The Simpsonville Massacre | Kentucky Studies

PBS Learning Media
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PBS Learning Media
Resource Type
Classroom Material
Keywords
KET Kentucky Civil War Simpsonville Massacre Battle of Saltville Camp Nelson Kentucky Studies Kentucky history Simpsonville Saltville Civil War battles Union Army freedmen former slaves Black soldiers African American soldiers Bureau of Colored Troops Colored troops Colored soldiers 5th US Colored Cavalry 5th Regiment US Colored Cavalry emancipation Confederate guerillas mass graves African American cemetery Simpsonville cemetery Civil War cemetery landmarks historical landmarks historical sites
Subjects
History-Social Science
Grade Levels
Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12
Related Resources

The Simpsonville Massacre | Kentucky Studies

The 5th U.S. Colored Cavalry (USCC) was organized in 1864 at Camp Nelson, Kentucky. The unit was attacked by Confederate guerillas more than once: at the Battle of Saltville, Virginia, on Oct. 2, 1864, and in an ambush at Simpsonville, Kentucky, on Jan. 25, 1865.

It was very dangerous for Black men to enlist in the Union Army. If they were captured by the Confederates, instead of being held as prisoners as white soldiers were, they could be killed or sold back into slavery. The Confederate policy was to treat Black soldiers as slaves in a state of insurrection.
Publisher
PBS Learning Media

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