The Phantom Rider Of The Confederacy

This ghostly legend centers around The Calvalry Episcopal Church in Fletcher, NC. It is a place I have passed by too many times to count on my way from Hendersonville to Asheville and I always wondered if that old cemetery hidden behind the wrought iron gate had a story. The legend starts with two young local lovers having to sneak and meet at the old well at the church because her parents did not approve of the relationship. It was the 1860's and as the Civil War raged on, the young beau got called away to join Confederate General Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee. The parents would not allow the young couple to marry before he was sent away and the young soldier was killed in battle a few short months later. The young lady grieved herself to death within two months after learning of her boyfriends death.

As the Civil War wound down in the Spring of 1865, Union General George H. Stoneman came through the mountains of Western North Carolina seeking to put down any resistance from Confederate soldiers and supporters as part of Sherman's March to the Sea. He reached Hendersonville around April 23rd and as he moved down the Howard Gap Road into Asheville around April 26th, a young female rider on a Palomino horse appeared in front General Stoneman's troops. She had long flowing blond hair, and wore a white dress and a grey, Confederate cape that trailed down her shoulders as she rode. She beckoned Stoneman's men to follow her. Stoneman thought she may have valuable information on Confederate forces in the area, and he quickly ordered her capture. She galloped down the road with Stoneman's men in hot pursuit but they could not catch up with her. She led his Union forces into a a small ravine a short distance from the church and straight into a Rebel ambush. The Confederate soldiers were positioned on both sides of the ravine and 23 of Stoneman's men were killed in the short battle. The Confederate forces escaped with very few casualties.

An incensed Stoneman ordered the female rider captured and punished for her actions but the his men could not catch up to her. The Union troops got close enough to her to fire off several shots but the bullets seemed to pass right through her and she disappeared from sight. She has been seen many times since 1865 including by one of the Episcopal Ministers of the Church. She was always dressed in the same fashion with the white dress and the Confederate cape, galloping up and down the roads surrounding the church, waiting on her young lover to return from the War.