Huntsville massacre
| Huntsville massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part of the American Civil War | |
| Location | Huntsville, Arkansas |
| Coordinates | 36°05′15″N 93°44′12″W / 36.08761124°N 93.73662152°W |
| Date | January 10, 1863 |
| Target | Confederate soldiers/sympathizers |
Attack type | Extrajudicial executions, mass murder, state terrorism |
| Weapons | Firearms |
| Deaths | 8 |
| Injured | 1 |
| Perpetrators | Company G, 8th Regiment Missouri Volunteer Cavalry |
The Huntsville massacre was the Civil War killing of eight men (a ninth survived), including three Confederate officers, by Union soldiers on January 10, 1863, outside Huntsville, Arkansas. The commanding officer resigned and faced charges, but they were dropped after witnesses for a trial could not be produced. A few months before, Confederates had ambushed 25 Union troops escorting prominent local politician Isaac Murphy's daughters back home, killing most. Murphy's daughters were also robbed repeatedly and constantly harassed.
The event was nearly lost until a historian wrote about it in a historical quarterly in 1974. More research has been published on this topic, and a memorial to the victims was erected in 2006.