The Battle of Valverde, a key Civil War conflict fought on Feb. 28, 1862, along the dried riverbank of the Rio Grande in New Mexico, is now the focus of paranormal legends that a ghost hunter recently set out to investigate.
“The Texans coming up through Mesilla and they had their sights set on Fort Union,” said ghost hunter and author Cody Polston, who provided historical context for the battle.
Union troops stationed at Fort Craig worked to block Confederate access to Colorado and its resources, including gold. “So there’s a lot on the line, and often this battle is kind of underrated because it’s like, ah, they’re kind of nuts out in the West, too much sun,” Polston said.
During the battle, Union forces pulled out of the fort, leading to a major clash. “He pulled his forces out of the fort, and there was a big clash,” Polston said. “They ended up bailing out and leaving a unit force at the rear, which is never a good thing.” More than 500 soldiers died in the conflict.
Legend has it that cannon fire can be heard at Fort Craig on the anniversary of the battle. Polston decided to investigate. “The old riverbank is back that way, so they were anchored against this, so man, literally their line was kind of right through here,” he said. However, after conducting observations, Polston reported, “We just finished with our observations in our area, and we have nothing at all to report, nothing that sounded anything remotely like a cannon.”
Polston also shared a story he heard at the Valverde Hotel in Socorro. A cowboy claimed he encountered a headless man with a musket while searching for a lost calf near the historical site of the lancer charge. “The craziest story I ever got, I was at the Valverde Hotel in Socorro. I was looking for ghost stories in the area, and someone pointed out this cowboy to me,” Polston said.
The cowboy recounted his experience. “He was near what historically would have been the lancer charge,” Polston said. A man reportedly popped out of a bush with a musket, aimed, and fired at the cowboy. “I said, that’s pretty scary. He said it’s worse. The guy had no head. His horse startles and starts riding into the bosque. Takes a while to calm a horse down. He’s like, I really don’t want to go back that way,” Polston said.
To investigate the cowboy’s account, Polston and his team recreated the scene. “The task, the way we’re going to do this, we have zeroed in the position where the shooter was, so what we’re going to do is time this for four seconds. The reason for four seconds is that’s how long he lost sight of the guy mounting, dismounting from the horse, and checking that area,” Polston said.
After timing the reenactment, Polston concluded that most paranormal claims could be explained rationally. However, one mystery remained unresolved. “The one we could not figure out was Fort Craig, and I was on that one. We were walking back toward the old magazine, and we could just… there’s a gunpowder smell, and it’s strong,” Polston said. “You can smell clear as day. Stayed around for five or 10 seconds. It was, phew, gone.”
Polston has investigated numerous reports of paranormal activity at the battlegrounds, continuing to explore the intersection of history and legend.
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