Hidden Secrets of Kentucky: Discovery of a Mass Grave Could Rewrite Civil War History of Black Union Soldiers
‘The Ground Was Stained With Blood’
National Park ServiceA plaque commemorating the Simpsonville massacre of 1865.
The Simpsonville Massacre took place on Jan. 25, 1865. According to the National Park Service, Company E of the 5th U.S. Colored Cavalry had been tasked with moving cattle toward Louisville as part of the Union supply line. But near Simpsonville, they were ambushed by Confederate guerrillas.
Though the Black soldiers tried to fight back, they were hampered by their 853 Enfield rifles, which were impossible to load on horseback. This, wet powder, and bad weather put them at a disadvantage, and the Confederates slaughtered 22 men, shooting many in the back as they tried to flee.
“The ground was stained with blood and the dead bodies of negro soldiers were stretched out along the road,” The Louisville Journal reported at the time. “It was evident that the guerrillas had dashed upon the party guarding the rear of the cattle and taken them completely by surprise.”
Kentucky Historical SocietyThe memorial for the men who were killed during the Simpsonville Massacre, an ambush that left the ground “stained with blood.”
The paper continued: “It was a horrible butchery, yet the scoundrels engaged in the bloody work shot down their victims with feelings of delight.”
In the aftermath, the Black soldiers were buried in an unmarked mass grave. Although a memorial was erected in their honor, the exact location of this grave has been lost for over a century.
Now, however, it may have been located.
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