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High Park - Southern End
(Written in April of 2004) Over the last few years, there have been a number of reports of people seeing, in the bushes and woods near the Southern end of High Park (near and around Colborne Lodge) what appear to be soldiers (or a soldier who's seen often) in both red and, on occasion, green tunics (coats).
The reports mostly speak of assuming "someone" is lurking in the bushes, the witness tries to get a better look at the "lurker" and then describes what might be (most likely) a soldier, from the War of 1812 era (based on their hats or packs) which, when they double-check what they see, vanishes.
These reports seem to come from both daytime and evening sightings and are more often seen East of Grenadier Pond, West of Parkside Drive and South of the animal pens.
What's intriguing is the amount of reports from people who do not or would not expect to see such soldiers in this area as it is a wee bit of a trek from Old Fort York not to mention those that have seen the "green coats" and do not think they are related to the War of 1812.
Historically, however, there is reason to believe that there was fighting here during the Battle of York in April of 1813 as the American Forces, led by General Zebulon Pike, did land their troops close to what is now Sunnyside Beach (just South of High Park).
The British commander sent out 119 grenadiers (including some Glengarry Light Infantry who wore "green" jackets instead of red) to face the force as it landed. Of these 119 souls, only thirty survived. (See a possible related story to this in our section on Grenadier Pond.)
Is it possible that these "lurking" soldiers are related to the battle? Are they possibly related to or somehow in unison with the legends of Grenadier Pond? Are they something else altogether unrelated? All is possible, but without concrete evidence or testimony, it's difficult to say... Definitely, more study is needed.
We are currently very interested in this case and welcome any or all feedback. If you have something to share or wish to tell us of an experience in High Park (be that with a "soldier" or something else,) please e-mail us at submissions@torontoghosts.org
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