On April 18th

On April 18, 1864, Confederate forces massacred Black Union soldiers of the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry, killing many after surrender. The documented date is 1864-04-18. The site's documented history is the record the rest of the file stands on. The record holds it as fact — documented, not retold. The detail is preserved in 'Poison Spring Battleground State Park'. The record keeps it — history, n

On April 18, 1864, Confederate cavalry ambushed a Union foraging column at Poison Spring — and after the battle, murdered many of the wounded and captured men of the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry. Roughly 300 Union dead, most killed after surrender, made it one of the war's worst atrocities; 'Remember Poison Spring' became a Black regiment's rallying cry.

The April 18, 1864 ambush and the killing of USCT soldiers are documented. A fort with documented casualties writes its own foundation — the lore comes after. This belongs to the verified spine of the entry, the layer everything else is measured against. The detail is preserved in 'Poison Spring'. It's the sort of fact that gives the haunting reports their context.