The Huntsville Massacre

Whether or not one could refer to the events of January 10, 1863 as a massacre, one thing for sure is that the events of that fateful day would remind all that war, and its atrocities, are not limited to famous places like Antietam and Gettysburg. History quite often reserves itself to record only the big events. Many people, especially rural people, are left to believe that history and its accompanying events happen to other people in other places; that in certain respects, they are not a part of the grand scheme of things. More often than not, isolated rural people believe that their thoughts and actions do not contribute as much to the American fabric as others. To the people of Huntsville, war would leave a mark that would forever dash the dreams and visions of a small rural Arkansas community as several well known citizens, fathers, brothers, and cousins were sacrificed in the name of war. Whether or not this event fits the definition of a massacre is purely academic as that was the term most often applied to the event by the people of Huntsville. One of those who died was a trustee of the recently created Masonic college in Huntsville; one was a Baptist minister; one was a farmer and had been appointed a deputy U.S. Marshal in 1860. By some accounts, there may have been as many as nine citizens executed shortly before sunrise on a cold, frosty Saturday morning on January 10, 1863.