As a side note, one of the confederate officers was a personal friend of the county's pro confederate sherrif. The Sherrif had been shot killed a local election day when an uhhmm "intense political discourse" deteriorated into a shoot out between himself and a group of armed men (presumed Shelton Laurels?) at the poll.
Needless to say, there are probably two very different spins on who had been drinking and who was trying to intimidate or threaten whom...
One more thing, and I'll shut up. Ron Rash tells a bald-faced lie at 2:36 . Both men were, in fact, punished.
Keith was court-martialed and had to resign his commission.
Allen was suspended from active duty for six months. His punishment was less severe because his children died as a result of the raid by the Unionists of Shelton Laurel.
Read a book called "The Heart of Confederate Appalachia: Western North Carolina" for an accurate representation of the events that led to the execution some of the Marshal Bandits and their sympathizers, who were led by Union guerrilla leader John Kirk.
The people of Shelton Laurel got what was coming to them. They were Unionists and deserters from the Confederate Army. What do you do with deserters in wartime? You shoot them.
This was a wartime execution of guerrilla raiders & their sympathizers after they had repeatedly launched raids into the surrounding counties, often assassinating Confederate Officers. They robbed the stores in town, taking salt that was desperately needed to preserve food, harassed Col Allen's wife & 3 sick children, ransacking the house even stealing the blankets from their sickbed. One child died immediately thereafter and Col Allen was told the other two would die shortly, and they did.
I was at a Confederate monument dedication in western NC as a reenactor in the late 1980s. A man came up to me and started arguing about this incident. At the time I hadn't read anything about it. He was running his stupid mouth about it, like I was somehow responsible for it all. I wasn't sure how to deal with him but he was getting pretty hot about it.I finally looked him in the eye and said if the Confederates shot these people, they had it coming.He finally shut up.What a nutcase!
The fact of the matter is, the Sheltons just wanted to be left alone, the thing with the salt comes from an old fued between Keith and some of the Sheltons, thats all it boils down too, Keith got away with cold blood murder, the Sheltons werent Union and they werent Confederate, Keith used this war to get even on a personal grudge, this all goes deeper than what everybody knows, a lot of stuff happened between Keith and the Sheltons way before the massacre took place, check it out!
I'm not sure I would describe the people in Shelton Laurel as Union sympathizers, but rather as people who refused to fight in the war as a Confederate. Of course, this is coming from a Shelton from Shelton Laurel.
As a side note, one of the confederate officers was a personal friend of the county's pro confederate sherrif. The Sherrif had been shot killed a local election day when an uhhmm "intense political discourse" deteriorated into a shoot out between himself and a group of armed men (presumed Shelton Laurels?) at the poll.
Needless to say, there are probably two very different spins on who had been drinking and who was trying to intimidate or threaten whom...
Wanderer359 2 months ago
One more thing, and I'll shut up. Ron Rash tells a bald-faced lie at 2:36 . Both men were, in fact, punished.
Keith was court-martialed and had to resign his commission.
Allen was suspended from active duty for six months. His punishment was less severe because his children died as a result of the raid by the Unionists of Shelton Laurel.
So much for scholarly research.
ThunderPigRemixes 7 months ago
Read a book called "The Heart of Confederate Appalachia: Western North Carolina" for an accurate representation of the events that led to the execution some of the Marshal Bandits and their sympathizers, who were led by Union guerrilla leader John Kirk.
The people of Shelton Laurel got what was coming to them. They were Unionists and deserters from the Confederate Army. What do you do with deserters in wartime? You shoot them.
ThunderPigRemixes 7 months ago
This was a wartime execution of guerrilla raiders & their sympathizers after they had repeatedly launched raids into the surrounding counties, often assassinating Confederate Officers. They robbed the stores in town, taking salt that was desperately needed to preserve food, harassed Col Allen's wife & 3 sick children, ransacking the house even stealing the blankets from their sickbed. One child died immediately thereafter and Col Allen was told the other two would die shortly, and they did.
ThunderPigRemixes 7 months ago
I was at a Confederate monument dedication in western NC as a reenactor in the late 1980s. A man came up to me and started arguing about this incident. At the time I hadn't read anything about it. He was running his stupid mouth about it, like I was somehow responsible for it all. I wasn't sure how to deal with him but he was getting pretty hot about it.I finally looked him in the eye and said if the Confederates shot these people, they had it coming.He finally shut up.What a nutcase!
ConfederateGypsy 1 year ago
The Sheltons were not Union sympathizers, get that right!
MyRidgerunner 2 years ago
The fact of the matter is, the Sheltons just wanted to be left alone, the thing with the salt comes from an old fued between Keith and some of the Sheltons, thats all it boils down too, Keith got away with cold blood murder, the Sheltons werent Union and they werent Confederate, Keith used this war to get even on a personal grudge, this all goes deeper than what everybody knows, a lot of stuff happened between Keith and the Sheltons way before the massacre took place, check it out!
MyRidgerunner 2 years ago
I'm not sure I would describe the people in Shelton Laurel as Union sympathizers, but rather as people who refused to fight in the war as a Confederate. Of course, this is coming from a Shelton from Shelton Laurel.
angelmari87 2 years ago
Interesting point. As a filmmaker, I want to explore the incident further.
mynameisnotom 2 years ago
Great Poet.
He climbed the stairs up to the street
and walked along the empty sidewalk
to the entrance of his workplace,
sunlight pushing darkness aside
warmth ushering the chill away
and the beginning familiar again.
His hopes are confirmed with triumphs
and when the concurring is done
he will descend the stairs once more.
Carterofmars 2 years ago