I woke up surrounded by wheat and dead bodies, although I did not know which of the two surrounded me more. The battle had been a terrible and bloody affair, with regiment after regiment being sent into the onslaught as if drawn into a whirlpool of death. It had been a back and forth fight, with control of the field switching from us to the Rebs, to us again, and then the Rebs. This cycle seemed to continue until no man from both sides was left to control the field of battle.
When our brigade was ordered to march into the field, there was a relative calm in the fighting. But this peace was short lived, as the enemy soon came bearing upon us. They had caught us by surprise, just as we were executing a left-wheel at the center of the field. In what seemed like seconds, our rightmost regiment was heavily attacked by the strong tide of the enemy. While that was happening, our front was also engulfed by a rush of men, as we saw boys in blue running away from a large wave of gray. We were only able to get off a couple of volleys before the order to retreat came upon us.
However, we kept calm throughout this deadly moment, as officers and non-commissioned officers kept the men steady while we fell back in an orderly fashion. We were regulars, after all, not volunteers. We would vacate the field the same way we entered it, in proper order and cohesion.
Sadly, there was this one shameful soldier, whom I saw break ranks and flee to the rear. He was one of the newer recruits, a boy who had just joined the regiment recently. He did not have the same calm composure that the older veterans had. Knowing that such an act could be contagious to the other new recruits in the unit, me and another sergeant raced towards him and attempted to stop him from running.
Managing to cut him off, I shouted for him to halt. For a moment, I thought that my authority upon him worked, as he slowed down to a stop. However, as I approached him to lead him back to the rest of the regiment, he surprised me by swinging his rifle and hitting me with the butt of the stock. The boy was large, most likely a farmhand before joining. The moment the butt hit my forehead, everything went black.
When I opened my eyes, the field was dark and surrounded by trampled wheat and fallen bodies, both blue coated and gray coated. Laying on the ground, my first instinct was to check my wound and groan in pain. Cursing the boy under my breath, I then took hold of the situation I was in. It seemed like the intensity of the battle and retreat had forced my regiment to leave me behind, especially since I had fallen in the middle of the wheat crop, making it hard to find my unconscious form.
Not knowing who now possessed the field, I kept my body on the ground, as I rolled to one side and hoped to get a better look of my surroundings. All around me were bodies, both blue and gray. The amount of dead there was so much that it seemed the whole ground was released by bloodied and dead men.
Laying there and keeping low, since I did not want to raise myself beyond the crops in case the field belonged to the enemy, I contemplated what I should do next. I knew that I could not stay there all night, since there was a chance I might get captured by Reb patrols if this field was indeed in their control. Because of that, I made plans to somehow escape this place of death and somehow make my way back to the regiment, wherever they may be.
Knowing the direction they should have been going during the retreat, I rolled around the ground and shifted myself to try and find which way I should go. Remembering the two tall hills my brigade had passed in order to get to the field, I tried my best looking for them. However, due to the bodies and wheat around me, it was impossible to see much while prone on the ground.
Due to the need to know where I had to go, I decided to take the risky move of crouching and taking a peek over the wheat crops. I needed to find my bearings to escape from here, so I knew that the risk would have been worth it. With the moon shining bright above me, I knew its light would allow me to see far into the shroud of the night. Sticking my head up, I looked around and saw the emptiness of the field I was in. I was somewhat relieved by this, but remembered to remain cautious, due to the nearby wooded areas that may contain Reb pickets.
Trying my best to quickly examine my surroundings and locate any important landmarks, I soon saw the silhouette of two hills in the distance. Realizing that these were the two hills we had passed by earlier, and remembering that the brigade had been retreating towards that direction before I was knocked out, I decided to head towards it.
However, as I was about to lower myself and crawl towards the direction of the hills, my eyes caught a glimpse of something. Turning my head towards it, I felt my whole body freeze, as I saw a creature that I thought was unnatural to this Earth.
It was less than one hundred and fifty feet from me, yet I was able to clearly see it thanks to the light of the moon. Standing teen feet high with rotting green skin, a tall bony creature that resembled the form of a headless man roamed the field. Staring at it and watching it as it strolled along the field, I felt awe and fear run through me. My years in the army and my experiences in battle had never brought such fear than the one I felt that night in the field.
I did not know how it was possible for a creature to live without a head, yet there it was, moving along the field as if it could see where it was going. Unable to take my eyes away from it, I watched as the creature made small steps with its thin long legs, before stopping to arch its body forward, as if it was examining something on the ground with its non-existent head.
Afraid, yet curious, I kept on watching, as the creature reached down with its bony long arm and grabbed something. It then pulled something up from the ground and lifted it close towards the flat surface that was most likely its neck. As it raised the thing in its grasp high, I quickly realized that it was one of the many deceased bodies that littered this field. I did not know if the body belonged to one of ours or was a Reb, but I don’t think it cared on which side the body belonged to.
Watching on with horror, I saw the creature lift its other arm and place its rotting fingers upon the head of the dead body. Then, with a simple movement, it snapped off the head, somehow cleanly separating it from the body. Without hesitation, it then tossed the body back to the ground, before taking the head and lifting it towards its neck. I then saw it place the head on its neck, before making an effort to attack to make it fit and stick. When this effort failed, it seemed to suddenly become frustrated, as it swung its arm and tossed the head into the darkness.
Then, after pausing and standing silently for a few seconds, it began making small steps, as it craned its body to search the ground for another body. Clearly it was looking for a head to fill its missing top and it seemed to think that the heads of deceased soldiers would be the perfect replacement.
Upon seeing it begin to move, I managed to remove my mind from its entranced state of curiosity and return myself to using my survival instincts. Because of this, I pressed myself back on the ground, as I thought of what I had just seen.
That thing, that creature, was terrifying. Its form scared me, but it was its actions that terrified me. It clearly had the strength to lift a man and easily pull off his head, and I was not willing to wait and see if it only picked dead bodies for its purposes. I feared that it might eventually stumble upon me and do to me what it had done to the dead man. Because of that, I decided to begin my crawl out of the field.
Moving as fast as I could, crawling up bloodied dead bodies and trying to make as little noise as possible, I quietly prayed that the creature did not notice the rustling wheat caused by my movement. After moving an estimated fifty feet, I made a quick pause and decided to stick my head up to check my bearings and see how far I was from the creature.
To my horror, I realized that the creature had made its way towards the same direction I was going, because it was not less than fifty feet from me. Because of how far it had moved since I last saw it, I assumed that it did not stop to pick up every single body in the field. Because if it did, then its movement would have been slower, due to the number of dead piled there. My assumption was confirmed when I saw it pick up two deceased bodies with both arms, before tossing aside one and ripping off the head of the body that remained. It seemed to be picking among the dead, choosing which one was worthy to connect with its neck.
Knowing its pace, seeing how close it was to me, and fearing that it might notice me if I went on further, I momentarily decided to stop my movement. Going prone once I saw it head towards my direction, I quickly decided to wait for it to pass me before continuing. My plan was to slowly inch away from it as it approached me. By keeping track of its surprisingly heavy steps, I hoped to avoid it before the creature got too close. I know that it may not have been the best plan, but it was the only thing I could think of during that moment of fear.
Waiting anxiously, I kept an ear on the ground to try and listen to the growing sound of its footsteps. With each minute I could hear it get closer and closer towards me. Once I thought it was getting closer, I began crawling away, trying to be careful and avoid attracting too much attention to myself. Pausing every few feet, I then listened to its footsteps and adjusted my direction to ensure that I was moving away from the creature.
Eventually, the sound of its steps seemed to be far behind me. Thinking that I was far enough that I was temporarily safe, I cautiously got up and stuck my head above the wheat. To my relief, I saw that the creature had indeed passed me and was moving away.
Feeling confident that I could resume my crawl back towards friendly lines, I was about to go prone again, when I heard a cry echo in the air. Sharply turning my head towards the creature, which by then was less than a hundred feet from me, I was shocked to see that the body it had lifted up was squirming and yelling.
“Let me go!” The poor man it lifted screamed. “Please, let me go!”
It was then that I realized that the creature had managed to pick up an injured soldier who was probably also stuck in this field of death. Since they were close by, I was able to notice that the man wore a grayish uniform.
However, the color of his uniform did not make me deaf to his pleading cries. During that moment, the war seemed to be forgotten, as an unworldly creature was about to kill a fellow man. Knowing that the poor man would soon have his head removed, I mustered up all the courage I could gather and grabbed a nearby abandoned rifled musket, with bayonet still attached.
After quickly inspecting it and noting that it was loaded, I then cocked the hammer and, throwing away my last ounce of hesitation, stood up and aimed at the creature. Being careful with my aim, I targeted its shoulder in hopes of bringing it enough pain that it would drop the man in its grasp.
With a pull of the trigger the musket let out a fierce and loud snap as it fired. Staring at the creature, I then saw it drop the man in its grasp, as it was forced back by the impact of my bullet. However, any evident damage to it was not obvious from the distance I was in.
Not wanting to waste any more time, I then began running towards the direction of the distant hills, knowing that the creature now had its attention on me. I did not dare to look back. Instead, I kept my focus forward, as I fled, empty rifle still in hand.
However, the sound of loud stomping could be clearly heard from behind me. It soon got louder and louder, as I desperately tried to move faster. I didn’t know how fast it could move, but the loudening sound of its steps told me that it was able to move quickly.
It did not take long for me to suddenly feel something wrap around my waist, before I was surprised to be lifted up. Grabbing tighter to the rifle, I tried to break away from the hand that now held me. But my own strength was no match for his grasp, as it lifted me up until I was directly facing its neck.
This was the first time I got a close look at the creature. What I saw and smelled sickened me. Looking directly at its neck, I noticed that it was actually hollow and had a rotten fleshy interior. Because of this, and its rotten skin, the smell it gave out was terrible and foul. Not even the stench of a hundred rotting bodies could compare to the odor it gave out. I’m sure that I would have spilled out the contents of my stomach, had it not been empty after hours of being here in the field.
Brining my eyes away from its neck and glancing towards the shoulder I had shot it at, I noticed that the bullet had indeed caused damage. A gaping hole that oozed a thick liquid from its shoulder, although it did not show any signs of being hurt or weakened by it. However, based on the wound, and the fact that it had reacted to the impact of the bullet earlier, I concluded that it did feel some sort of pain. Because of this, I did the only thing I thought I could do to save myself.
As its other hand moved closer towards me, its fingers ready to grab and pull out my head, I tightened my grip on the musket. Once it was within range, I used all my might to thrust my weapon upward and stab the small palm that connected its arms to its fingers. Managing to hit it with my bayonet, it immediately caused a reaction from the creature, who suddenly dropped me.
Now falling from a decent height, I let go of the musket and prepared myself for the hard impact to the ground. However, instead of hitting the dirt hard, I felt a slightly softer impact. Surprised by this, I checked what I was on and realized that I had fallen on a pile of dead bloated bodies.
Deciding to ignore the mess my fall on them had created, I glanced up to see the creature waving its arm in what I assumed was pain. Managing to get a good look at its hand, I saw that my bayonet had managed to severely wound it. Due to the small size of its palm, the bayonet managed to slice off a substantial portion of it, nearly half, if what I saw was right. Because of this, the other half of its hand was hanging and leaking the same thick liquid that came out of its shoulder wound. It made no sound of pain, but its movements told me that it was hurt and angry.
However, seeing that it was now distracted, I took my opportunity and quickly got up and ran. Once more I did not look back, but to my relief I did not hear the loud approaching stomps of it following me. Feeling hope rise up from within me, I kept running and running towards the distant hills, while anxiously listening for the sound of its heavy bony feet to come towards me. But I didn’t hear it come, and as I kept running I eventually got out of the field.
Not wanting to stop, I kept on going, even if my feet were complaining from the pain. When I eventually stopped, it was because I finally encountered a friendly picket line, who halted me and checked if I was indeed a Federal soldier. By early morning, I was back with my regiment and being checked on by the regimental surgeon.
I tried telling the surgeon about my experience and what I saw while I was out on that field that night, but he simply dismissed my statements. According to him, the injury on my head and dehydration must have made me imagine things. But I know what I saw and felt, I could not have imagined that.
Description of the bodies recovered from the field did not help my case either, as the officers explained that the dozens of headless bodies were the result of shrapnel fire from Gibb’s battery, which bombarded the field after our forces had retreated.
I did not question this, even if I knew that this was not true. Instead, I kept my silence. If I kept on going with my story, then the surgeon might recommend that I was unfit for duty and have me regulated to administrative duties or, worse, discharged from the army. Not wanting to be given light duties, while my friends fought at the front, or be removed from the only profession I believe I am good at, I decided to keep the events of the night to myself.
However, I know that after what I saw, I would be extra vigilant every time I am sent out to picket duty at night.
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This diary entry by my third-great-grandfather always spooked me. It has been one hundred and fifty-nine years since he experienced that terrible night. Now I’m here, at the same spot where he had seen and fought the creature. Later tonight I plan on staying in the forest near this field and search for the creature. I have heard that the preserved battlefield is home to many paranormal sightings, so maybe, just maybe, the headless creature is still roaming this field, searching for something to put atop its neck.