Emory and Henry College Hospital - The Toll

The Toll

Historians contend how many black people were actually murdered as a result of the rampaging rebel soldiers. William Marvel, in 1991, published an article in Blue and Gray Magazine stating that no more than twelve soldiers could have been murdered. However, Historian Thomas Mays reviewed Marvel's research and concluded that he overlooked a number of missing men. Mays says that at least fifty men went missing at Saltville as the muster rolls indicate after comparing and contrasting different records. This number seems much more likely, and better supported, as it would seem unlikely that over 50 men would desert from one company.

The Federal prisoners at Emory and Henry College Hospital appear to have been treated well by the Confederate staff. One soldier said that he "was treated first rate while in the hospital." The board of trustees at Emory and Henry College met on November 12, 1864 to discuss the running of the hospital. They stated that the grounds were well taken care of; in fact, improvements were made to the facilities during the war. Unlike many schools during the Civil War, Emory and Henry College suffered no structural damage as result of the war. The only damage done in the hospital was to furniture and was repaired or paid for by the Confederate States of America. Following the massacres on the field and at the Hospital, both Union and Confederate commands started receiving reports of inhumane acts. The story made its way all the way to the secretary of war in Washington; he demanded the extradition of Ferguson to Federal authorities. In the case that the Confederacy refused to send Ferguson, the secretary said that "immediate retaliation be enforced upon such Confederate prisoners as we may have in our possession, man for man."