Location: Fort Mifflin, Philadelphia, PA

Date: January 27, 2001

Time: Overnight investigation sponsored by the PGHA, 6pm to 6am

Weather: About 38 degrees and over-cast.

Equipment used: Pentax 35mm camera PC-550, Night Owl Cyclops NOCX3 night vision scope

History: After Washington’s defeat at Brandywine in 1777, a force of 20,000 British and Hessian troops marched into Philadelphia, led by General William Howe. With the Colonial Army weakened, Howe could have attacked them west of the city and wiped them out—probably defeating the Revolution—but his own forces had run short of supplies. The supplies were waiting on the Delaware on a fleet of ships.

Before General Howe arrived with his 20,000, the rebels, led by General Thomas Mifflin, had occupied and strengthened the partially built British fort that guarded the waterways. The British attacked Mifflin’s stronghold heroic seven-week siege, and around November 16, 1777, Fort Mifflin finally fell. As well as inflicting severe casualties upon the British, however, the Colonists accomplished their mission: the British supply ships were delayed. Winter had set in, and General Howe was unable to attack Washington’s troops.

Restored in 1795, Fort Mifflin was again manned during the War of 1812, though it saw no action. During the Civil War it was used as a prison camp. The Fort was disarmed in 1904.

Today Fort Mifflin is restored to its 1834 appearance. The complex includes Casemates (vaulted, bombproof enclosures used to shelter troops under attack), the Northeast Bastion (offering a special view of Philadelphia and the Delaware), the Arsenal, with four-foot thick walls that originally housed a prison, various batteries (though most of the guns are gone), Soldiers’ Barracks, Officers’ Quarters, Blacksmith Shop, and a variety of other structures and sites.

Fort Mifflin’s ghostly history includes an unknown tour guide who has given several detailed tours to visitors, an apparition of a man with no face, an apparition of a man carrying lumber, a woman screaming in the middle of the night (the Philadelphia police have been called several times, only to find nothing), an apparition of a young girl in the artillery shed, and several unexplained noises, including cannon fire. The faceless man is thought to be General William Howe, who was imprisoned in the fifth casemate, and later convicted of murder and hanged in the courtyard. The screaming woman is thought to be Elizabeth Pratt, whose daughter killed herself in the Officer’s Quarters. For further information concerning the fort’s ghost stories, check out Ghosts of Philadelphia by Charles Adams.

Investigation: I arrived at the fort at about 5:30pm. I dropped my things in the Soldier’s Quarters, which was our base camp for the night, and introduced myself to the members of the PGHA. I then began to explore the grounds and buildings. By 6pm, the other participants had arrived, and Lew (PGHA president) pulled us all together for a lecture on the equipment used in investigations. After the lecture, we all took a break, and then were given a ghost tour of the fort. We walked across the courtyard to the outside of the casemates, where the guide began to tell us of the many sightings of the faceless man in uniform. It was then that I realized that I was feeling quite nauseous, which I found quite strange because I had felt fine all day. I was about to return to the Soldiers Quarters, when the guide pointed to the exact spot where I was standing, and stated that it was the spot in which the apparition is always seen! My nausea subsided when we entered the casemates, and did not return.

After the ghost tour, we split into groups, which rotated to different buildings within the fort. Our group was the first to go into the casemates, which is one of the most active areas in the fort. We spent about twenty minutes in the first casemate sitting motionless, attempting to get an EVP. About ten minutes into the session, we did hear a noise at the far end of the casemate. Although we all heard the unidentifiable noise, I did not see anything through my nightvision. From there we spent time investigating the powder magazine, blacksmith shop, and Sally Ports, but did not experience anything unexplained. We then returned to the Soldier’s Quarters for a break.

After a short break, I joined another group, and we decided to return to the fifth casemate. We closed the door and began an EVP questioning session. About 15 minutes into the session, we all heard a loud noise outside the door, in the casemate hallway. We immediately sent someone to look if there was another group out there, but there was no one even close to the casemates.

We then decided to try the Officer’s Quarters. This is where we spent pretty much the rest of the night. This is where the screaming woman has been heard. She is believed to be Elizabeth Pratt, an officer’s wife who hung herself in the building after her estranged daughter died of a fever. We went into the room beside the room in which Ms. Pratt hung herself, and began questioning for EVPs. About one half-hour into the session, we heard footsteps walking across the room above us, and traveling down the second-floor balcony. Somebody went outside to check if another group was in the vicinity, but found no one. When we again began questioning, we heard shuffling in the room next to us (where Ms. Pratt hung herself). At that point we decided to split the group in half and send one half to the room above us to see if they would witness anything. During the time they were up there, we heard nothing out of the ordinary. After about another half-hour, the upstairs group came back downstairs. Almost immediately, we heard shuffling outside the door and in the next room.

By this time, it was about 5am, and most of the people in my group wanted to rest before we had to head home. After talking with the other PGHA members who were present, we found that we were the last group left investigating, and everyone else had settled down for a nap in the Soldier’s Quarters. Therefore, there was not much of a possibility that the noises were caused by other investigators wandering around, because everyone was accounted for. Just before the sun came up, as the others were napping, I roamed around the courtyard taking random pictures until it was time to go.

Conclusion: Based on my experiences, I would say that there is definitely a chance that Fort Mifflin is haunted. I would like to return to the fort to investigate it further.