POISON SPRING BATTLEFIELD
Battlefield — Camden, Arkansas
Status: Operating · Access: Open to public
Dossier: https://haunthunt.com/place/poison-spring-battlefield-camden-arkansas/

April 18, 1864—the ambush and massacre that stained the Camden Expedition.

Poison Spring Battlefield is a battlefield in Camden, Arkansas. April 18, 1864—the ambush and massacre that stained the Camden Expedition. Its accounts name only a collective — the poison spring dead. The dossier holds 2 reported claims, 1 legend, 1 documented fact and 1 named or described presence — documented record and retelling kept side by side. The ground is open to visitors.

Poison Spring is the '64 — the 'April 18' that's the ambush, the '301' that's the Union dead. The '1st Kansas' is the Colored — the 'former slaves' that's the recruited, the '117' that's the killed. The 'massacre' is the after — the 'surrendered' that's the shot, the 'mutilated' that's the wounded.
The 'Marmaduke' is the cavalry — the '3,600' that's the rebel, the 'Choctaw' that's the brigade. The 'worst' is the Arkansas — the 'war crime' that's the called, the 'not prisoners' that's the quote. Poison Spring is the atrocity — the 'foraging' that's the corn, the 'Camden' that's the abandoned.
The file keeps Poison Spring: the 1864 ambush, the 1st Kansas massacre, the 301 dead, and the worst Arkansas.
Poison Spring is the archive's Arkansas file — the surrendered shot.

WHY THIS FILE MATTERS
Poison Spring is the archive's Arkansas file — the war crime.
A spring keeps its poison — the file's suggestion being that Poison Spring's hold is the massacre: the '1st Kansas' that's the Black, the 'surrendered' that's the killed, and the 'worst' that's the Arkansas.

FILED CLAIMS — 2 on record, reported not verified
· [Local folklore] named ghost legend: The 1st Kansas Colored dead are said to be remembered at the spring. The lore files them collectively as the Poison Spring dead. Old military ground in Camden, Arkansas carries its dead the way it carries its walls — permanently. Local lore carries the account; no documentation has ever caught up with it. The account appears in 'Poison Spring'. A ghost with a name outlasts a ghost without one; the reports keep it employed.
  source: Poison Spring (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Poison_Spring)
· [Media reported] historical legend: The massacre is documented history—the lore honors it. Old military ground in Camden, Arkansas carries its dead the way it carries its walls — permanently. The press reported it; the reporting is documented, the phenomenon isn't. Sources including 'Poison Spring' keep the claim in circulation. The legend does what legends do — it explains the place in a way the records can't.
  source: Poison Spring (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Poison_Spring)

HISTORY — 1 documented facts
· 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.

SOURCES — 1 cited
· Poison Spring — Wikipedia
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Poison_Spring

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HauntHunt is a research archive. Claims are filed as reported — documented where sources exist, marked as folklore or unverified where they do not.
Methodology: https://haunthunt.com/methodology/ · Corrections: https://haunthunt.com/report/