Even while ghosts might be seen during the day, the most shocking incidents frequently happen at night. specifically at the so-called “witching hour” of midnight.
The witching hour occurs in both upstate New York and Pennsylvania in this ghost story. One must muster their confidence after midnight in these two states because numerous people have claimed to have seen a ghostly horse and its owner.
Major General Mad Anthony Wayne and his mount Nancy are represented by this apparition. They can be spotted galloping through isolated roads and dark slopes.
During the American Revolutionary War, Wayne was a hero. He was given the moniker “Mad Anthony” because he was fearless and courageous enough to take calculated risks.
His horse Nancy was his comrade in this bravery. at 1779, he dashed across the Hudson River on Nancy’s back at New York’s Storm King Pass to notify a party of American soldiers that British soldiers were rapidly coming.
At midnight, people are still observing this scene. People claim Wayne and Nancy don’t exhibit any signs of fright.
More spectacular eyewitness accounts of this sighting claim that Wayne’s black cloak is seen billowing out behind him as white-hot orange sparks are seen flashing from Nancy’s hooves.
According to a well-known urban legend, Nancy and Wayne’s ghosts can also be seen driving along a Pennsylvania highway connecting Radnor and Erie. The elderly general is rumored to be searching for some of his bones, which is what is causing this haunting.
Both in the former Wayne blockhouse in Erie and on Presque Isle, these sightings have been reported.On Contestoga Road through Lancaster, down the Susquehanna River, up the west bank to the Alleghenies, and all the way to the shores of Lake Erie, hooves can also be heard pounding.
Wayne’s remains traveled in a wagon in this direction. Originally, the general was interred at the Old Fort on Presque Isle.
But following his passing, his son Isaac made plans to have his body exhumed in 1809. Wayne had been a lifelong member of the historic St. David Episcopal church in Radnor, and he wanted his father’s bones interred there.
Wayne’s bones couldn’t all fit in the crate that was brought to transport his body, so a surgeon decided to bury some of the bones at the fort. The remaining items were put in this box and transported across what was still a wilderness in a wagon.
The journey to Radnor was arduous and unsteady. Several of the bones allegedly dropped out of the box and remained there.
At the conclusion of this journey, what was left of Wayne’s remains was reburied at Old St. David’s churchyard.
According to the folklore, Wayne still frequents this area in search of his missing bones because his body was disturbed and several of his bones were lost.
Considering that Wayne’s birthday is on January 1st, this is when his ghost is most frequently reported. According to eyewitnesses, Mad Anthony can be heard whistling for Nancy, his loyal horse, before her hooves can be heard hammering across the difficult terrain.