Huntsville Massacre

Huntsville massacre
Part of the American Civil War
Date January 10, 1863 Location Huntsville, Arkansas
Belligerents
United States Army	Confederate Guerrillas/sympathizers
Commanders and leaders
Lt Col. Elias Briggs Baldwin	Unknown
Units involved
Company G, 8th Regiment Missouri Volunteer Cavalry	Unknown
Strength
5,000	Unknown
Casualties and losses
None	9 shot; 1 survivor
Location of attack

The Huntsville massacre was an event that occurred during the American Civil War one mile northeast of Huntsville, Arkansas, in which nine men believed to be Confederate sympathizers were shot by Union soldiers. The event, which has since been called a , is little known today.

The event occurred on January 10, 1863, in the midst of the Union Army moving to occupy Arkansas. Preceding this, in 1862, was an incident that is believed to have sparked the execution of the nine men. Following the Battle of Pea Ridge, Isaac Murphy, who was the first Reconstruction Governor of Arkansas, had received death threats and was forced to flee the area in which he lived. Under Union Army escort, he moved to Huntsville. By the fall of that year, his daughters wished to visit him. They went, under Union escort, to Huntsville. When they came to within two miles of the town, the escort, numbering twenty five soldiers, decided to send the daughters into the town alone, and the soldiers set up camp to rest. While resting there, they were attacked by a local Confederate Guerrilla band. Only seven of the Union soldiers survived the skirmish.

Following the Battle of Prairie Grove, Union General Francis Herron was ordered to take his 5,000 troops northeast to the Mississippi River, where he would link up with the army under the command of Ulysses S. Grant in the push for Vicksburg. While Herron's troops passed through Huntsville, it was reported to them that the daughters of Murphy were still being harassed by locals, to the point that their personal property had been taken from them. Within days the Union soldiers had arrested several local men, with no known charges against them.