High Strangeness in Old New England – The Spectre Leaguers of Cape Ann
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Description
The great 19th century American poet, John Greenleaf Whittier, composed a strange poem entitled “The Garrison of Cape Ann” that tells one of the strangest tales ever to come from colonial New England. The event he recounts for us is supposed to relate actual events that occurred during the same year that the Salem Witch Trials occurred – 1692. Whittier’s poem isn’t very long and relates the tale of a garrison of soldiers inside the Fort at Cape Ann, Massachusetts. What is so bizarre about this episode is the nature of the beings assailing them from outside the walls of the fort. Contemporary witnesses had difficulty describing these beings, unsure if they were men or something else. Whatever they might have been, a group of strange beings are attacking the walls of the fort, beings that seem foreign and evil. They wear strange garb, never-before-encountered suits made of a material that shines. They have a language that no one in the Fort can understand or even identify. They seem to possess weaponry like nothing the colonists have ever seen before.  Even though the garrison’s soldiers shoot their muskets at these strangers and undoubtedly hit them, no damage is ever done. The strange beings fall down in mock wounding and rise again, laughing.  No one is ever killed. The beings continue to cavort and mock the soldiers. It appears that there is nothing that can stop them.  Then, the Captain of the Garrison puts down his gun and tell the soldiers that there is but one way to beat the creatures. First, he rips a silver button from his jacket and rams it down the barrel of his musket. Then, he takes aim for the creature he deems to be their leader and shoots, hitting him in the chest. The being instantly disappears. Surely this is evidence of the doings of the Devil.  Then the Captain calls upon his faith. He falls to his knees and begins to pray and he instructs his men to do the same. They comply. Soon a foul scream is heard outside the walls and the strange beings simply begin to disappear. Prayer, it seems, is a better defense than musket balls. Whittier must have heard of this well-known legend as a youth, but it is available for everyone to read as chronicled by a contemporary of the Cape Ann witnesses, Cotton Mather, in his book, Magnalia Christi Americana. Mather claims to have interviewed the main character in the actual story, making it as close to a primary source as we are likely to find. The events began with the experiences of one man and his family. Ebenezer Babson, yeoman farmer from Cape Ann (also called Gloucester in the Mather text), one summer evening in 1692, heard noises outside his home.  The darkness was deep in early New England, especially in the country and one did not lightly step outside to investigate without looking out the window first. When he did, there was nothing he could discern. While his family remained safely inside, Babson ventured outside to see what was causing the strange sounds that so vexed his family. The noises indicated a large number of people were in his yard, running back and forth. When he investigated, there was no evidence that anyone had ever been there. The sound stopped…for that night. However, the sounds returned for many consecutive nights, frightening the family. A few weeks later, Babson was returning home alone. It was one of those midsummer evenings where the sun seems to linger on the edge of the horizon, painting the sky a dazzling shade of orange. The air was cooling quickly and soon, night would fall. From a distance, he saw two strangers leave his house from the front door. He was about to shout at them to stop when they noticed him and took off at a clip down the
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