First Battle of Saltville
The Battle of Saltville (1 October – 3 October, 1864), was fought near the town of Saltville, Virginia, during the American Civil War. The battle was fought by both regular and homeguard Confederate units against regular Union troops, including one of the few black cavalry units, over an important saltworks in the town. The Union troops were led by Brig. Gen. Stephen G. Burbridge.
The battle was a Confederate victory, stained by war crimes committed against captured and wounded black troops by irregular guerrilla forces. A second battle occurred two months later when Union general George Stoneman defeated Confederate defenders and burned the saltworks.
Further reading
- Bush, Bryan S. (2008). Butcher Burbridge: Union General Stephen Burbridge and His Reign of Terror Over Kentucky. Morley, Missouri: Acclaim Press. ISBN 0979880254.
See also
- 5th United States Colored Cavalry
- Champ Ferguson-hanged in 1865 on murder charges.
- See the entry on John C. Breckinridge who tried to have Felix Robertson tried for killing black soldiers.
- Salt in the American Civil War
External links
- Coverage by Harper's Weekly; continued here
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- Battles of Burbridge's Raid into Southwest Virginia of the American Civil War
- Battles of the Main Western Theater of the American Civil War
- Confederate victories of the American Civil War
- African Americans in the Civil War
- History of salt
- Smyth County, Virginia
- Virginia in the American Civil War
- American Civil War battle stubs