1. This publication is the property of Timothy Yohe and Paranormal Enlightenment
Magazine. The article may not be duplicated or reproduced in any form, in whole or in
part, without the written permission of the author. Small excerpts may be used for the
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citation.
Intelligent Hauntings and Post-Mortem PTSD in Civil War
Soldiers
The Civil War was perhaps the most traumatic conflict to have happened on
American soil. In a struggle to fight for conflicting views of slavery and the boundaries of
land, Union and Confederate soldiers, and even slaves, fought side by side with their
neighbors for the causes of freedom, civil rights, and territory. Many times the enemy

2. sighted in at the long end of a rifle barrel was a blood relative or someone the soldier
had known in some way. This created a huge and damaging rift between the people of
this country which undoubtedly caused massive heartbreak and created some very
tough internal conflict of killing someone you know or love. What made conditions
exponentially worse were the extreme environmental conditions of bad weather,
disease, and the ever-present stench of death from the decaying bodies left sprawled out
on the battlefield. Death typically came in two forms – either you slowly suffered
through an agonizing torture of an
incurable illness (diarrhea was
incredibly common), or you were
shot dead, never knowing where the
fatal bullet was fired. In both
instances the stage is set for some
unbelievably intense paranormal
activity.
If a soldier didn’t die, or wasn’t
stabbed or shot to death on the
battlefield, then they became
prisoners of war. One of the most well-known prisons in my local area is located in
Alton, Illinois. Here, Confederate soldiers were housed in a Union prison which was
named back then the Illinois State Penitentiary. It opened in 1833 with 33 cells and, by
the height of its capacity in 1862, housed over 1,600 soldiers. The living conditions here
were horrible, and they involved starvation, no shelter from the harsh weather

3. conditions, the lack of sleeping quarters, poor sanitation facilities, and rampant
diseases. Some soldiers even acquired mouth cancer, which slowly ate away their face
and made eating and drinking nearly impossible. The most common disease was
smallpox and, because it was so contagious, spread to the Union guards and killed them
as well. Nearly all of the 1,300+ soldiers who died in this prison are buried in the North
Alton Confederate Cemetery, a few miles away from the prison site. In 1865 the prison
was closed down after all the prisoners were released or sent to St. Louis. The limestone
blocks which were used to build it were excavated and used as building material
throughout the town. These same blocks can be found in churches, houses, businesses,
and even retaining walls all over the Alton area.
As for the soldiers who died in this penitentiary, their bodies were buried in
graves marked only with wooden sticks. Over time their gravesites were lost, never tobe
recovered. In an effort to represent them in some way, a Soldiers Monument has been

4. erected on the top of a hill in the cemetery’s northeast corner. Despite efforts of
providing proper burials and erecting a 58-foot granite obelisk, many of the spirits of
these soldiers are still in a state of unrest. Paranormal investigations happening in this
cemetery and in nearby Alton National Cemetery confirm this unrest and lack of closure.
Our active investigation of the Alton National Cemetery, the final resting place for many
Civil War soldiers, proved to be surprisingly successful and yielded some great results.
Our team was equipped with some very simple investigation tools. We had a
digital camera, a set of dowsing rods, and some extra batteries (entities will quickly
drain any available power to them). Our exploration of the grounds was a part of a larger
group who were also a part of an Alton Ghost Tour. In the tour group was a “Troll”, as
they call themselves. This is a person who takes up the tail end of the group, making

5. sure that no one ventures away from the group lost or gets left behind. We had a brief
conversation with her and she gave us some interesting information about the cemetery.
While we were trailing the rest of the group along the gravel pathway, we kept
getting the feeling that someone was following us. Every now and then we would hear
gravel scuffle and it wasn’t from our feet or from the “Troll’s” feet either. She saw us
looking back on the trail and came up to us. We told her we thought someone was
behind us, and she promptly agreed. There was someone following us.
There are many Civil War soldiers who still roam the grounds. She confirmed our
suspicions and told us that having the feeling that someone is following you happens all
the time, as the soldiers who roam these grounds are curious about who the people are
that pass through the cemetery. She also informed us that if you watch the trees closely,

6. you will see dark shadows peering out from behind them. The key is to watch for
movement, generally by using your peripheral vision. They run behind and out from the
tombstones as well. Sure enough, while we watched behind several different trees and
tombstones, we were about to see a few of these soldiers peeking at us. One even ran
through the trees and hid behind another tree. The “Troll” informed us that these men
believe that the Civil War is still going on. They are hiding and running just like they
would have done when they were fighting for their lives back in the 1860’s. We found
this to be quite fascinating, yet peculiar at the same time. How could it be possible
for a spirit to firmly believe the Civil War was still raging on 150 years after
this conflict ended?
For a spirit to have such a limited mindset on his surrounding and to have kept it
for over a century, there has to be some very strong reasons behind this seeming
aberration. One would think the soldier would be aware that either he has not died or
that he is still alive, but just existing in another realm. Many times, with sudden or long
agonizing deaths, the person who has passed does not realize that they have crossed
over death’s doorstep. In their confusion they exist as lost spirits, constantly striving for
some explanation. The soldiers in the Alton National Cemetery dointeract with
investigators, and, as such are considered intelligent hauntings. This is different from
residual hauntings, which are essentially historic events that repeat themselves over and
over again. With the soldiers and the intelligent interactions, there must be more to the
mystery than just a simple lack of realization that they are dead. Some other factors
must come into play here. What could they be?

7. Recently my wife and I were watching the movie “American Sniper”. In it the
main character Chris Kyle experiences some of the most severe forms of post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) a soldier can endure. After doing 4 tours in Iraq, he came back to
his wife and kids an empty shell. Vans resembling those in the Middle East fired off his
PTSD, causing nervous suspicion. Any kind of a conflict, like a dog playing too rough
with a child, would set off his “kill or be killed” impulse. To quote his wife, “You are here
physically, but mentally you’re somewhere else.” This gave me some ideas. Could it be
possible that the Civil War soldiers were experiencing a severe form of PTSD, which kept
their minds trapped in the throes of war, while their spirits had moved on to the next
level of existence? Might this be considered post-mortem PTSD?
Although we, as of yet, cannot really know the reasons why spirits remain
trapped on this physical plane, there are some good assumptions why this is true. These
hypothesis form the basis for the “other factors” in the question that was asked earlier.

8. When a spirit has unfinished business here they remain as an attempt to finish the task
and bring closure. In the case of a PTSDCivil War soldier, the unfinished business
would obviously be to finish the war and ensure that their side won. With Chris Kyle, he
was always beating himself up for the Marines who were killed whom he could not save.
This drove him to continuously return to Iraq, even when he wasn’t physically there. In
the case of a Union soldier, the same result would be achieved whereby the incredible
intensity of the war would continuously drive the soldier to fight on. Psychologically he
would be locked into this state of mind and, in the process of crossing over the spiritual
veil, this mentality would continue to endure and keep him locked on the battlefield.
Just like Chris, the soldier’s mind would be in one place while his spirit is in another.
This is one possible way that Civil War soldiers still believe it is the 1860s.
Fear of what lies on the other side will also drive a spirit to remain here on our
plane of existence. If a soldier believes that in crossing over death’s doorstep he will
meet his personal hell, especially the guilt of being held accountable for killing a fellow
brother, then clearly that fear can drive him to continue fighting the war. Better to be
here in the more predictable world, than to face the consequences of what lies on the
other side. Sometimes, as well, people just simply don’t know how to find the light to
make the transition. They will roam properties like the North Alton Cemetery and the
Alton National Cemetery looking for answers they will never find. Many times
paranormal investigators can attempt to facilitate the process of final closure, by guiding
them in the right direction and praying for their souls to come to rest.
For some spirits, like the Alton Civil War soldiers, that closure will never come.
They live out their day to day lives on the lookout for the enemy and continuously

9. suspicious about anyone who enters the cemetery. Perhaps they see us as ghosts just as
we experience them in the forms of shadows, light anomalies, and sounds. They
probably no more understand our world than we understand theirs. For these intelligent
hauntings, the battle must be won at all costs because their minds have been completely
consumed with the most damaging psychological condition known to humankind. Post-
mortem PTSD.