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The Shelton Laurel massacre was the execution of 13 accused Union sympathizers on or about January 18, 1863 by a Confederate regiment in the Shelton Laurel Valley of Madison County, North Carolina at the height of the American Civil War. The event sparked outrage among North Carolina Governor Zebulon B. Vance and Solicitor Augustus Merrimon (the latter of whom investigated the event), and was published in numerous newspapers in northern states and as far away as Europe. While the massacre destroyed the military career and reputation of Lieutenant-colonel James A. Keith, the adjunct commander who ordered the executions, he was never brought to justice for the incident.〔Manly Wellman, ''The Kingdom of Madison'' (Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1973), pp. 83-84.〕 ==Background== The events leading up to the massacre began in January 1863 when an armed band of Madison County Unionists ransacked salt stores in Marshall and looted the home of Confederate Colonel Lawrence Allen, commander of the 64th North Carolina Regiment who was away from home, guarding stockpiles of salt elsewhere. During the war salt was a precious resource, Brig. Gen. W.G.M. Davis reported on February 2, “I think the attack on Marshall was gotten up to obtain salt, for want of which there is great suffering in the mountains. Plunder of other property followed as a matter of course.” This elicited response from General William Davis, stationed at nearby Warm Springs (now Hot Springs), dispatched the 64th under Lieutenant-colonel Keith (Allen was ill at the time) to the Shelton Laurel Valley to pursue the looters (Keith, like much of the 64th, was a native Madison Countian). By this point in the war the 64th North Carolina Regiment had lost nearly two thirds of their original force from combat and desertion. In the skirmish that followed, 12 of the looters were killed and several were captured. Upon hearing of the events, Governor Vance (who grew up in nearby Weaverville) sent orders not to harm the captured Unionists and dispatched Solicitor Merrimon to monitor the situation.〔 ==Massacre== In spite of the governor's orders, Keith, believing a rumor that the Unionist force was much larger than in reality, began frantically combing the valley for Union supporters. For Keith, being a native of Marshall made this issue personal. Keith’s troops moved on Shelton Laurel from two directions. While Keith lead his column down from the high crest at the top of the valley, Colonel Allen brought his men up the opposite end of the valley. Hidden locals fired on Allen’s men with occasional gunfire. In the returning fire Allen’s soldiers killed 8 men. Once the soldiers reached the home of Bill Shelton they encountered over 50 riflemen. The ensuing combat left six of the defenders dead. While Allen and his troops awaited Colonel Keith’s column, news was received that Allen’s 6-year-old son Romulus had died of scarlet fever. Upon his return to Marshall, Allen discovered that his 4-year-old daughter Margaret was dying. Allen was quick to blame the looters who had ransacked his house previously. The next day he buried his children and returned immediately to Shelton Laurel. With Allen, fueled by grief and the desire for vengeance, reunited with Keith, the two realized that the locals were unlikely to volunteer information. Keith rounded up several Shelton Laurel women and began torturing them in hopes of forcing them to give up their sons' and husbands' whereabouts. They hanged and whipped Mrs. Unus Riddle, a woman of 85. They hanged Mary and Sarah Shelton by their necks until they were nearly dead. The Memphis Bulletin reports: “Old Mrs. Sallie Moore, seventy years of age, was whipped with hickory rods till the blood ran in streams down her back to the ground. … Martha White, an idiotic girl, was beaten and tied by the neck all day to a tree.” The soldiers burnt homes and slaughtered livestock. After several days of rounding up alleged supporters, Keith began marching the captives toward East Tennessee, which at the time was occupied by a substantial Confederate army. However, after two of the captives escaped, Keith ordered the remaining 13 captives into the woods, and had 5 of them shot execution style.〔William Trotter, ''Bushwhackers! The Mountains'' (John F. Blair Publishers, 1991), pp. 224-232.〕 Their bodies were dumped into a nearby trench. Among the executed were three boys, ages 13, 14, and 17.〔 Joe Woods, an elderly man of 60, says ““For God’s sake, men, you are not going to shoot us? If you are going to murder us, give us at least time to pray.” Keith responds, “There’s no time for praying.” The soldier hesitated before shooting the horrified captives, prompting Keith to bellow, “Fire or you will take their place!” The soldiers fired and 4 men were killed instantly, one required a second shot. The next 5 men were made to kneel and after the shots were fired again one man remained still alive. It was 13-year-old David Shelton who clutched the legs of an officer and begged “You have killed my old father and three brothers, you have shot me in both arms. … I forgive you all this — I can get well. … Let me go home to my mother and sisters.” David Shelton was shot 8 more times. Attorney General Augustus S. Merrimon, stunned by the incident, reported it to Governor Vance shortly thereafter.〔 He wrote “I learned that all this was done by order of Lieut. Col. James A. Keith. I know not what you intend doing with the guilty parties, but I suggest they are all guilty of murder. … Such savage and barbarous cruelty is without parallel in the State, and I hope in every other.” 〔 The governor wrote that the affair was “shocking and outrageous in the extreme,” and ordered a full investigation.〔 Family members of the slain (mostly Sheltons) discovered that the bodies were being eaten by wilds pigs and moved the bodies to a new cemetery east of the massacre site. They swore revenge against the perpetrators.〔 Keith was ultimately tried for the massacre in civilian court after the war. After spending 2 years in jail awaiting trial, he escaped just days before a state supreme court decision would have provided him with vindication. He was never apprehended, and after two years the state dropped its prosecution.〔Paludan, Philip S. 1981. ''Victims: A True Story of the Civil War''. Knoxville, TN: The University of Tennessee Press. p. 144.〕 Colonel Allen, who was not officially in command, but heavily involved in the tragedy was given 6 months suspension by the Army. Five widows of murdered men from Shelton Laurel petitioned congress for pensions. Their petition died in committee. A North Carolina Highway Historical marker recalling the massacre stands in the vicinity of the massacre site at the modern intersection of state highways 208 and 212. The graves of the slain are in a cemetery just off Highway 212, further up the valley.〔(North Carolina Highway History Marker Program: Madison County, Marker P-71 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Shelton Laurel massacre」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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