The Ghosts That Saved America: The Haunting of Fort Mifflin (Investigating the Haunted)

By Richard Estep

The Sexton’s musings (spoilers are likely):

Another historic location of paranormal investigation. One that we have visited before in other books. Only at a glance though. Here we should get a more thorough look into Fort Mifflin. This was the fort that gave Washington time to move to and get new, vitally needed, troops trained at Valley Forge. Their fight prevented supply ships from moving up the Delaware River to the British encampments. Not getting those much needed supplies slowed things down. While the carnage was much, and the devastation real, the sacrifice was not one done in vain. This fort was the longest active fort in American history. Built in 1771 and not deactivated until 1954. This book is Estep’s investigation into this location.

The first few chapters is some general history of the events leading up to the Revolutionary War and the siege that took place at Fort Mercer and Fort Mifflin. It’s no wonder that the colonists rebelled. They were being taxed up the wazoo by a government that didn’t even deem them important enough to have representation in Parliament/house of commons, no voting rights, nothing. So damn right! We will not go quietly into the damn night! “No taxation without representation!” I’m not sure what the powers that be in Britain thought was going to happen.  

The next chapter is the arrival of the team and a tour of the facilities by the gentleman that wrote the first chapter, Greg O’Brien. Here we get some feels and some thoughts by our author who has a lovely descriptive quality to his writing and a mind that envisions events from history. Also we can’t ignore the occasional moment that makes you chuckle. A good sense of humor is good for the soul. Oh and should Richard Estep happen to ever read this (the honor is all mine sir) I just want you to know 50lbs in 25 years is not bad…not bad at all my friend!  We also get some of the ghost stories associated with each of the areas and some of the personal experiences had by Greg. The fort was used during not only the Revolutionary War but also the Civil War, WWI, WWII and apparently (fun chapter fact) later on, in the 1970’s, after it’s deactivation (in the 1950’s), the land surrounding the fort became the dumping ground for a motorcycle gang called The Warlocks who were linked to the abduction and murders of four (five but the body was never found) young women/girls (three were age 15, 16, and 17) who had gone missing. Monsters don’t got nothin’ on man.

One of the most famous stories/experiences is that of The Screaming Lady. Her origins are somewhat sketchy and no definitive information has ever been discovered to officially identify who she may be. Many guests and staff of the fort have heard her cries, including Greg. Here we get better acquainted with Greg and hear a bit more about what drew him to the paranormal and some of his experiences. Estep brings up an interesting fact about his visit there and the potential for just his presence being a trigger for the spirits of the revolution…he is British after all. Could make for an interesting investigation. They start the investigation in the enlisted soldiers quarters (which will be their base of operation (and is one of the only airconditioned areas at the fort) and then move on to the officers’ quarters. This is where some suspect our Screaming Lady met her demise. Then they move on to the casemate. I feel I should say that one of the team members is a sensitive, Robbin, and she was not part of the initial tour. Her abilities seem to be rather impressive based on this chapter. The following chapters see the team continue their investigation into the casemate’s. Casemate 5 lends itself to an interesting connection and an entity that is referred to as The Judge. (Note that I am purposely being vague and not giving away the experiences of the team, you’ll have to read the book to find out what happens)

The next chapter the team visits and talks about casemate 11 which was used to house the most high profile prisoners in solitary confinement. One of those prisoners was William Howe, who was jailed as a deserter. Some of his history is told along with a brief session which then concludes the teams first night.

Following is an account of a separate investigation done by Jack Osborne and Katrina Weidman for their TV program “Portals to Hell” (a little melodramatic for my taste). They visit the casemate’s and learn about “the Faceless Man”, thought to be the spirit of Capitan Nathan Stoddard, in casemate 5 as well as the Judge. They also visit the west sally port, the powder magazine and the administration building (used to be the forts hospital). In addition to the investigation they invite a sensitive to check things out as well. A man named Chris, who Estep is friends with, makes some good insights with his abilities (best part of the show I suspect). I think it’s amusing that Estep critiques the show and the assumptions that are made, some of them for the benefit of the audience I’m sure. 

Night two: The team first does a sweep with an SLS camera of the locations that they had gotten some activity the night before. I enjoy that Estep takes the time to explain some of the equipment, both its usefulness and its limitations. I also enjoy that he pokes fun at Jason’s bald head and the fact that light tends to bounce off of it. I wonder how many experienced phenomena were debunked as reflection from his head (we tease because we care). The casemates are the first focus and a session is conducted. The team then moves on to the officers’ quarters. Conducts a session and then decide to return to casemate 5 and 1 and then go back to the officers’ quarters. They try Estes sessions (using noise canceling headphones and a blindfold to limit sensory experience allowing the subject to focus on anything that should come through) in these locations now. The session in the officers’ quarters lends some interesting results. The story behind the screaming lady is discussed again and the alternative story involving the biker gang and the young women they violated and murdered. This is in my opinion the most violent and unexpected deaths of ladies around the fort and therefore a perfect situation to precede a haunting. With that the team return once more to the second floor of the officers quarters for additional Estes sessions. This concludes the second night of their investigation.

Chapter 13 is an account of when the show “Ghost Hunters Academy” visited the fort in 2010. I didn’t even know this show was a thing. The competitive nature of these types of shows could be a good thing or a bad thing when it comes to having the right conditions for paranormal investigating. On one hand the entities may feed off of the energy produced by the contestants but on the other hand people of a true competitive nature tend to put off negative vibes thus perhaps attracting or putting off certain types of entities. The following chapter is an interview that Estep did with Jason Hawes, one of the founders of TAPS and lead paranormal investigators on “Ghost Hunters”.                 

On to the third night! I am deeply amused that the prospect of seeing a canon fired makes our author so very giddy. This is chapter 15 and it has been mentioned three times that they would like to experience the firing of a canon. Sounds like they are going to get their wish. And then some. After the part of the team decides to go back to the officers’ quarters for a bit while the rest of the team goes to the casemate (1-5, 11, torpedo), then the powder magazine and then on to the Commandant’s house.

The following chapter we find a familiar name (if you read the Warren books), John Zaffis, Ed and Lorraine’s nephew. This is a conversation between Estep and Zaffis discussing the haunting of Fort Mifflin. Then in the next chapter, at Zaffis’s recommendation, Estep calls Debbie Chamberlin Elward who has spent some time at Fort Mifflin over the years. Here she shares some of his experiences.

Thus we move on to the fourth and last night which proves to be relatively fruitless. As Estep says perhaps they are just no longer interesting to the entities that make their home at the fort.

Next is a discussion that Estep had with Brian J Cano, another paranormal investigator who has provided his commentary and analysis on the show “Paranormal Caught on Camera”. Cano took the time to look into the history of the fort and, as many do, became attached to it. Visiting many times over the years and experiencing a plethora different things. Some interesting possibilities arise during this conversation.

The team then returns to Fort Mifflin for a fifth evening to help conduct a public paranormal investigation, lending their expertise to the event and having an interesting incident in the Enlisted Soldiers Quarters. There is also an extract from another one of Esteps’ books “The Great American Ghost Trip”. I do not have this particular book so I read this bit but if you have had the pleasure no reason to read it again (unless of course you want to). Funny enough the visit that this book is from is mentioned in the extract. I just have to mention, because the wording made me giggle out loud, one of the team during the “Ghost Trip” visit, Randy, goes to the restroom and comes back disturbed. This incident according to our author “will now and forever be known as Randy’s tale of toiletry terror”. Cracked my ass up! Because of the addition of this extract from an event that happened two years after the events of the book I suspect that this is a later edition.

  The last chapter (other than the epilogue and the acknowledgments) is a discussion with Sam Baltrusis, a sensitive and writer. An interesting historical tidbit from this chapter: the fort acted as a quarantine hospital in the late 1700’s when an outbreak of yellow fever hit the Delaware River and damn near wiped out the population of Philadelphia. He has had the opportunity to visit the fort twice. During those times he has sensed an enormous amount of activity. I have to say, for me, the most disturbing one that he talks about is what he refers to as a “crawler”. Yeah, nope.

The epilogue leaves us with an interesting concluding story. One of a lesson learned the hard way by previous visitors that decided to take a little piece of history with them when they left.       

Closing thoughts:

This one location is the scene of not just one historical battle but a place where layers upon layers of history has occurred. It is mentioned multiple times in the course of the book that somewhere in the neighborhood of 1000 cannon balls were shot into the fort during the battle, taking off the limbs and heads of the men bravely defending their right to independence. Can you imagine being witness to something like that? We currently are so very fortunate to not have had war time bloodshed on our land for many years but this is not true in many places around the world. We are very shielded from the atrocities of war here in the United States. Keeping this in mind is it any wonder that places that have seen these atrocities have scars left behind?

One of the basic laws of physics states that energy cannot be created nor destroyed but only change form. This lends itself to all sorts of interesting theories (theoretical physics is fascinating and mind bending). But you don’t have to be a theoretical physicist to appreciate the unknown things of nature. You just have to keep an open mind and a willingness to explore the possibilities.

Happy Devouring!

The Sexton