newton and Great-grandfather Peter Bonesteel Christian would always do while living, and some say, while dwelling in the beyond after life.
Do you all not find this story odd? Even a bit too supernatural? Is Uncle Charles glad to have a family member looking for, or after, him? Perhaps, someday, we shall have the time and energy to go and check on Uncle Charles, and the Confederates who are not that distant who, as is said, lie asleep in the arms of the Lord. (There was no Obamacare).
We hold new information that changes a bit some of the previous lore, but not much. And there are other bits and pieces, some large and some small, of information that continue to draw the investigator into the wondrous…and horrid…times that occupied calendars from 1861 through the middle of 1865. Four years that would result in more casualties than the total of all the Wars the United States has fought…combined. Brothers are the best of friends…and the worst of enemies.
We hold new information that changes a bit some of the previous lore, but not much. And there are other bits and pieces, some large and some small, of information that continue to draw the investigator into the wondrous…and horrid…times that occupied calendars from 1861 through the middle of 1865. Four years that would result in more casualties than the total of all the Wars the United States has fought…combined. Brothers are the best of friends…and the worst of enemies.
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