Bloody Lane, Antietam National Battlefield
This Maryland park was home to the bloodiest one-day battle in American history. On Sept. 17, 1862, 23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing after the 12-hour Battle of Antietam, which ended the Confederate Army’s first invasion into the North. Today, the sunken road known as Bloody Lane is said to be haunted by the soldiers who lost their lives. Witnesses have reported hearing phantom gunfire, shouting and singing, and some have even claimed to see soldiers in Confederate uniforms who abruptly vanish.
Visitors, park rangers and Civil War re-enactors have experienced strange phenomena at several other Antietam National Battlefield sites, including Burnside Bridge. They’ve reported seeing blue balls of light moving through the air and hearing phantom drumbeats. According to historians, many fallen soldiers were buried beneath the bridge.