In September 1862, fighting from the Battle of Antietam spilled into Sharpsburg's streets. Residents were left to bury the dead from both sides. Today, locals report lingering echoes of that strife, from the faint taps of a Union drummer boy named Charley King to the phantom footsteps of Confederate soldiers charging up the stairs of the Rohrbach House. Two spectral girls seen playing by the Big Spring in Children's Alley may be Savilla Miller and Theresa Kretzer, best friends torn apart by their divided loyalties. Tour guides Mark and Julia Brugh craft a vivid portrait of Sharpsburg in the Civil War and bring to light stories of the ghosts for whom the conflict never ended. Julia Stinson Brugh, a native of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, grew up surrounded by Civil War legends. She was exposed at an early age to the rich history of the area and experienced a childhood of frequent visits to Antietam. Along with her husband Mark, Julia is the owner and operator of Sharpsburg Tours. Julia has a love of oral history and mythology of common folk, which contributed to the compilation of mysterious tales described in this work.  Mark P. Brugh has studied Civil War history for more than thirty years. This passion led to the inception of the Sharpsburg Tour Company and the Grave Diggers and Ghosts tour, which offer both historical tours of the town and family friendly ghost tours with a strong historical foundation. He is a member and volunteer for the C&O Canal Association and the Sharpsburg Historical Society. He is also a member of the Hagerstown Civil War Roundtable and the Save Historic Antietam Foundation. Civil War Ghosts of Sharpsburg By Mark P. Brugh, Julia Stinson Brugh The History Press Copyright © 2015 Mark P. Brugh and Julia Stinson Brugh All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-62619-924-8 Contents Preface, Acknowledgements, Introduction, Part I: The Ghostly Confederate Soldiers' Passageway, The Earth Opened Up, The Sharpsburg Experience: Ghosts v. Reenactors, The Broken Confederate Artillery*, After the Battle, A Tale of Two Cemeteries, Grave Problems, Aaron Good, Final Rest and Repose: The Washington Confederate Cemetery, Sharpsburg Cemeteries and Grave Research, Jacob McGraw's Ghost*, Charley King's War*, The Confederate Sentry*, The Rohrbach House Remembers*, Part II: The Children's Alleyway, Savilla Miller, Dewitt Clinton Rench, Theresa Kretzer, Jacob McGraw, Aaron Good's House*, We're from Here: The Incident at the Big Spring*, The Old Veteran*, The Happy Waving Man*, Part III: Unresolved Stories of Sharpsburg, The Confederate Ambulance Wagons*, The Mary Hill House*, Blue Lights at Otto's Swale*, Ferry Hill Place and Bridgeport*, Dr. Augustin A. Biggs*, Part IV: The Legacy of Sharpsburg, Bibliography, About the Authors, CHAPTER 1 PART I The Ghostly Confederate Soldiers' Passageway There is more than just traffic moving along the streets and alleys in the northwest quadrant of Sharpsburg. There are also regular reports of Confederate soldiers moving down the roads headed west toward the Potomac River. Some are only witnessed in the middle of the night, while others appear in morning hours or at dusk. There are dozens, and on our ghost tours, we simply do not have time to mention every one that we've been told. Although the thousands of Confederate bodies left in Maryland could not cross the river with their regimental units, it seems they may still be trying to head west and cross over the Potomac River to rejoin them. In this northwest corner of Sharpsburg, the sightings of Confederate soldiers continue like leftover memories from their past presence here. The quadrant is bounded by Chapline Street on the north, Main Street on the south, Mechanic Street on the east and the Potomac River on the west. Slicing east and west through the middle of the area is Alley No. 1, or what we call the Ghostly Confederate Soldiers' Passageway. Over and over, during the Civil War, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia moved through and occupied the town. Lee first came in September 1862 and fought the bloodiest day in American history from his base in Sharpsburg. In June 1863, the Confederate army passed through on the way to Gettysburg but left units behind in Washington County to secure the crossings over the Potomac River. In July 1864, the Army of Northern Virginia again was on the move. After crossing the river near Sharpsburg, it circled southeast in a last ditch and failed effort to capture Washington, D.C. Sharpsburg is crisscrossed by streets and alleyways that give the appearance that nothing has changed here since September 1862. Houses look ancient, with the oldest falling into one of three types. There are eleven large limestone block homes, called founder's houses, and most have two original stories. These are the homes of Sharpsburg's first settlers. There are one-story structures that were originally log cabins. These have gone through