Secret Witch Bottles Unearthed at Confederate Fort Reveal Dark Civil War Rituals of Union Soldiers
Imagine stumbling upon a beaten-up glass bottle crammed full of rusty nails, tucked away near an old Union hearth from the Civil War. You’d probably scratch your head and wonder if you’d just uncovered some forgotten hardware stash — but nope, historians think it’s something far more eerie: a centuries-old witch bottle. That’s right, a spooky little jug that soldiers might’ve relied on not for bullets or bandages, but for keeping evil spirits at bay amid the chaos of battle. Talk about battlefield magic! It’s a quirky glimpse into the mindset of those embattled troops — when conventional weapons weren’t enough, you reached for superstition in a bottle. Curious how nails, fire, and a pinch of fear came together in Civil War-era potion-making? Let’s dive into this unusual find and the strange protection rituals that accompanied our nation’s darkest days. LEARN MORE
“It was this glass bottle full of nails… We thought it was unusual, but weren’t sure what it was.”
Robert Hunter/William & Mary Center for Archaeological ResearchThe bottle is in remarkable shape, save for the broken top. It contained a ball of corroded nails.
A 2016 dig at a Civil War-era mini-fortification known as Redoubt 9 near Williamsburg, Virginia yielded a ritual item experts now believe to have been a “witch bottle.”
The defensive, historical structure’s remains now lie on a highway median between exits 238 and 242 on Interstate 64 in York county.
According to researchers from William & Mary University — which conducted the dig in partnership with the state’s Department of Transportation — jugs like this were once used to ward off evil spirits. According to CNN, the idea was that its contents would trap these spirits and protect its owners.
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