Page 10 - Glenfiddich Booklet

Colonel Erasmus Burt
Colonel Erasmus Burt was the Commanding officer of the 18th Regiment of Mississippi volunteers during the Civil War. He served as a state representative and was the founder of the Mississippi School for the Deaf. On October 21, 1861, Col. Burt fought in the Battle of Balls Bluff, just four miles northeast of Leesburg. During the battle he was shot just above the hip joint. That night he was taken by wagon to Harrison Hall for the treatment of his wound.
An excerpt from the diary of Virginia Miller (niece of Mr. Harrison) shares the events of the night Col. Burt was injured.
“Dr. Lane came to bearing us a message from him saying he was seriously, but hoped not mortally wounded, and would be here in a few moments. He was wounded in the right hip. Most anxiously and carefully did we prepare his room for him... They rested him while in the passage... They then took him upstairs, but a mark of his suffering remained behind in the blood which stained the floor.”
On October 26, 1861 – just 5 days after his arrival at Harrison Hall, Col. Burt passed away. Yet, 150 years later the presence of Col. Burt can still be felt in the house. There have been various tellings of a mysterious appearing and disappearing blood stain in the main foyer, as well as someone having appeared to have been in the house with ‘depressions’ in the center of the bed as if some figure had lain there, but with no other sign of someone getting in or out of bed. Other tales tell of hearing someone going up and down the stairs and ring tapping against the stair banister.