An apparition of a headless figure on horseback, a Hessian mercenary's ghost, beheaded in life by a cannonball during the Revolutionary War. He haunted Sleepy Hollow near the churchyard where his body lies buried. The Horseman's power stopped at a deeply shaded covered bridge that crossed the nearby Hudson river. Haunted not only Ichabod Crane but the entire area, held responsible for Crane's disappearance.