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Patreon.com slash Southern Mysteries. The Shelton Laurel Massacre in January 1863 is a striking example of divided loyalists and

complicated battle lines in North Carolina during the Civil War.

Historians John Inisco and Gordon McKinney have written that the mass murder of 13 people,

accused of being union sympathizers, proves,

guerrilla warfare blurred the lines between combatants and

non-combatants and obscured the rules of war.

Welcome to Southern Mysteries, exploring history and mysteries of the American South.

I'm your host, Shannon Ballard.

This is the story of the Shelton Laurel Massacre.

The battle lines of the Civil War were never as simple as Union versus Confederate.

Within just about every state in the Confederacy, there were areas

where Union sympathizers refused to take up arms for the Confederate cause.

When conscription began in 1862, many of these sympathizers were forced to fight for a cause they did not believe in.

Depending on the military presence in the region or familial relationships,

allegiances often changed.

...