Emory and Henry College Hospital - Federal Troops Murdered

Federal Troops Murdered

As the Federal Armies abandoned the hope of gaining the salt works and retreated down Chestnut Ridge, they were forced to leave their wounded and dead behind. Following Burbridge's withdrawal from the field, some confederates advanced into the vacant Union positions. These men that advanced would go on to commit some of the worst atrocities of the Civil War. Silas Sims, a member of the 4th Kentucky (CSA) Cavalry, came upon a dead Federal Officer who had been struck by an artillery shell in the head. He then proceeded to reach into his haversack and grab some granulated salt. He then poured the salt from his hand into the open skull proclaiming: "There, you came for some salt, now take some."

The atrocities against the Federal dead and dying continued throughout the night. Confederate soldiers took a special spite in killing the Negroes that had been injured on the field. George W. Carter noted: "After the fight I saw some colored soldiers killed, eight or nine of them. All the prisoners were robbed of everything. My captors took my boots, blankets, blouse, hat, and spurs, in fact everything but my pants and shirt." Allegedly leading the massacres on the field was Champ Ferguson. Harry Shocker of the 12th Ohio Cavalry testified that he saw Champ Ferguson on the 3rd of October at the Battle of Saltville. Shocker and his partner, Crawford Hazlewood, were wounded on the field after the previous day's battle. Ferguson started walking towards their position and Shocker crawled into the woods to hide. Ferguson asked Hazlewood what he was doing there and why was he fighting with niggers. Champ then took out a piece of paper, wrote something, and shot Hazelwood.

Federal field hospitals were set up in local cabins and houses close to the battlefield. The only resistance that the confederate soldiers met when charging into the former Union camps was that of several wounded and a surgeon, Wm. H. Gardner. Gardner was attempting to treat members of the 5th USCC, in a field hospital on James Sander's farm, when "several armed men, as I believe soldiers in the Confederate service, and took 5 men, privates, wounded (Negroes), and shot them." Lieutenant George W. Cutler confirmed Gardner's testimony saying: "Three or four days after the first shooting of Negroes, I heard five shots fired in the hospital, the time some Negroes were killed there. I also heard another shot a day or two after. The Negroes killed on the field were shot on the 3rd of October, 1864. They belonged to a regiment of U.S. Colored Cavalry, either the 5th or 6th. They were all prisoners of war and none had their arms." Shocker testified at the Trial of Champ Ferguson that he saw Champ Ferguson take two Negro soldiers into a sylvan hollow in the woods, about a hundred yards away from the cabin field hospital, and shot them, firing ten shots with a revolver.

The violence towards the black soldiers of the 5th USCC continued throughout the night and into the next day. Several soldiers concluded that the battle must still be taking place. In fact, Breckinridge rode to the field convinced that skirmishes were taking place.

The Richmond Enquirer ran a column the following week showing a breakdown of Union casualties:

• Killed, (Yankee Whites) 106
• Negroes, 150
• Wounded, (Whites) 80
• Negroes, 6

The editor of the Enquirer did not explain the discrepancy in the numbers of wounded Whites and Negroes. General Robert E. Lee sent a dispatch to the secretary of war on October 4, 1864 saying that the enemy was bloodily repulsed, and that all of the troops behaved well.

In fact, it was the black soldiers of the 5th USCC who behaved well following the battle. Colonel James Brisbin reported that, "The colored soldiers as fell into the hands of the enemy during the battle were brutally murdered. The negroes did not retaliate, but treated the rebel wounded with great kindness; carrying them water in their canteens and doing all they could do to alleviate the sufferings of those whom the fortunes of war had placed in their hands."