The Shelton Laurel Massacre
Depiction of the Shelton Massacre
The War in North Carolina hit very close to home starting in early January, and it all began with salt. In Madison County, remote in the western Appalachians, salt was just as rare as gold, but more valuable. It could cure game, bake biscuits, and preserve food throughout the cold long winters. A sack of salt cost around $100. Salt was a staple of the Confederate war effort, hoarded by shopkeepers, guarded by troops. Gov. Zebulon Vance decrees that no salt be exported from the state. Vance and the Confederate authorities in Richmond, Virginia, sent troops to the region with orders to not allow any salt to get into the hands of “disloyal” mountaineers — including not only bushwhackers and deserters, but also self-declared Unionists, derisively called Tories to echo Revolutionary factions. Madison County was a Unionist stronghold. Tight-knit communities such as Shelton Laurel are Republican to the bone. People here defeated a ballot calling for a secession convention, 532 to 345. In the middle of a raw, snowy day, a group of Madison County Unionists, including many local deserters from the 64th North Carolina Regiment and an unknown number from Shelton Laurel, descend on Marshall, where Confederate commissioners store stockpiles of salt. The Unionists took all they can carry and then looted the town. A special target was the residence of Col. Lawrence Allen, commander of the 64th, who is off with his regiment in Bristol, Tennessee — guarding another stockpile of salt. The army relieved Colonel Allen of command for six months for falsifying the duty roster — part of a scheme that earns him kickbacks from well-heeled conscripts who want to buy their way out of service. The looters hack open his trunks and cabinets, steal anything of value, and terrorize Mrs. Allen and her three small children, two of whom are bedridden with scarlet fever. Brig. Gen. W.G.M. Davis reports 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. Col. Allen’s Sixty-fourth North Carolina Regiment and the men of his command are said to have been hostile to the Laurel men and they to the former for a long time — a kind of feud existing between them.” Rumors then start flying around that a force of 500 men is forming in Shelton Laurel to fight the weakening Confederacy — by burning bridges, raiding depots and towns, attacking loyal Confederates in their homes. Colonel Allen learns of the harassments his family had been forced through, and requests permission from his superior to accompany the 64th back to the Laurel Valley to put down the insurrection. His offer is accepted. Colonel Allen then assumes the role of supernumerary, and Lt. Col. James Keith takes command. Keith, the son of a Baptist minister, is a firebrand who holds the mountaineers in contempt. At 35, he is one of the wealthiest 20 men in Madison County. He is tall, confident, and sharp faced, with a prominent brow and high cheekbones; a mane of black hair; a black beard; a dark complexion; and keen, slated eyes. His whole aspect inspires fear rather than trust. Marshall was his hometown, so this objective is personal. Keith’s force moves on Shelton Laurel from two directions. He leads a column down from the high crest at the head of the valley, while Colonel Allen — acting in some ambiguous capacity as Keith’s subordinate — brings his men up the mouth of the valley. Mountaineers in hiding pepper Allen’s column with occasional gunshots. His soldiers return fire, killing eight men. At Bill Shelton’s home, they meet a stubborn force of more than 50 riflemen, and a hot fight leaves six of the defenders dead. As the troops make camp to wait for Colonel Keith’s column, Allen receives the news that his children, 6-year-old son Romulus died of scarlet fever. He gallops home to Marshall to find that his daughter Margaret, four years old, is dying. He blames the intruders who ransacked his house weeks before. He buries his children the next day and returns immediately to Shelton Laurel, fueled by grief and the desire for vengeance. Under Colonel Keith, with Colonel Allen complicit, the 64th goes on a warpath. They torture women to make them give up the whereabouts of their husbands — all in vain. They hang and whip Mrs. Unus Riddle, who was 85 years old. They hang two of the Shelton wives, Mary and Sarah, by their necks until nearly dead. They slaughter livestock wantonly. Through no cooperation by Shelton Laurel women, the marauding force rounds up 15 men. Colonel Allen persuades them not to resist, promising a fair trial. He knows from the start that these men are unlikely to have had anything to do with the raid on Marshall — witnesses identified the raiders as mostly deserters from their own regiment. But Colonel Keith decides to detain them anyway and jails them for two days in Marshall. Two of the prisoners manage to escape into the night. The remaining 13 are ordered to march up the valley the following day believing to be marching to Tennessee to be put on trial, but Colonel Keith has other plans. He orders five of them to their knees. A squad of soldier’s stands back 15 paces is front of the men and aims their rifles at them. A Shelby Laurel man by the name of Joe Woods, who is the eldest of the group of men at 6o years old cries out, “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 that there’s no time for praying. He then gives the order to open fire, but for a long moment, the soldiers hesitate, moved by the pleas of mercy from the helpless men. Then exploiting his fury, Keith exclaims, “Fire or you will take their place!” Gunfire echoes across the gorge. Four of the men fall lifeless. A fire, shot in the gut, has to be finished off with a gunshot to the head. Next, fire more are ordered to their knees, including a 13 year old boy by the name of David Shelton. “You have killed my father and brothers,” he pleads. “You have shot my father in the face. Do not shoot me in the face.” The soldiers’ fire and again four men die instantly. But young Shelton is only wounded in both arms. He hugs the legs of one of the officers. “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.” But he is dragged back to the place of execution and is shot again- eight more times. Then they execute the remaining three men. The soldiers dump all the bodies into a shallow trench scored out of the snow. One of the soldiers, Sgt. N.B.D. Jay of Virginia, bounds onto the heap of bodies. He cries out to his fellows, “Pat Juba for me while I dance the damned scoundrels down to and through hell!” On February 16, Attorney General Augustus S. Merrimon wrote to Governor Vance, “I have no knowledge of my own touching the shooting of several prisoners in Laurel. I have learned, however, from a most reliable source that 13 of them were killed; that some of them were not taken in arms but at their homes; that all the men shot (13 if not more) were prisoners at the time they were shot; that they were taken off to a secluded cave or gorge in the mountains and then made to kneel down and were thus shot.” Governor Vance is determined to get to the bottom of the atrocity and orders an investigation that lasts four months. The Confederate Army suspends Colonel Allen for six months without pay. But Colonel Keith flees deeper into the mountains. Governor Vance vows, “I will follow him to the gates of hell, or hang him.” For two years, Keith remains a hunted fugitive. When he is finally caught, it is not by the families of the Shelton Laurel victims or even by Vance’s North Carolina troops, but by Yankee troops. He is indicted on 13 counts of murder and imprisoned for more than two years, while the war goes out like a flame and the State Legislature haggles over an amnesty for all who served the Southern cause. In the end, even the State Supreme Court cannot levy justice on Keith — he is set free and disappears into the wilds of Arkansas.