Hidden Secrets of Kentucky: Discovery of a Mass Grave Could Rewrite Civil War History of Black Union Soldiers
Here’s a thought to chew on: what are the odds that a soybean field in Kentucky is hiding one of the Civil War’s long-lost mass graves? In January 1865, 22 Black Union soldiers of Company E were brutally ambushed and killed near Simpsonville, Kentucky — a grim chapter known as the Simpsonville Massacre. For over a century, the exact resting place of these men has remained a mystery… until now. Thanks to some clever archaeology blending drones, ground-penetrating radar, and a 1936 map found in a dusty archive, researchers believe they’ve pinpointed where these heroes were laid to rest—right beneath a local farmer’s crops. It’s a haunting reminder that history is never as far beneath the surface as we think, sometimes tucked away beneath the most unassuming fields. Let’s hope these soldiers soon get the honor they deserve, and that history finally stops playing hide-and-seek.
In January 1865, 22 Black Union soldiers were killed in the Simpsonville Massacre, and their mass grave may have finally been located in the field of a local soybean farmer.
Brian Mabelitini, Kentucky Office of State ArchaeologyArchaeologist Brian Mabelitini searching for signs of the soldiers’ mass grave.
On a January day in 1865, Company E of the United States Colored Cavalry was ambushed by a group of Confederate guerrillas in Simpsonville, Kentucky. The 22 men of the Black company were brutally slaughtered and subsequently buried in a mass grave. The location of that grave has long mystified historians — but it may have just been located.
Using both remote-sensing technology and historical sources, archaeologists with the University of Kentucky believe that they’ve finally found the mass graves of Company E. They hope that the discovery will shine a light on the Simpsonville Massacre and that the soldiers will finally get a proper burial.
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