Victims: A True Story of the Civil War

by Phillip Shaw Paludan

Recounts the murders of thirteen captured prisoners by Confederate soldiers in North Carolina, compares it with other war atrocities, and discusses how the crime affected the community

Genres: History, Civil War, Nonfiction, American History, Military History, American Civil War

160 pages, Hardcover

First published November 15, 1981

About the author

A leading authority on the life and presidency of Abraham Lincoln, Phillip Shaw Paludan was a professor of Lincoln Studies at the University of Illinois Springfield.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the definitive history of the Shelton Laurel Massacre in western North Carolina in 1863 during the Civil War. By studying the massacre of thirteen Unionist mountaineers, Paludan sheds light on a fairly little-known aspect of the Civil War, that of the guerrilla warfare in the Appalachian Mountains of the South. He raises questions that can also apply to Auschwitz and My Lai and other atrocities of human history. An important manuscript ( it's 133 pages long) and a disturbing one.

[David Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Victims: A True Story of the Civil War by Phillip Shaw Paludan (The University of Tennessee Press Knoxville 1981) (973.733) (4088 (number assigned in 2025 upon rereading)) recounts a lesser-known atrocity from the Civil War. It remains fascinating, disturbing and thought-provoking 150 years later.

In January of 1863, the Confederacy's North Carolina 64th regiment led by Lieutenant-Colonel James A. Keith) captured an armed band of Unionist looters in the Shelton Laurel Community of North Carolina's Madison County. Keith, like much of the 64th, was a native of Madison County. After several days of rounding up local Union supporters, the 64th Regiment marched the prisoners off toward Knoxville, Tennessee, which at the time was occupied by a strong Confederate contingent. After two prisoners escaped, the remaining thirteen prisoners were ordered into the woods and shot execution style. Among the dead prisoners were two boys aged 13 and 16.

This is a classic tale of neighbor against neighbor. How it has remained obscure is beyond me. My rating: 7.5/10, finished 4/22/13.

[Updated review - reread 9/27/25]: This account was just as shocking and as outrageous upon rereading. It perfectly encapsulates the horrors and atrocities of the Civil War.

One sentence from this rereading haunts me. The Confederate officer who was in command and gave the order to open fire and execute the disarmed Union-sympathizing prisoners was a local Baptist preacher’s boy named James A. Keith. Author Phillip Shaw Paludan puzzled over what had happened to motivate Keith to authorize carnage instead of forgiveness and “turning the other cheek”:

“Something in James Keith would not rest. He had to be improving himself, working his way up, becoming somebody. For him the land was not enough. The seasons and the harmony with the place did not satisfy him. Maybe his father, a Baptist preacher, had something to do with that. Sometimes preachers taught more than resignation.” (italics and bolding added) (p.31).

This book perfectly encapsulates the horrors of guerilla warfare.

I purchased a used HB copy in good condition on Amazon for $7.27 on 9/20/25.

My rating: 8/10, finished rereading 9/27/25 (4088).

[Boots LookingLand · Rating 2 out of 5]

The problem with this book isn't that for its 130 pages it's quite the dense, lumbering behemoth (reads more like a academic dissertation than anything else). The problem is that it sets out with a thesis that it then cannot prove.

The narrative starts off really strong with a very good overview of the community of Shelton Laurel, but by the time it arrives at the killings, the ambiguities of guerrilla warfare have been presented in such a way as to render me undecided on what actually went down. People were killed. Probably without cause. But while I couldn't possibly condone summary executions on any level, one has to wonder at the fear and frustration (and utter incompetence) of those who ordered and carried out the killings. We see it time and time again: some small thing that sets off a chain of events more extreme than warranted. The maze of offenses and retaliations in this arena in particular are incredibly hard to untangle.

So there's a lot of new information here and that's fabulous, but the way in which it's presented left me feeling like the author meant to take a strong stance against the killings, but actually failed to make the point that this was a bona fide war crime.

A good springboard for further investigation, but between the heavy-handed and too-often discursive writing style, and the failure to effectively make its case, I was disappointed.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The new preface might be the best thing about this book... I appreciated the way that Paludan focused on one event but wanted a deeper exploration of the issues of "atrocity" and torture that animate the text. I also felt that, at times, he came dangerously close to reaffirming negative stereotypes of Appalachia.

The book is clearly a product of the 1970s and, as such is a little dated. It's a fascinating product of a particular kind of politically engaged scholarship, but after 9/11, Abu Ghraib, and other contemporary atrocities I wondered about its relative resonance.

It's not a bad book by any stretch. "Victims" is beautifully written and highlights an under-studied aspect of the Civil War. I'll be interested to see what my students say about it when we discuss it next week.

[Tyler Ruprecht · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting look at a case of killings in western NC. I give it 4 rather than 5 stars by no fault of Paludan. The lack of historical evidence on a few of a perpetrators and victims leaves more information to be desired. As a whole good as a case study for guerilla violence in the American Civil War.

[Clair Erdman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read on a lessor known part of the civil war. A lot of the folk that moved south from PA into the NC valley were also my ancestors. The effects of isolation on a culture was thoroughly examined. These effects, of course, are amplified when war adds to an already hard life.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

In particular, I thought this work had excellent information on what happened after the Shelton Laurel Massacre and informative bios on Heth, Allen and Kieth, the Confederate commanders who bore responsibility for summarily executing 13 Union Sympathizers and long time residents of the Shelton Laurel.

[Melissa]

want to read

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this book in college about 9 years ago, so I don't remember much. If I ever reread it, I will have to revise my review.