Merry Christmas, Kentucky Style

Christmas is Calling

Christmas is Calling
The snow is softly falling
Carolers are following
Christmas is calling

Rejoice, Rejoice
the angels are singing
Christmas is calling
snowflakes are falling

Kindness abounds
while bells chime a joyous sound
Christmas is calling
snow is falling

Happy Holidays

Christmas of Yesterday

Christmas of yesterday

Where my memories like to play

Days of old with hats that were tipped

Strong family values and stiff upper lips

Moms were home; fathers at work

Aunts, cousins and sisters were always alert

Achievements were measured by family

Discussed during dinner at home together

Love was always given freely; no strings whatsoever

When responsibility, respect and religion

were a way of life; God's true vision

And pride in our nation was expected and easily given

It is He who takes away our worry and forgives every crime

Grants many long years which melt into a lifetime

His love was taught in the home and instilled in the heart

To be proud, to stand strong and to make your mark

Intertwined like a fabric woven from the past

Much of which warms my heart and is meant to last

Memories of days gone by; days gone too fast

I revisit once again Christmas of yesterday

Where my memories like to play

seeking the past

Home and Hearth

Thankful

Being grateful is a state

of appreciation, thankfulness for

the things you have, the health your granted,

Family love which has been tenderly planted

It grows from a seed, a constant need

Thank you, your welcome and pretty please

Town and Country

Just a view of one of my favorite night scenes of downtown Louisville, Kentucky, USA.

And a few from the country...

A long rich history and so many tales of old

This land of beauty with numerous secrets to unfold

Kentucky, its foggy hills surrendering to coal black dales

Brings a peacefulness to the soul when all else fails

                   

Massacre at Simpsonville - 1865

A drove of Government cattle, about nine hundred head, was on the way to this city yesterday from Camp Nelson, guarded, by eighty negro soldiers detailed from various regiments. The day being cold, and no danger being apprehended, the soldiers were allowed to straggle along by themselves, while their officers stopped to warm at various houses on the road. One half of the command marched in front of the cattle, while the other portion kept in the rear of the drove. The cattle and the guards were not yet out of sight of Simpsonville when fifteen guerrillas, headed by the desperate Colter, dashed into the town. Three of the negro officers were loafing in the tavern at the time, but they succeeded in making their escape from the outlaws. The guerrillas robbed the citizens of the place of goods amounting to about twelve hundred dollars when they started in pursuit of the negro troops guarding the cattle. They were not long in over-taking them as the citizens of Simpsonville, soon after their departure from the place, heard rapid firing down the road. In about half an hour the guerrillas returned; loaded down with booty, and stated that they had killed twenty-five of the negroes. They gave no further explanation, but moved off in the direction of Shelbyville. A gentleman who was detained at Simpsonville by the outlaws, after they were out of sight, resumed his journey toward Louisville. Not more than half a mile this side of the village a terrible scene was presented to view. The ground was stained with blood and the dead bodies of negro soldiers were stretched out along the road. It was evident that the guerrillas had dashed upon the party guarding the rear of the cattle and taken them completely by surprise. They could not have offered any serious resistance, as none of the outlaws were even wounded. It is presumed that the negroes surrendered and were shot down in cold blood, as but two of the entire number escaped-one of them by secreting himself behind a wagon, the other by running, as he was met several miles from the scene of tragedy, wounded and nearly exhausted. Thirty-five dead bodies were counted lying m the road and vicinity. It was a horrible butchery, yet the scoundrels engaged in the bloody work shot down their victims with feelings of delight.

The cattle stampeded, and as soon as the advance guard learned of what was going on in the rear, each individual in blue made a tall scamper for a place of safety. Colter, Berry and Sue Mundy were the leaders of the murderous gang. The outlaws were but fifteen in number-one of them a black scoundrel, who boasted on the return of the band to Simpsonville that he killed three of the soldiers. In making the attack, the guerrillas were only armed with navy revolvers. After the wholesale murder, they took good care to secure the arms and ammunition of the slain. The officers in command of the negro troops should be held responsible for the slaughter, for it is certain that if they had been with their men, and enforced a proper discipline, the outlaws would have been whipped with ease.

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If the soldiers had not been straggling, Colter would never have ventured to make the attack. A heavy responsibility rests with some one, and we trust that the facts of the case will be fully inquired into by the authorities.

LATEST: A gentleman who left Simpsonville at 8 o'clock last evening, and arrived in the city at a late hour last night, states that the citizens, up to the time he left, had collected and buried fourteen dead bodies of the murdered soldiers. Eight negroes, so severely wounded that many of them will die, were receiving medical treatment. It was thought that several more bodies would be found this morning scattered about the fields, as after they were shot many of the negroes ran in different directions and fell and died. The guerrillas were traveling towards Shelbyville at last accounts.

Source:

THE CINCINNATI DAILY GAZETTE - Cincinnati, Ohio

Saturday Morning, January 28, 1865

Vol. 76 No. 183

Horrible Massacre by Guerrillas — Thirty-five Colored Soldiers Murdered— Eight More Dangerously Wounded

Simpsonville Massacre