OUTRAGES ON UNION PEOPLE IN NORTH IN January, 1863, all the salt at Laurel Hill, North Carolina, near the Tennessee line, was taken possession of by the rebel authorities, and, in consequence, the salt in the region around of which they had not possession was selling at from seventy-five to one hundred dollars per sack. The commissioned officers of the rebel government declared that the Tories, a name they give to the Unionists in that portion of the country, should have none. They positively refused to give them the portion to which they were justly entitled when it was distributed. This outrage aroused the long-suppressed anger of the Union men, and they collected together and determined to take their portion of the salt by force if necessary. They proceeded to the place where it was kept (Marshall, North Carolina), and took what they considered their share. Shortly after, the Sixty-fifth North Carolina Regiment, under command of one Lieutenant-Colonel James Keith, was ordered to Laurel Hill to arrest the offenders. Samuel M. Allen was Colonel of the Sixty-fifth, but had been suspended for drunkenness, and therefore the command fell upon this Keith. Before the regiment arrived at Laurel Hill, those engaged in the salt seizure fled and were not to be found, and the innocent had to suffer in their stead. The following persons were arrested:-Joseph Wood, about sixty years of age; David Shelton, forty-five; E. King, forty; H. Moore, forty; Wade Moore, thirty-five; Isaiah Shelton, fifteen; Willie Shelton, twelve; James Metcalf, ten; Jasper Channel, fourteen; Samuel Shelton, nineteen, and his brother, aged seven; in all, thirteen. All of them protested against being arrested, and declared that they were innocent, and begged for a trial, that they might prove their innocence. Colonel Allen, who was with the regiment, said they should have a trial, and they were going to take them to Tennessee for that purpose. They all started off, thinking that everything would soon be right, but had proceeded only a few miles when they were marched from the road to a gorge in the mountains. Halting here, five of them were ordered to kneel down. A file of soldiers was then placed in front of them with loaded muskets. The terrible reality now flashed upon their minds that they were about to be murdered. Old Mr. Wood exclaimed, "For God's sake, men, you are not going to shoot us? If you are, give us at least time to pray.' Colonel Allen was reminded of his promise. They were told that he was not in command, had no authority to make such promises, and that there was no time to be lost in praying. The word was given to fire. The old man and boys put their hands to their faces, and rent the air with their agonizing cries of despair. The soldiers hesitated to obey the command. Keith told them if they did not fire he would make them change places with the prisoners. Again the order was given, and the five men fell pierced with bullets. Wood and Shelton were both shot through the head, and their brains scattered upon the ground. They died without a struggle. The others lived a few minutes. Five others were ordered to kneel down-with them little Willie Shelton, who said, "You shot my father in the face; please do not shoot me in the face!" He covered his face with his hands, and the order of "Fire!" was . again given. Five more fell. Poor little Willie was wounded in both arms. He ran to the officer, and clasping him around the legs, implored him to spare his life, saying, “You have killed my poor old father and my three brothers! you have shot me in both arms! I forgive you for all I can get well again; do let me go home to my mother and sisters!" What man, with a heart, could resist such an appeal? But little Willie pleaded in vain. He was again dragged back to the place of execution, and again that terrible word "Fire!" was given. He fell dead, eight balls having penetrated his body. The remaining three were ordered to kneel down, and again the word "Fire!" was given, and they fell. Those in whom life was not entirely extinct were despatched with pistols. The miscreants then dug a hole in the ground, and tossed the whole thirteen into it. Its depth was not sufficient, and some of the bodies of the murdered men lay above the ground. Sergeant N. B. Jay, a Virginian, but attached to this command, got up on the bleeding bodies and commencing to dance, cried out, "Some one pat Juba* for me, and I'll dance the d-d scoundrels down to and through hell." The grave was covered very lightly with earth. The next day the families of the murdered men heard of their fate, and search was made for their bodies. When the grave was found, the swine had rooted up one of the corpses, and partly devoured it. A portion of Keith's men went to Tennessee, and the others returned with Keith to Laurel Hill, and told the inhabitants that the murdered men were taken to Tennessee, to be tried in accordance with the pledge of Co lonel Allen. By those who went to Tennessee many Union men * A negro song. were killed along the way. Those who returned with Keith to Laurel Hill began to torture the wives of loyal men, to force them to tell where their husbands had hid the salt. The women refused to disclose anything. Then the inhuman wretches gathered together some hickory switches, and commenced whipping them until the blood was seen to run down their persons upon the ground. Mrs. Sarah Shelton, wife of E. Shelton, who escaped from the town, and Mrs. Mary Shelton, wife of L. Shelton, were whipped and then hung by the neck until life was nearly extinct. When let down, and consciousness had returned, they still positively refused to give any information. Martha White, an idiotic girl, was taken out and whipped, and then tied to a tree by the neck, and left there all day. Old Mrs. Eunice Riddle, aged eighty-five years, was inhumanly whipped, hung, and then robbed of a considerable amount of money. A great many others were threatened with torture. The daughters of William Shelton were requested to sing and play for them. They sang and played the national airs of the Union. Keith, learning this, ordered the ladies to be arrested, and sent a guard to the house, where they remained all night. Mrs. Sallie Moore, aged seventy years, was whipped with hickory switches until the blood ran down from her back to the ground. One woman, name forgotten, who had a child five or six weeks old, was tied to a tree in the snow, and her child placed in the door in her sight, the villains telling her that, if she did not tell where the salt was hid, she and her child would be kept in that position until they both perished. Sergeant N. B. D. Jay, of Captain Reynolds's company, and Lieutenant R. M. Deever, assisted their men in the perpetration of these outrages. Houses were burned over the heads of the Union people, and everything of value was stolen by these men. The perpetrators of these outrages were soldiers belonging to the army of the Confederate States, and the men who commanded them were commissioned by the same government, and therefore the Confederate Government had them in their control, and could have punished them, if they did not sanction their acts; but the villains were looked upon as brave men for these acts of cruelty.* MURDER OF A ONE-ARMED MAN IN NORTH By the battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the rebels suffered such a defeat that the Unionists of the South, growing bold, began to speak their sentiments aloud, in opposition to the rebel government. Particularly was this the case in Central North Carolina, so that three regiments were sent from the rebel army to overawe the people and quell the disturbance. Many acts of cruelty were perpetrated by these soldiers, causing serious skirmishes between them and those Unionists who were lucky enough to have arms, and several lives were lost on both sides.. Among the most atrocious acts committed by these soldiers was that practised upon a young man in Randolph county, who, by some accident, had lost one arm, and was therefore not subject to conscription. They went to his house, and, under the pretence of getting him to show them the way to a neighbor's, decoyed him into a piece of woodland, where they brutally shot him. * Colonel Crawford, Vice-President of the State Convention, held at Nashville, Tenn., 1863. |